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woahjeny's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
tabatha_shipley's review against another edition
3.0
What I Liked:
-Standard police procedure seemed realistic and well done.
-Joe is a delightful, complex character.
-The mystery holds your attention.
Who Should Read It:
-Crime novel fans who don’t mind a series.
-Readers who like detectives who sink their teeth into a case.
For Full Review (including what I didn’t love): https://youtu.be/qALNpWwvkZg (40:29)
-Standard police procedure seemed realistic and well done.
-Joe is a delightful, complex character.
-The mystery holds your attention.
Who Should Read It:
-Crime novel fans who don’t mind a series.
-Readers who like detectives who sink their teeth into a case.
For Full Review (including what I didn’t love): https://youtu.be/qALNpWwvkZg (40:29)
atagarev's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty fun and engrossing book, although I had no trouble dropping it at a moments notice.
constantreader471's review against another edition
4.0
This murder mystery starts out with a bang. An old lady kills an intruder with a shotgun, in Brattleboro, Vermont. This type of crime is rare in Brattleboro and then Detective Joe Gunther finds out that it was a setup. More strange crimes happen and they all have one thing in common: All of the victims served on the same jury. Detective Gunther does solve who is orchestrating the crimes, but not before more people die. He must reopen the murder case of the man that the jury convicted. When he does, he finds reason to doubt the guilt of the convicted man.
I liked the author's description of Vermont winter storms:
"Night had fallen halfway into the trip, narrowing our already limited view to a hypnotizing funnel of onrushing snow."
This was an Amazon free book, number 1 in a series. I give it 4 out 5 stars. The plot is believable and the characters are written well.
I liked the author's description of Vermont winter storms:
"Night had fallen halfway into the trip, narrowing our already limited view to a hypnotizing funnel of onrushing snow."
This was an Amazon free book, number 1 in a series. I give it 4 out 5 stars. The plot is believable and the characters are written well.
andrewliptak's review against another edition
5.0
Listened through the audio version of this story. Once again, Archer Mayor's mysteries hold up, even after 20 years.
arthur_pendrgn's review against another edition
2.0
This series was recommended.
I began here, but maybe I shouldn't have. This is a debut novel, and the writer gives a convoluted plot with interchangeable characters. A book later in the series, once the author had gained his feet, might have served better as an introduction.
I began here, but maybe I shouldn't have. This is a debut novel, and the writer gives a convoluted plot with interchangeable characters. A book later in the series, once the author had gained his feet, might have served better as an introduction.
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
4.0
It's important to remember that this book was originally published in 1988 ... which is painful, because reading it in 2022/23 results in slight shock waves when MC Joe Gunther references WWII having been during his childhood, among other things - like the fact he's a Korean War vet.
The moment in which it was written is also evident in attitudes toward race, gender, smoking, policing ... I don't miss the 80's. The world may be a generalized dumpster fire, but it has to be admitted it's better than in the 80's.
It's a heck of a story, this. (But isn't it a little odd to choose a setting with such a sub-cellar low crime rate for a series of murder mysteries? I mean, it looks like the books will be set all around Vermont, but - still.) I honestly don't have a lot to say about it; it more than kept my interest (although my expectations in the beginning of how it would proceed were wildly off) (did we ever find out where - and how - the rest of the jury in question was?) I'm not a hundred percent sure I would have picked this up if I'd read the synopsis; I picked it up because I had the paperback for decades, might have read it long ago, and found the audiobook in Audible's Plus catalog, and committing to a long series is a good way to avoid having to think about what I'll listen to next for a while. It was solid and enjoyable.
One private enjoyment I got from the audiobook was the marvelous range of Tom Taylorson's narration. I'm assuming his natural pitch is baritone (or should I say bass?), because I would think it would be uncomfortable to use a different pitch for 90% of a book, and Joe Gunther has a deep, rich voice - but the wide range of characters have such a wide range of voices that if someone told me this had been read by a full cast I would have believed it. I was going to say that I've never listened to anything Taylorson has read before, but I just listened to some of the commercials on his reel on his website, and - heck, yeah, I've heard him before, because holy cow, he's done everything. If nothing else, the Hyundai commercials rang an immediate bell - and that is not a baritone. So - as I said: astonishing range. The amusement I got out of the narration is in no way a criticism or a complaint of any kind, just something that hurt my brain for a little while until I got used to it, and which then resulted in inappropriate giggles - and that is that Taylorson's voice for Joe Gunther's girlfriend Gail sounded exactly - exactly - like Armin Shimerman. In case you're in the sad, sorry, unenviable state of not knowing who that wonderful man is ...
The moment in which it was written is also evident in attitudes toward race, gender, smoking, policing ... I don't miss the 80's. The world may be a generalized dumpster fire, but it has to be admitted it's better than in the 80's.
It's a heck of a story, this. (But isn't it a little odd to choose a setting with such a sub-cellar low crime rate for a series of murder mysteries? I mean, it looks like the books will be set all around Vermont, but - still.) I honestly don't have a lot to say about it; it more than kept my interest (although my expectations in the beginning of how it would proceed were wildly off) (did we ever find out where - and how - the rest of the jury in question was?) I'm not a hundred percent sure I would have picked this up if I'd read the synopsis; I picked it up because I had the paperback for decades, might have read it long ago, and found the audiobook in Audible's Plus catalog, and committing to a long series is a good way to avoid having to think about what I'll listen to next for a while. It was solid and enjoyable.
One private enjoyment I got from the audiobook was the marvelous range of Tom Taylorson's narration. I'm assuming his natural pitch is baritone (or should I say bass?), because I would think it would be uncomfortable to use a different pitch for 90% of a book, and Joe Gunther has a deep, rich voice - but the wide range of characters have such a wide range of voices that if someone told me this had been read by a full cast I would have believed it. I was going to say that I've never listened to anything Taylorson has read before, but I just listened to some of the commercials on his reel on his website, and - heck, yeah, I've heard him before, because holy cow, he's done everything. If nothing else, the Hyundai commercials rang an immediate bell - and that is not a baritone. So - as I said: astonishing range. The amusement I got out of the narration is in no way a criticism or a complaint of any kind, just something that hurt my brain for a little while until I got used to it, and which then resulted in inappropriate giggles - and that is that Taylorson's voice for Joe Gunther's girlfriend Gail sounded exactly - exactly - like Armin Shimerman. In case you're in the sad, sorry, unenviable state of not knowing who that wonderful man is ...
tabatha_shipley's review against another edition
3.0
What I Liked:
-Standard police procedure seemed realistic and well done.
-Joe is a delightful, complex character.
-The mystery holds your attention.
Who Should Read It:
-Crime novel fans who don’t mind a series.
-Readers who like detectives who sink their teeth into a case.
For Full Review (including what I didn’t love): https://youtu.be/qALNpWwvkZg (40:29)
-Standard police procedure seemed realistic and well done.
-Joe is a delightful, complex character.
-The mystery holds your attention.
Who Should Read It:
-Crime novel fans who don’t mind a series.
-Readers who like detectives who sink their teeth into a case.
For Full Review (including what I didn’t love): https://youtu.be/qALNpWwvkZg (40:29)