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63rd out of 76 books
—
24 voters
Paradise City (Joe Gunther #23)
by
Archer Mayor (Goodreads Author)
Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation are alerted to a string of unrelated burglaries across Vermont. In addition to flatscreens, computers, and stereos, someone has also been stealing antiques and jewelry.
Meanwhile, in Boston, an elderly woman surprises thieves in her Beacon Hill home and is viciously murdered. The Bostonpolice find that not only...more
Meanwhile, in Boston, an elderly woman surprises thieves in her Beacon Hill home and is viciously murdered. The Bostonpolice find that not only...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
October 2nd 2012
by Minotaur Books
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PROTAGONIST: Lieut. Joe Gunther
SETTING: Northampton, Massachusetts
SERIES:#23 of 23
RATING: 4.25
The Vermont Bureau of Investigation is a statewide major crimes unit which only participates in solving crime when invited by local agencies. Usually, this means that the crime is one that the locals don’t have the resources or background to handle. The latest case referred to Lieutenant Joe Gunther and his team (Willy Kunkel, Samantha Martens and Lester Spinney) involves the robbery and torching of a c...more
SETTING: Northampton, Massachusetts
SERIES:#23 of 23
RATING: 4.25
The Vermont Bureau of Investigation is a statewide major crimes unit which only participates in solving crime when invited by local agencies. Usually, this means that the crime is one that the locals don’t have the resources or background to handle. The latest case referred to Lieutenant Joe Gunther and his team (Willy Kunkel, Samantha Martens and Lester Spinney) involves the robbery and torching of a c...more
Paradise City: A Joe Gunther Novel is the latest in the series billed as featuring Joe Gunther, but is more and more about his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Their latest case begins at what is left of a multimillion dollar home on Tucker Peak. Thanks to moneyed interests, local politics, and other factors, the local commander of the Vermont State Police wants no part of the case and gladly gives the case to the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. That means Joe Gunther and his eccent...more
This is an audiobook review- Audible have this listed as book #22
Rating: 2.5 stars for story content
Rating: 4 stars for narrator
Paradise City Book #22 in the Joe......
Author: Archer Mayor
Unabridged
Production Length 8 hrs 57 mins
Narrator: William Dufris
Publisher: AudioGo
Year: 2012
I am prefacing this review by saying I have not read any others in the series.
This is book # 22
I was slightly confused about the characters and their relationship to each other, I did have to re-listen to certain section...more
Rating: 2.5 stars for story content
Rating: 4 stars for narrator
Paradise City Book #22 in the Joe......
Author: Archer Mayor
Unabridged
Production Length 8 hrs 57 mins
Narrator: William Dufris
Publisher: AudioGo
Year: 2012
I am prefacing this review by saying I have not read any others in the series.
This is book # 22
I was slightly confused about the characters and their relationship to each other, I did have to re-listen to certain section...more
PARADISE CITY. (2012). Archer Mayor. **.
This is another installment in Mayor’s Joe Gunther series of police procedurals. Normally, they are well-plotted with the additional benefit of exploring the human side of his characters. He continues to focus on his characters, but in the process this time, lost control of his plot. The last third of this novel ends with what seems to be the ending to what should have been the true beginning of the book, but got lost along the way. Mayor is a fine writer...more
This is another installment in Mayor’s Joe Gunther series of police procedurals. Normally, they are well-plotted with the additional benefit of exploring the human side of his characters. He continues to focus on his characters, but in the process this time, lost control of his plot. The last third of this novel ends with what seems to be the ending to what should have been the true beginning of the book, but got lost along the way. Mayor is a fine writer...more
5 likes · like · see review
A Joe Gunther novel can be counted on for tight dialogue and a detail-oriented police procedural. That is the case in this latest addition to the series, which begins with a burglary in Boston. The investigation soon spreads to Northampton and Vermont, where a similar string of burglaries has taken place. What is strange, however, is that the usual targeted items such as TVs and computers are left behind, and jewelry and silver go missing.
