Bomber’s Moon

“Bomber’s Moon” by Archer Mayor is part of the Joe Gunther series. Mayor quickly brings both old and readers up to date on the characters in a few sentences. Readers, both regular readers and ones new to the series, know who people are, what they have been doing, and immediately become immersed in their lives.
The story spotlights Brattleboro, Vermont, the state’s seventh-largest community and a self-described haven for transplanted tree-hugging trust-funders, a town which back in 2008, voted to have the police force arrest the president and vice president of the United States.
The main players in addition to Joe Gunther, Vermont Bureau of Investigation; include Sally Kravitz, private investigator; Alex B Robbin Hale, professional thief; and Rachael Reiling, reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer; and all are described in such detail that readers know them well — their backgrounds, connections to the past, scruples, talents, and philosophies of life. Descriptions are colorful and poetic.
The plot develops in a spontaneous and informal narrative; readers see and hear everything as events unfold. Conversations are casual and friendly. Mayor realistically portrays life in small towns where people know each other, lives intersect, and criminals hide in plain sight. Secondary stories are folded seamlessly into the main storyline.
Geography contributes to the realism, and readers can use Google maps to view the Brattleboro train station parking or the city of Windsor and even take a virtual stroll down Arch Street, observe the graffiti covered buildings, and watch the road turn to gravel by the railroad tracks. Even the title “Bomber’s Moon” is linked to the natural features of the area when on cloudless nights the moon combines with fallen snow to lend a pale blue boldness to the night; the term being a carryover from WW II, before night vision, as pilots relied on the moon to provide illumination for targets in the monochromatic targets of enemy territory.
“Bomber’s Moon” is beautifully written and enthralling to read. Mayor spins a solid and compelling story with plenty of suspense. I was given a review copy of “Bomber’s Moon” by Archer Mayor, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books. I have enjoyed every book in the series, and “Bomber’s Moon” is yet another example of Mayor’s story-telling expertise. New readers will want to go back and read the series from the start, and regular readers will anxiously await the next installment.

This is number 30 of the Joe Gunther series. Though I haven’t read any of the previous works, I think it can be read as a standalone. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I’d hoped. (I read this book while I was sick, which may have affected my view of the story. So keep that in mind.)

The highlight of the book was the relationship between Rachel, a new investigative reporter, and Sally, a private investigator with an unusual upbringing. Neither woman trusts easily. Both have been deeply wounded, yet desire to be helpful and are willing to take risks when necessary.

Throughout the book, it’s obvious that both need a friend. A thief who plot ingenious crimes brings the women together. It’s great to see them team up and hunt for answers. From a prep school storage vault to a library’s archive to the front seat of Sally’s old Subaru, the women are key to solving the crimes.

Sally’s been a loner for most of her life. But the lives of the other characters are tangled up with each other. Rachel and Joe Gunther have respect for one another’s professions and are willing to help each other out: him, by giving her first dibs on breaking news, and her, by giving him any relevant information her investigation yields.

That’s not all: Gunther is dating/semi-living-with Rachel’s divorced mother, Beverly, the state’s medical examiner. Two of Gunther’s coworkers, Sam and Willie, are romantic partners, and Sam respects Beverly enough to ask her advice on her daughter’s schooling. The tangling of lives is inevitable in a small town setting and mimics real life. (It also subtly points to a theme in the central crime.)

Multiple crimes happen. Burglary. Murder. Drugs. At points, it’s difficult to see how any of them might be related. (But this is fiction, so they have to be related, right?) Mayor weaves a tangled web of deceit, theft, sex, and murder; multiple people with different motivations are at work. It’s not until closer to the end that we see which strands come together and which are extraneous to the story.

Some of the crimes hit hot button topics, such as the MeToo movement and cybersecurity.

Another interesting (and fun) aspect of the book are the allusions to fiction. At several points, someone (usually Sally) mentions the differences between fictional investigations and real-life investigations:
1. Drivers don’t quickly pick out the cars tailing them. People are oblivious to the world.
2. The NSA isn’t all-knowing. Humans mess things up too much.
3. Action doesn’t always happen at the “ideal” moment when setting, timing, and plot line up best for dramatic purposes. Simply because it’s late night, snowing, and someone just stepped out of a bar, doesn’t mean that character will be robbed, kidnapped, or otherwise witness violence.

These thoughts simultaneously position this story on the side of reality, while drawing attention to its fictional nature. My inner English major geeks out about these sorts of things.

The downside? For me, it was Gunther and his team. It took me a long time to warm up to Gunther, though I eventually did. It wasn’t that I disliked any of the other team members or found their characterization lacking. I just never quite rooted for them, either. Long time series readers might feel differently.

I found Sally and Rachel to be far more interesting. I wonder if Mayor invested so much effort into writing their relationship and developing both characters that his usual cast (Gunther, Sam, etc.) took a hit as a result. Just a thought.

Overall, though, this was a good book. While it didn’t make me a fan of the series, it was a good mystery.