From Amazon.com
Willy Kunkle, a deputy cop, gets his own book in the largely under-the-radar
series of thoughtful mysteries featuring Vermont police chief Joe Gunther. Called to New York to claim the body of his ex-wife, the apparent victim of a drug overdose, Willy is forced to confront his troubled past while seeking evidence to support his hunch that the Manhattan cops are overlooking what is actually a homicide. Meanwhile, Gunther and another deputy, Willy's lover, run interference with the NYPD, where the cops aren't sure whether they ought to be helping Kunkle find a killer or arresting him before he becomes one. A thoughtful, powerful, psychologically acute novel that deserves to break Archer Mayor out the midlist,
The Sniper's Wife draws the reader inside the mind of a protagonist who justly deserves the focused attention Mayor pays him.
--Jane Adams
From Publishers Weekly
This intricate, first-rate thriller delves into the troubled past of Mayor's most complex character, Detective Willy Kunkle, of Joe Gunther's Vermont Bureau of Investigation. When Kunkle learns that his ex-wife Mary overdosed on heroin in Manhattan, he hastens there to identify her body. Suspecting murder, he convinces Ward Ogden, a high-ranking NYPD detective, to reopen the case. In tracing Mary's life in New York, Kunkle revisits his own Manhattan childhood, membership in the NYPD, the trauma of Vietnam and strained relations with his dysfunctional family. When he's arrested during a raid on an illegal club, Joe and Detective Sammie Martens, Kunkle's lover, come to New York, and the two country cops prove they're as astute as their city counterparts. As the plot becomes more convoluted but never confusing Kunkle's quest for Mary's killer parallels Ogden's and Joe's. A harrowing chase through New England leads them all to the defunct Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire and a heart-stopping finale. Mayor's understanding of human behavior makes his tortured protagonist an unforgettable character. His powers of description not confined to Vermont, the author imbues well-known and obscure New York neighborhoods with a sparkling sense of place. A riveting plot and exceptional writing will surely enhance Mayor's reputation.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
