Chat by Archer Mayor

August 9, 2018

Born July 30, 1950, in Mount Kisco, NY; Education: Yale University, B.A., 1973. Addresses: Home: Newfane, VT.

Archer Mayor's experience as Vermont's assistant medical examiner shapes his writing, the long-running series of Joe Gunther mysteries. Mayor's novels are noir-inflected police procedurals, juxtaposing Vermont's wholesome natural beauty with the often harsh realities of human nature and modern life in the rural Northeast. Character development and police procedural elements often share equal footing in Mayor's narratives: the varied cast of characters is well-imagined, including the villains, yet the author also provides clear and informative explanation of police procedures and forensics. His writing style is coolly detached, letting characters and facts speak for themselves. Start with: Open Season.

Open season  (1988 )  Series: Joe Gunther mysteries, 1  

Lt. Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro, Vermont, police force has a serious problem: in a community where a decade could pass without a single murder, the body count is suddenly mounting. ...

Borderlines (1990) , # 2

Scent of evil (1992)  # 3

The skeleton's knee (1993)  # 4

Fruits of the poisonous tree  (1994)  # 5

The dark root (1995) # 6

The ragman's memory (1996)  # 7

Bellows Falls (1997),  # 8

The disposable man (1998)  # 9

Occam's razor (1999)  # 10

The marble mask (2000) # 11

Tucker Peak (2001) # 12

The sniper's wife (2002) # 13

Gatekeeper (2003), # 14

The surrogate thief (2004) # 15

St. Albans fire (2005) # 16

The second mouse (2006) # 17

Chat (2007), # 18

"When a wintertime car accident leaves his mother and brother seriously injured, Joe Gunther takes a leave of absence to attend to them and investigate the cause of the crash"-

The catch ( 2008) # 19

The price of malice (2009) # 20

Red herring (2010)  # 21

Tag man (2011) # 22

Paradise city  (2012) # 23

Three can keep a secret

(2013) # 24

Proof positive  (2013) # 25

The company she kept

(2015) # 26

Presumption of guilt (2016) # 27

Trace (2017) # 28

Bury the lead (Sep 2018, Forthcoming) # 29

Read alikes:

Lehane, Dennis

Reason:  Like Archer Mayor, Dennis Lehane evokes a distinct and interesting locale, delving beneath the surface to get at the desperation that drives people over the edge and into conflict with the Law. While Lehane's protagonists are compassionate, they aren't always able to unravel underlying mysteries of the human heart and mind. -- Gillian Speace

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro novels   Reason: The Patrick Kenzie-Angela Gennaro and Joe Gunther novels are hard-boiled mystery series in which the criminals often have deeper psychological problems that cause them to commit crimes. A dark atmosphere prevails in both settings. -- Rebecca Sigmon

Joe Burgess mysteries  by Kate Flora Reason: The Joe Burgess and Joe Gunther mysteries are solid police procedurals featuring sheriffs in New England. The well developed sleuths are sensitive men with personal problems. The gritty books have richly drawn characters and a strong sense of place. -- Merle Jacob

Peter Diamond mysteries  by Peter Reason: Though the Joe Gunther mysteries are set in Battleboro, Vermont and the Peter Diamond mysteries take place in Bath, England, both atmospheric series feature intriguing police inspectors, airtight plotting, and a strong sense of place. -- Mike Nilsson

Archer Mayor Home Page, http://www.archermayor.com

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

July 12, 2018

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

Born 1967, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. Education: Attended Glasgow University; St. Andrews University, M.Litt. Addresses: Home: Glasgow, Scotland.

AWARDS:

Scottish Book Trust New Writer's Award, 2013; Man Booker shortlist, 2016, for His Bloody Project.

WRITINGS:

• The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau,  2014 (Inspector Gorski, #1)
• His Bloody Project,  2015.

A triple murder in a remote northwestern farming community in 1869 leads to the arrest of a young man by the name of Roderick Macrae. There’s no question that Macrae is guilty, but the police and courts must uncover what drove him to murder the local village constable and his two children.

• Accident on the A35, 2017 (Inspector Gorski, #2)

Graeme Macrae Burnet worked for several years in television before becoming a writer, and he told a Spark Web site interviewer: "I try to treat it as a kind of nine to five-ish sort of thing and if I'm at the stage of producing a first draft I aim to write a thousand words or so a day. But some days are more productive than others."

