The latest in the long running series finds Vermont Bureau of Investigations agent Joe Gunther and his team working a case that hits close to home. Susan Raffner had been a close ally of the governor Gail Zigman. Now Susan has been brutally murdered and the governor is devastated. Someone killed her, cut the word “Dyke” into her chest and then hung her body above the interstate on a rocky cliff face along the Connecticut river. The same steel mesh that protected all below from falling rocks from the cliff face was used to hang her body to advertise the murder.

The murder of Susan Raffner rocks the political establishment. Was the murder a political statement, a personal vendetta, or something else? Not only was she a state senator she was a close ally of Vermont Governor Gail Zigman. A close ally that had secrets of her own that gradually come to life as they always do in a murder investigation. A firebrand that often was very public in her causes of which there were many, her history, and Susan’s relationship with the governor are just one of many twists in a complex case at work in The Company She Kept.

While billed as Joe Gunther Novel this read, like many in recent years, is less about Joe and much more about the team. Sammie, Willy, and Lester are a family and as they investigate the case and suspects, much is made of their individual daily lives as well as their past history. The result is a read where, for significant portions of the book, it seems like the case is on a backburner as the focus shifts to events with individual team members. This results in a slow moving read for portions of the book before things suddenly ratchet up to the abrupt conclusion. An ending that, despite some commentary in some reviews, does tie up all the loose ends as the book abruptly concludes.

For those who prefer their reads to focus mainly on the case or main premise of the story, they may be disappointed. Police procedures take a backseat to a lot of personal inner ruminations by way of various characters as the case gradually develops. For those of us who appreciate the complexity of characters that feel like family, The Company She Kept is another in solidly good read in the long running series.

The Company She Kept: A Joe Gunther Novel
Archer Mayor
http://www.archermayor.com
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com
September 2015
ISBN# 978-1-250-06467-7
Hardback (e-book and audio formats available)
305 Pages
$25.99

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015

Professor Carl Burns knew the new dean at Hartley Gorman College wasn’t going to work out when she got a goat. There may have been good reasons to get a goat, but that is just not something that is a big winner in the minds of many people. While some of the staff are fixated on the goat and consider the new dean a “unreconstructed hippie”  Professor Burns, who is also chairman of the English Department, is much more worried about her other issues. Of course, if Burns had just applied for the job, he most likely would have gotten it. Burns had absolutely no desire to be the academic dean and that means everyone is going to have to deal with Dr. Gwendolyn Partridge.

While she was highly recommended nobody warned those at HGC that she was highly liberal. A conservative private school located near the small south Texas town of Pecan City, Texas was not ready for her kind of leadership. She has ideas that others would consider radical. She has also brought in Professor Eric Holt who, as other employees see it, is getting special treatment he does not warrant. Both Partridge and Holt want to significantly shake up the curriculum and that is not helping matters.

If that wasn’t enough, the death of Thomas Henderson rattles the entire college. It is clear that he died after impacting the ground due to a fall out of his third floor office window. Landing on your head tends to kill you dead. It is also pretty clear he did not voluntarily crash through the window to his death. Considering Burns’ reputation for solving such cases it is not surprising when Burns starts investigating the situation in … A Dangerous Thing.

Rich with complex characters, humor, as well as scenic details and atmosphere, this third read in the Carl Burns mystery series is another excellent cozy style mystery. Originally published in 1994 and recently made available again thanks to the e-book format, the mystery does not follow the current fad of dropping a murder victim in the first paragraph. Instead, it builds the situation as Texas author Bill Crider weaves a number of threads together before getting to the heart of the matter. A mighty good read, … A Dangerous Thing can be read as a standalone if so desired as it just briefly references earlier events in one One Dead Dean and Dying Voices.

