by Archer Mayor
Part of Joe Gunther, book 26
First published 2015
A woman's body hangs from the cliff nets along a Vermont interstate during a brutal winter. The victim is a state senator, carved with a slur that suggests a hate crime. Governor Gail Zigman asks Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team to join the case before media attention explodes. The senator was a lesbian, making the carved word either evidence of bias or a deliberate misdirection. Gunther digs into the victim's connections and discovers this wasn't a simple killing. Someone murdered a powerful political figure and staged an elaborate scene for specific reasons. The investigation reveals layers of deception that go far beyond personal hatred. Gunther must untangle the victim's relationships and hidden activities to understand who wanted her dead and why they went to such lengths to obscure their motives.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-detective, conspiracy, cover-up, political-intrigue
Setting: Vermont
Period: Brutal Winter
305 pages · Kindle Edition · Minotaur Books
Content warnings: death, murder, violence