BELLOWS FALLS — Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls welcomes Newfane author Archer Mayor on Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.
Mayor, the author of the New York Times bestselling, Vermont-based mystery series featuring detective Joe Gunther, will read from and discuss his 26th book, The Company She Kept.
Archer's newest book deals with gay civil rights issues. Vermont was the first state to offer civil unions for lesbians and gays, but not all Vermonters were open-minded.
During the height of a particularly brutal Vermont winter, one morning a woman's body is found hanging high above the interstate. The woman, found with the word “dyke” carved on her chest is quickly determined to be the victim of a brutal murder. That alone is enough to bring in Joe Gunther and his VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) team.
But when the victim is identified not only as a state senator, but as an intimate friend of the governor's, it unleashes a publicity maelstrom that makes a difficult investigation more challenging.
When he's not writing, Mayor works as an investigator for the sheriff's department, a death investigator for Vermont's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and a police detective. He also has 26 years experience as a volunteer firefighter/EMT. Also of note, Mayor had a brief stint as a Bellows Falls police officer.
A Yale graduate, scholar, editor, researcher, photographer, his resume reveals work as a political advance man, a medical illustrator, and recently, a winner of the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts. Industry peers will often hear Mayor speak at national conferences on forensics. The New York Times calls Archer Mayor “The boss man on procedures,” and Booklist states that “Mayor's Joe Gunther novels are among the best cop stories being written today.”