Chat

Archer Mayor

The body of a middle aged average man is found floating in a lake in Vermont. Joe Gunther and his team from the Vermont Bureau of Investigation is called out to assist. There doesn't appear to be any trauma to the body; the man is drowned. But there isn't any identification on him or any apparent source of way to have gotten to the lake. As this investigation starts, Gunther receives a phone call. His brother and mother have been in a serious car crash and are both in the hospital. He races off to the hospital, leaving the others to follow up on the case.

His brother Leo is in Intensive Care barely conscious. He is able to tell Gunther that the crash was due to a car problem rather than icy winter roads. His mother is in a coma, with little apparent physical damage. So while his family is in dangerous shape, Gunther starts investigating the accident as well. Something doesn't feel right and he wants to make sure it really was an accident.

Now the VBI head field agent is involved in two investigations, one official and one unofficial that may not even be a crime. Gail Zigman, the woman he had been with for 20 years, also comes. She and Mrs. Gunther are still good friends despite the break up. Gunther is still coming to terms with the end of their relationship. The investigations and Gail keep him from worrying incessantly about his brother and mother as they are in the hospital.

This is the 18th novel in Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series. I was immediately pulled into the novel due to its comfortableness. It reminds me of Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott series, solid cozy mysteries with a strong base.Chat stands well on its own. Past characters are brought in enough for new readers to learn about them but not over introduced for those readers who have read all of them.

The murder mystery is crafted nicely, eventually centering around Internet chat rooms. The process to come to the conclusions is well built and followed properly. It's a believable mystery that brings the reader right along. I recommend Chat. I know I'll be reading other novels in the series as well.

Publicist provided for review

Open Season
Borderlines
Scent of Evil
The Skeleton's Knee
Fruits of the Poisonous Tree
The Dark Root
The Ragman’s Memory
Bellows Falls
The Disposable Man
Occam's Razor
The Marble Mask
Tucker Peak
The Sniper’s Wife
Gatekeeper
The Surrogate Thief
St.Alban's Fire
The Second Mouse
Chat
The Catch