…

Burnet's second novel, His Bloody Project, is presented as the memoir of a murderer, and it is meant to be read as such. The historical crime tale is set in the late 1800s, when Roderick Macrae is arrested for a brutal triple murder. Roddy's memoir reveals and ensures his guilt, and it becomes a widely studied text as lawyers and psychologists attempt to understand the mind of a killer. Discussing the novel on the Creative Scotland Web site, Burnet commented: "What's often the hardest thing to research and the most important to get right, was the real minutia of how people lived then. The small details of what they ate, what they wore--the real day to day intricacies." The author also noted: "Ultimately the key thing for me to get right was Roddy's prison narrative which is the real centre of the book. Writing a historical novel using the first person presents a challenge in itself as you have to really commit to the voice of your narrator."

Read-alikes from NoveList.

Burial rites by Hannah Kent

Reason: Despite very different locales (Bloody Project is set in Scotland, Burial Rites in Iceland), both are similarly atmospheric character-driven historical novels in which an individual's trial for murder reveals the biases and societal problems of isolated 19th-century rural communities. -- Kim Burton

The unquiet grave  by Sharyn McCrumb

Reason: Both are character-driven novels about 19th-century murders: his Bloody Project is set in Scotland, The Unquiet Grave takes place in post-Civil War West Virginia; each vividly evokes a strong sense of place, and raises murky questions of guilt and innocence. -- Kim Burton

Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue

Reason: Both are compelling, character-driven historical novels about young protagonists placed on trial for murder. Each explores how class conflicts and societal oppression influences their fate. While His Bloody Project is gritty and compelling, Slammerkin is more spare and reflective. -- Kim Burton

         See what I have done  by Sarah Schmidt Reason: These compelling historical thrillers generate suspense through unreliable narrators and multiple perspectives. In the wake of brutal murders, family members of the accused offer eyewitness testimony -- contradicting one another's accounts as well as the suspect's own version of events. -- Gillian Speace

CUT  by Amy S. Pele

June 14, 2018

Amy S. Peele was born and raised in the Chicago area, and now lives in Marin County in California. Having spent thirty five years working in the field of organ transplantation, she brings a fresh, knowledgeable, and humorous new voice into the world of mystery novels.

In addition to killing people in her murder mysteries, she enjoys meditating, teaching yoga, swimming, and pursuing her spirituality by studying the teachings of Deepak Chopra.

CUT: A MEDICAL MURDER MYSTERY is the first in her trilogy of

“Medical Murder Mysteries with a Mission.” She hopes her books will provide insight into transplantation and organ donation by combining the seriousness of the topic with a sprinkle of humor. The novel release date coincides with April being National Donate Life Month.

While the federal government is launching a national investigation on the “equity” of organ donation, a female tech CEO flies across the country to get a liver transplant. Soon, well-respected transplant nurse Sarah Golden and her sassy best friend, Jackie Larsen, find themselves tangled up in an intense plot to uncover the answer to the question on everyone’s mind: Can you buy your way up to the top of the transplant waiting list?

Sarah and Jackie’s pursuit of justice sends them on a sometimes fun, sometimes dangerous adventure to Miami, San Francisco, and Chicago—a roller coaster ride from which they barely escape with their lives.

Author’s website:  http://amyspeele.com/

“Very happy to report that CUT has won the 2017 Independent Press Award in the Medical Mystery category. This was such a nice surprise!  Also excited to share that CUT has also placed as a finalist in the 2017 International Book Awards!”

Read alikes -- transplants

Boy in the Suitcase  By Lane Kaaberbol,  (2011)

When Nina Borg, a Red Cross nurse, finds a naked child in a suitcase, she is drawn into a child trafficking plot.

Never Let Me Go By Kuzo Ishiguro, (2006)

Human Clones serve as organ donors

Vulture Peak  By John Burdett, (2012)

Nobody knows Bangkok like Royal Thai Police Detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, and there is no one quite like Sonchai: a police officer who has kept his Buddhist soul intact—more or less ….He’s put in charge of the highest-profile criminal case in Thailand—an attempt to bring an end to trafficking in human organs.

Charade  By  Sandra Brown, (1994)

After Cat Delaney receives a heart transplant, she thinks that she can begin life anew by hosting a television show, until someone begins murdering transplant recipients, and Cat is next on the list.

At what cost: a detective Penley mystery By James L'Etoile, (2016)

Police Detective John Penley and his new partner are tasked with hunting down a serial killer leaving behind bodies without internal organs, when the killer suggests a deal regarding Penley's son, who is on a kidney transplant waiting list.

Series: Detective Penley mysteries, 1