The Company She Kept

A Joe Gunther Novel: The Joe Gunther Mysteries, Book 26

By: Archer Mayor

Narrated by: Tom Taylorson

During the height of a particularly brutal Vermont winter, a woman's body is found one morning 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 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 even more challenging.

While the antilesbian message is an obvious feint meant to mislead investigators, it does reveal that the governor is gay and forces her to publicly acknowledge that fact. In the meantime, while the publicity rages on to even greater heights, the police begin to focus intensely on the dead senator's life. One thing they uncover is that she had a fondness for recreational marijuana. In Vermont, however, neither lesbianism nor marijuana use justifies murder. It's up to Gunther and his team to find out not just who but why?

©2015 Archer Mayor (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Loving this Author

Everything is great story especially the end and the narrator is Awesome even wit feminine voices.

Better and better

This book is wonderfully closer to the style of the first Joe Gunther’s, and the narrator, Tom Taylorson, seems to finally have his groove back in the voice stylings of Joe.
Worth listening to.

TOM TAYLORSON IS FINALLY BACK!!

I enjoy these books by Archer Mayor so much, but there have been other narrators recently and its just not even close to the same book without him. Thank goodness he's back where he belongs!

Language!

I really love the books! Great story lines and terrific characters but bad language is getting to be a little too much!

Too Abrupt ending

My but the ending came so fast my mouth hung open. Story was just okay

Joe Gunther Bk 26

I was new to Joe Gunther mysteries //Archer Mayor and began listening with book 1. I was captivated by the character building of all the individuals in the series. I almost feel like I know each of their doppelgangers in my own life. As I was saying I began with book 1 and became so entrenched in the Joe Gunther mysteries I binged listened to all 32 books with fascination, escape, and enjoyment. I love the less than perfect characters, the thought processes each character manipulates and how each struggle with mental demons (some more than others) that make them real and come to life. I am also really impressed that not one of Mr Mayor’s stories (of all 32 books) repeat themselves in story line which is a impressive feat. My only disappointment is the next book isn’t out until Sept 2022.

Good story

Kept me on the edge and could not stop listening. Was surprised of ending and very suspenseful.

Not For the Faint of Heart!

Lots of unexpected and uncomfortable moments in this Archer Mayor story - But - solid plotlines and excellent character development ... Gail was back in full force (Ugh - isn't she just the worst?), so greatly appreciated the solidification of the Gunther/Hillstrom relationship. Keep up all the good work!

What else can the VBI do?

What a great story! Just when you think Joe and his team have done it all Susan Raffner gets killed. Once again the team go above and beyond to solve this crime with yet another visit to the hospital for Joe. Sammy seems like she is becoming more and more like Willy as the days go on, so much so that the boss must have a heart to heart with her. Sammy’s past undercover work pops back up unexpectedly and she goes to seek out Manny. Will this help them or hurt them? Gail drops a bombshell at one of Susan’s memorial services and Joe doesn’t know how to handle this one after dating her for 20 something years!! Will they solve the crime? Who killed Susan and why? Was it the drugs? Her being a politician? Or maybe it was her being a lesbian!! Go along the journey to find out why she was killed and by who!!

I had a hard time rating this book

As always, Tom Taylorson was in excellent form. The book lost points for covering a subject that I don't subscribe to, but gained points for not being preachy or aggressively nasty. It gained points for letting each character have his own opinion. It lost points for bringing politics into my entertainment, but gained them back because I knew in advance that these books have some politics in them, and I read it anyway. This series is a record of our times through the eyes of Vermont, from pay phones forward. My biggest take-aways, though, are that it was a good whodunit that kept me guessing til the end, and finally Joe is starting to see that Gail may not be the best person in the world, though he loves her and forgives her still. Joe Gunther is a lesson to us all: be the best that you can be, look for the best in other people.