Hurricane Irene has devastated Vermont. Police forces
there
are working 24/7. Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont
Bureau of Investigation are involved in a series of cases,
seemingly unrelated. But are they unrelated?
First: In the wake of the storm of the century an
exposed
coffin was found at a seventeen year old graveside. The
coffin was filled with rocks instead of a corpse. What
happened to the body?
Next: Gordon Marshall, retired Senator, one of the
founders
and now resident of the very upscale senior facility, The
Woods, fails to show up for breakfast with his usual
cronies.. They gain entry to his apartment and find him
dead. Is it from natural causes or could it be murder?
.
Also: Bonnie Swift, RN at the Vermont State Hospital,
responsible for the care of the mentally ill, is trying to
avoid chaos. She is assisting her patients from the
rapidly
flooding basement.to a dryer floor,above. One of her
favorites, a forty year resident of VSH with a
perpetually
fogged brain, known as "governor", is in a group just
ahead.
When the door locks malfunction, Carolyn Barber is
separated
from Bonnie. Carolyn, keeps running, and eventually
blunders into the hospital's famed tunnels. Following
them
she finds herself outside.. What would the "governor" do
now
that she has finally found freedom?
Police Officer Joe Gunther, is "the every man"
protagonist.
He is true, solid, caring, thoughtful and a team player.
He
had me along with him immediately, rooting for him and
his
dedicated, loyal team to find the answers to these
questions.
A little romance with the Medical Examiner, Beverly, was
an
enjoyable add-on. The events took many twists and turns
in
an exciting chase to discover the secrets behind so many
questions. Joe Gunther, our hero, persevered and won.
Archer Mayor is a master story teller. A cop and medical
examiner during the appearance of Hurricane Irene in
Vermont,
Mayor had a front row seat witnessing the disaster. A
powerful story that I thoroughly enjoyed with a finish
that
is sensational. A favorite new author for me to enjoy and
investigate further.
Archer Mayor's New York Times bestselling Joe Gunther
series returns with a complex case involving two corpses,
one escaped mental patient, and a long-held secret that
binds them together
“Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” —Ben
Franklin
Joe Gunther and his team—the Vermont Bureau of
Investigation (VBI)—are usually called in on major cases
by local Vermont enforcement whenever they need expertise
and back-up. But after the state is devastated by
Hurricane Irene, the police from one end of the state are
taxed to their limits, leaving Joe Gunther involved in an
odd, seemingly unrelated series of cases. In the wake of
the hurricane, a seventeen year old gravesite is exposed,
revealing a coffin that had been filled with rocks instead
of the expected remains.
At the same time, an old, retired state politician turns
up dead at his high-end nursing home, in circumstances
that leave investigators unsure that he wasn’t murdered.
And a patient who calls herself The Governor has walked
away from a state mental facility during the post-
hurricane flood. It turns out that she was indeed once
“Governor for a Day,” over forty years ago, but that she
might have also been falsely committed and drugged to keep
her from revealing something that she saw all those years
ago. Amidst the turmoil and the disaster relief, it’s up
to Joe Gunther and his team to learn what really happened
with the two corpses—one missing—and what secret “The
Governor” might have still locked in her brain that links
them all.