Bomber’s Moon: A Joe Gunther Novel

In bestseller Mayor’s intricate 30th Joe Gunther novel (after 2018’s Bury the Lead), Joe and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation look into the stabbing murder of small-time crook Lyall Johnson. The night before Johnson was found dead in his apartment, he had an argument with his “usual comrade in crime,” Brandon Leggatt, but Leggatt claims he left the apartment while Lyall was alive. Meanwhile, reporter Rachel Reilling, the daughter of Joe’s medical examiner lover, gets on the trail of burglar Alex Hale, who’s excited about some information he discovered on a laptop he stole. The stakes rise when this information, which relates to an elite Vermont prep school, leads to Hale’s fatal shooting by a lake where he went for a secret meeting. Mayor skillfully weaves together the various plot strands as they converge on a dramatic confrontation between Joe and a killer. Newcomers may get impatient at times with irrelevant personal details. Fans of this long-running series, however, will enjoy catching up with Joe and the other VBI regulars. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency. (Sept.)