Somehow the Vermont and Boston capers are brought to the...more
Somehow the Vermont and Boston capers are brought to the...more
#23 in the Joe Gunther series. In addition to crime solving, ageing cop Joe Gunther has domestic issues. He is still grieving the murder of his lover Lyn Silva - and fields calls from Gail Zigman, new Governor of VT and former long time lover. VBI team member Willie Kunkle is feeling stressed by his relationship with fellow agent Sammy Martens and their infant daughter.
Joe Gunther series - Similar robberies, focused on antiques and jewelry, occur in both Vermont and Boston, and the Boston case b...more
Joe Gunther series - Similar robberies, focused on antiques and jewelry, occur in both Vermont and Boston, and the Boston case b...more
Archer Mayor is one of my favorite authors, for several reasons. First of all, I really enjoy his books. Having read all of the Joe Gunther series, I feel like I'm spending time with friends each time I pick up the latest addition to the series. Also, I had the pleasure of listening to Archer Mayor speak at the inaugural Newburyport Literary Festival some years back. He is as charming and interesting as his main character! One caveat - I don't know what number in the series this is, but I admit...more
I recieved this book as a first read and was very excited to start it. The begining is very well thought out and the characters are well defined and given a lot of background information. I liked the story line and plot, things moved very smoothly and kept things interesting. Though I thought the ending was very sudden and put together in a few pages when there could have been more depth and closer. Things tied together fast instead of taking the detail time that the rest of the book gave. There...more
2 likes · like · see review
I received this book from the Goodreads First Read Program.
In Boston, elderly Billie Hawthorn surprises three men in the process of burglarizing her home. She is severly beaten and later dies. In Vermont, another up-scale home is burglarizes and tourched. A link to the two crimes is discovered when the police raid the home of a local "fence". It is revealed that there is a market for stolen jewelry and gold and it seems to be centered in Northampton. A task force is formed to look into it. Mina...more
In Boston, elderly Billie Hawthorn surprises three men in the process of burglarizing her home. She is severly beaten and later dies. In Vermont, another up-scale home is burglarizes and tourched. A link to the two crimes is discovered when the police raid the home of a local "fence". It is revealed that there is a market for stolen jewelry and gold and it seems to be centered in Northampton. A task force is formed to look into it. Mina...more
Archer Mayor churns out his Joe Gunther series on at least a yearly basis. I've read most of them, in part because their locales are familiar, and his protagonist is likeable, although fairly two-dimensional. This latest in a long series is fair-to-middling. Perhaps I'm just tired of Joe's aging angst, and Willy Kunkle's sourness. The story involves both the familiar - Vermont - and for Mayor, the unfamiliar, venturing into Northhampton, MA, in a convoluted tale of large-scale jewelry theft and...more
Joe Gunther and his team find out that jewelry and other difficult to fence objects are being bought up someone in Northampton. Meanwhile an elderly woman in Boston has been murdered and robbed, and her jewelry has probably gone to Northampton. Her granddaughter, Mina, decides the police aren't doing enough, and goes to Northampton to try to find out what happened to her grandmothers jewelry (and to trace it to her murderer). Gunther and team, the Boston police, and Chief of Police in Northampto...more
Paradise City
Archer Mayor
A daring theft in one of Boston’s oh-so-wealthier sections goes horribly wrong when an old woman is murdered.
It turns out that the robbery/homicide is related to a series of housebreaks in Vermont’s wealthier areas, and the Vermont Bureau of Investigation is on the case. Add some characters from Mayor’s previous books, an illegal alien jewelry designer, a determined granddaughter of the victim and the college town of Northampton (for those not from New England, Northampt...more
Archer Mayor
A daring theft in one of Boston’s oh-so-wealthier sections goes horribly wrong when an old woman is murdered.
It turns out that the robbery/homicide is related to a series of housebreaks in Vermont’s wealthier areas, and the Vermont Bureau of Investigation is on the case. Add some characters from Mayor’s previous books, an illegal alien jewelry designer, a determined granddaughter of the victim and the college town of Northampton (for those not from New England, Northampt...more
First half of book is vintage Mayor -- fast pace, intriguing plot, great set-up. Second half not so much as suspects pop up randomly towards end of book and it has one of the most rushed, unfulfilling endings of any of Mayor's Joe Gunter novels.