…A Dangerous Thing: A Carl Burns Mystery
Bill Crider
http://www.billcrider.com
Crossroad Press
http://store.crossroadpress.com/
January 2013
ASIN: B00AZ0YU6A
E-Book (estimated print length 176 pages)
$3.99

I got the hardback version of this to read and review by way of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015

Ogallala, Nebraska, located in the panhandle, has seen wilder days. It is a town in transition as the legendary cattle drives from Texas no longer come through thanks to the spread of the railroads to the south. Lone McGantry hasn’t been to Ogallala in over a year and things have definitely changed. Whether it is for the better or not is something that remains to be seen. This October day finds Lone McGantry in town to meet with a certain attorney regarding a recent letter he received at the settlement store he shops at near his horse ranch.

After the events of Dismal River Lone McGantry went into horse ranching. A lawyer named H. Munro wants to hire Lone McGantry for a job. Since the ranch has not made him rich yet he could use a well-paying side job. Learning from the livery man that the attorney is a woman makes things even more interesting for McGantry.

Harriet Munro is trying to get a retrial for her client. A wanted fugitive by the name of Roxanne Purdom Bigbee was convicted of murdering her stepfather, Alston Bigbee. She did the crime by shooting him dead as he sat at the kitchen table one morning. The why she did it was never brought to light as her previous attorney failed her in many ways at trial in Rainrock, Nebraska. Roxanne eventually escaped custody and is currently working in a saloon just across the border in Colorado.

Munro wants McGantry to go to Julesburg located just across the state line over in Colorado. Once there she wants him to get Roxanne out of the saloon she is working in and escort her to Scotts Bluff which is the territorial seat for Rainrock. Once Roxanne is there and has surrendered to local law enforcement, Munro intends to request a hearing before the new circuit judge. Known to be an honest and fair man, Munro expects him to grant the appeal and order a new trial.

The background on the saloon known as the “German Palace” makes it clear that this is not going to be an easy job. McGantry does not like easy work and is looking forward to earning his pay. That saloon is just one complicating factor of many as things never get easier. Those who conspired to destroy Roxanne are not about to stop now. As threats align against Roxanne and anyone who would help her events lead to a Reckoning At Rainrock.

This is the second in the very enjoyable series featuring Lone McGantry who has done a bit of everything in his life. His skills result in him being placed in adversarial situations from the start to the nearly guns blazing finish. Complicated characters, a mystery to solve, and plenty of action make this another very good western read. One that could be read first, if so inclined, though the events of Dismal River  are briefly discussed.

Reckoning at Rainrock (Lone McGantry Book 2)
Wayne D. Dundee
http://www.fromdundeesdesk.blogspot.com
Bil-Em-Ri-Media
October 2015
ASIN: B0164ATRT4
E-Book
219 Pages
$1.49

Material was recently picked up to read and review by way of funds in my Amazon Associate account.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015

The latest David Mapstone mystery finds Mapstone lamenting a city that is no more as well as wondering what the heck is going on with his business partner, Mike Peralta. The former Maricopa County Sheriff and Mapstone run a private investigator business that does the occasional security type job such as transporting diamonds.  Peralta was on one such job earlier in the day.

A job that went very strange as Peralta apparently shot the guard that he was working with and stole the diamonds. In the hours since a major investigation spearheaded by the FBI has been launched and a manhunt is underway. All the FBI has managed to do so far, after grilling both Mapstone and Peralta’s wife, Sharon, and doing a lot of searching is finding a business card that has a note on it from Peralta stating that Mapstone had nothing to do with the theft and for him to stay out of it.

As if that would ever happen.

This is just the tip of a multi tentacled octopus that has Mapstone and his wife, Lindsey in the crosshairs. The result is one of the best books in the series in years as it has plenty of action, complexity, and suspense. No review will do this book justice. In the series that began years ago with Concrete Desert author Jon Talton takes readers on one incredible ride in High Country Nocturne: A David Mapstone mystery.

Very much recommended.

High Country Nocturne: A David Mapstone Mystery
Jon Talton
http://www.jontalton.com
Poisoned Pen Press
http://www.posionpenpress.com
2015
ISBN#978-1-4642-0398-5
Hardback (available in e-book, paperback, and audio formats)
326 Pages
$24.95

Material obtained by way of the Plano Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2015