by Archer Mayor
Part of Joe Gunther, book 16
First published 2009
Joe Gunther watches his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team scatter across impossible distances. His agents work cases from remote dairy farms in the state's northwest corner to the harsh streets of Newark, New Jersey. Resources stretch past the breaking point. Then fires begin erupting across Vermont's mountains and valleys. Someone sets blaze after blaze in a calculated pattern. The arsonist escalates. What started as property destruction transforms into something far deadlier. Bodies appear in the ashes. Gunther realizes he faces a killer who uses fire as both weapon and calling card. The murders shatter the peace of Vermont's small communities. Local residents who never locked their doors now fear for their lives. Gunther must pull his scattered team together to stop a predator who leaves death and destruction across the Green Mountain State. The investigation pushes every agent beyond their limits as they race to prevent the next victim from burning.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, race-against-time
Setting: Vermont, Newark, New Jersey
Period: contemporary
251 pages · Paperback · AMPress
Content warnings: violence