Mayor moves out of Vermont in chi-chi Northampton, MA home of Smith College and the uber-enlightened Me Generation and its sucessor X, Y, Z generations schooled in all the usual ultra-liberal schtick.
However, crimes such as jewelry heists and the illegal...more
Mayor moves out of Vermont in chi-chi Northampton, MA home of Smith College and the uber-enlightened Me Generation and its sucessor X, Y, Z generations schooled in all the usual ultra-liberal schtick.
However, crimes such as jewelry heists and the illegal...more
I won this book as a giveaway, ironically it is set in a city, Northampton MA that I live and worked in. That is not why this book, for me, was 5 stars.
This is a great story. Mr Mayor has been writing these Joe Gunther novels for many years. This is the first one I have read (and not the last). I feel like I have known these people personally for 30 years. The character development is fantastic. The story is so original and unpredictable I did not want to put the book down. wonderfully done. I f...more
This is a great story. Mr Mayor has been writing these Joe Gunther novels for many years. This is the first one I have read (and not the last). I feel like I have known these people personally for 30 years. The character development is fantastic. The story is so original and unpredictable I did not want to put the book down. wonderfully done. I f...more
Another New England adventure. Joe G. is in Vermont, but the bulk of this story takes place in Northampton, MA. We lived half an hour north of there and I remember it well. Mayor describes it beautifully and colorfully.
The usual gang is here and a few others. Good story lines on Willy, Sam and Joe. An a former character makes a great appearance and I was pleased with that.
Interesting story lines of antiques being stolen and refitted as newer pieces as well as a Asian workers being brought illega...more
The usual gang is here and a few others. Good story lines on Willy, Sam and Joe. An a former character makes a great appearance and I was pleased with that.
Interesting story lines of antiques being stolen and refitted as newer pieces as well as a Asian workers being brought illega...more
A burglary that sends the elderly homeowner in Boston and other burglaries in Vermont end up involving Joe Gunther and the VBI in a task force of Boston, Northampton and the VBI investigators. Items of jewelry and silver are being stolen, but electronics and other valuables are left behind and this is a puzzle to the police. Clues are slowly uncovered and the granddaughter of the injured homeowner in Boston takes it upon herself to do her own investigating she puts herself in harm’s way but she...more
1 like · like · see review
I enjoy Mayor's Joe Gunther series. Each book is an easy read; nothing too gory or too complicated. Nice when you're looking for something entertaining and slow-paced (or at least not too fast-paced). I liked the plot here and enjoyed figuring out who the bad guys were, but thought the ending was strange. It seemed as if Mayor got tired of writing and just said he was done with it. I finished it and then an hour or so later, couldn't remember if I had read through to the last page! I don't think...more
Reading another Archer Mayer "Joe Gunther novel" is like trying on a comfortable sweater. His characters are well known, his plots interestingly constructed, and -- in particular -- set in familiar local locations (he is based in Brattleboro, VT).
This one is, as expected, a good read. Nothing spectacular, more a comfortable, familiar read.
We are still wondering who will be Joe's next female interest. There were a couple of possibilities in this one; perhaps they will return in the next one in th...more
This one is, as expected, a good read. Nothing spectacular, more a comfortable, familiar read.
We are still wondering who will be Joe's next female interest. There were a couple of possibilities in this one; perhaps they will return in the next one in th...more
A Joe Gunther mystery (#23).
As usual, solid plotting and characters, and an interesting locale (something of a Mayor signature) — in this case, Northampton, Massachusetts. I'm pretty sure that Northampton came up in a book about urban planning (maybe by the guy who wrote THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE) as a good example of how some communities have reclaimed and revitalized their downtown cores and bucked the automobile driven trend toward suburbanization. A bit of researched called for here...
As usual, solid plotting and characters, and an interesting locale (something of a Mayor signature) — in this case, Northampton, Massachusetts. I'm pretty sure that Northampton came up in a book about urban planning (maybe by the guy who wrote THE GEOGRAPHY OF NOWHERE) as a good example of how some communities have reclaimed and revitalized their downtown cores and bucked the automobile driven trend toward suburbanization. A bit of researched called for here...
