This is not one of Mayor's best. The first chapter or two needed editing - sloppy work was repeated and the setup was endless. Gradually, as the scope of an investigation of the murder of a policeman in Vermont morphs into a story of drugs in Maine, more and more agencies and characters are brought in, and I couldn't bring my usual focus to bear. Too many people running around, too many possible plot points - and I guessed the murderer as soon as the character was introduced. Sigh. ( )

It's your typical Joe Gunther mystery. A copy is killed after pulling over a Toyota on a deserted mountain road. Is it drgs? Is it something else?

Although I still like reading the Joe Gunther series and will continue until I catch up, it's starting to get routine. ( )

A most satisfying page-turner featuring Joe Gunther on the hunt for the guy who murdered a Vermont Police officer. The trail takes him to Boston and down east, the the Vermont search includes local folk who are believable as Mayor does so well. ( )

This is another good addition to the Joe Gunther series, which is an excellent police procedural series. It helps to have read other books in the series because you would know the recurring characters (e.g Willie), but it is not absolutely necessary.
In this book, the mystery is who killed a cop during a traffice stop which takes place in the first chapter. Joe Gunther is assigned to catch the killer. The killer's identity seems obvious until near the end of the book. There is a hint of the actual killer's identity midway through the book, but it's easy to miss. The story is about the chase for the apparent murderer, which takes Joe to Boston and Maine. There's a good subplot involving a "management change" of the drug trade in Maine. Of course, this plot overlaps with the murder investigation plot.
There's also developments in Joe's relationship with Lyn Silva. He discovers things about her family and its history (her father and brother disappeared at sea) while in Maine and this may turn up in future books. ( )