The Price of Malice

I've been reading and enjoying this series for a long time, but somehow listening to it was not a success. Mayor provides adjectival details for every line of dialog, and it slows down everything. I guess he doesn't trust the reader to remember who is chronically sarcastic and who is kind.

In this entry, Joe Gunther and his team are trying to solve a murder that leads them to a defensive, blended family in a trailer park. But Joe isn't really around to lead the investigation, because his newish girlfriend Lynn and her family have been shaken up by the discovery of her father's boat, which supposedly sank with all hands some years ago, with dangerous complications.

Oh well. The story was good enough, but I wish writers of this genre would show more stop having so many women ignore advice and walk into dangerous situations. One of the characters is a terrible ninny, and I got really impatient with her. show less

Wayne Castine is found dead. He abused children. Joe's investigation centers on the Putnam family. Karen, the mother, had relatlions with Castine on occasion.

While this was going on, Lyn was trying to find out more about what happened to her father and brother. In the midst of it, she gets kidnapped by Wellman Beale, from the previous book. Beale was somehow involved with Lyn's father.

The Price of Malice is typical Archer Mayor...readable, interesting, etc. The cast of characters is the same: Sammie Martens, Willie Kunkel, Ron and Lenny. No new ground broken, but a good read.

This episode is not up to par for Archer Mayor. Girlfriend Lynn Silva complicates Joe's personal and professional lives in ways that are inconsistent with reality. Trips to Gloucester, Bangor, etc while in the midst of a Vt murder investigation. One or the other plot line would have been fine; combined, not so good.