The mystery aisle in our little library is a popular place - I suspect that if I ran a report I would discover that mysteries are read more widely that anything else in our library. Until now, i have never read anything by any of the popular authors in that aisle. I started with Archer Mayor because he is fairly local - Vermont and the book is set in Northampton, Massachusetts.
I found the descriptions of Northampton and surrounding areas to be distracting.
But The book is readable and I needed t...more
I found the descriptions of Northampton and surrounding areas to be distracting.
But The book is readable and I needed t...more
After reading two fairly strange books, I needed some comfort food. Joe Gunther to the rescue. I have real almost all of these novels and they are always well crafted and great fun to read. Something about crime in Vermont and the surrounding states that feels different somehow. Pot roast, hot chocolate, Joe Gunther; they all feel so good. Willy and Sammie are there as usual, with an interesting stlry and a couple of weirdos as always. Archer Mayor does another good job.
The latest entry in a good solid series. The author actually is a part-time M.E. and investigator in Vermont so his characters and places ring true. This book takes place mostly in Northampton, Mass and involves cooperation between different forces, etc. A good plot that moves right along and delivers a little twist at the end. I also like the way Mayor handles the aging of his main character, Joe Gunther.
Has the Joe Gunther series "jumped the shark"? I have enjoyed Mayor's set of novels about a Vermont lawman, but this latest installment left me yawning. All the ingredients are in place for a great story, but somehow the whole is less than the sum of the parts. The formula may be getting stale, and in need of a quantum shift.
Joe Gunther and his usual sidekicks take on jewel thieves and human traffickers in this one. This seemed to be a typically entertaining Joe Gunther story, but I thought it had more surprises than usual. This is one of the better mysteries I've read for a while.
In this book, Joe Gunther solves a crime that takes him to a Massachusetts town. It is obvious that he spends time in the cities where he sets his stories. Having visited North Hampton, I recognized the setting. Will Joe find a new love?
I'm a big fan of Mayor's work. I live in the Brattleboro area, and part of me expects to bump into these people on any given day.
This one is good but not great. It's an interesting read, but there isn't much suspense that grabbed me.
This one is good but not great. It's an interesting read, but there isn't much suspense that grabbed me.
This was not one of Mr. Mayor's best novels, if given the option, I'd rate it 3.5. The plot as always was clever and the Police Procedures cannot be faulted. Unfortunately, the Novel deserved a couple extra chapters to finish what could have been a great plot.
I would have liked to have heard more of "Amy" after her heroic act. But the whole issue of slave labor was left hanging.
This was also the first novel of Mr. Mayor's were I didn't get the feeling he spent much time in the locale of his st...more
I would have liked to have heard more of "Amy" after her heroic act. But the whole issue of slave labor was left hanging.
This was also the first novel of Mr. Mayor's were I didn't get the feeling he spent much time in the locale of his st...more
VT goes to MASS for this title in the Joe Gunther police procedural series. Good writing, reasonably interesting plot. I give Archer Mayor kudos for giving intelligent female characters good billing in his series.
Won this book on a recent First Reads give away.
It was a decent enough story. It is not really an action mystery, if you are looking for something along the lines of Jack Reacher or Bourne. It read smoothly and had a couple of small plot twists, although the majority of the plot was telegraphed well in advance. That said, I still enjoyed the easy going nature of Joe Gunther and the team he had assembled with in the book.
It was a decent enough story. It is not really an action mystery, if you are looking for something along the lines of Jack Reacher or Bourne. It read smoothly and had a couple of small plot twists, although the majority of the plot was telegraphed well in advance. That said, I still enjoyed the easy going nature of Joe Gunther and the team he had assembled with in the book.
One of the better Gunther novels, involving a sinister operation in Northampton Mass. I found this very involving throughout with a bunch of subplots and some interesting villains. Mayor weaves a more intricate story here and adds more than the usual amount of action found in a Gunther novel. This is a good read if you like the genre.
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Over the years, Archer Mayor has been photographer, teacher, historian, scholarly editor, feature writer, travel writer, lab technician, political advance man, medical illustrator, newspaper writer, history researcher, publications consultant, constable, and EMT/firefighter. He is also half Argentine, speaks two languages, and has lived in several countries on two continents.
All of which makes mak...more
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Mar 04, 2013 06:15pm