Occam's Razor - (Joe Gunther Mysteries) by Archer Mayor (Paperback)

About the Book

When Gunther finds a dead man on some railroad tracks, he smells foul play. His suspicions are confirmed when an anonymous tip links the killing to another grisly murder. As he looks into the killings and grows puzzled, Gunther recalls the old maxim--Occam's Razor--which implies that too many theories can muddle clear thinking.

Book Synopsis

The body was positioned so that the train neatly obliterated its head and hands. Dressed in a homeless man's clothes with empty pockets, it might easily be passed-off as an unfortunate John Doe. And yet... Joe Gunther has a knack for knowing when things don't quite add up, and the math in this case is all kinds of wrong. Add a toxic waste dumping scheme, a stabbing, and a whole lot of state politics... if Occam's razor were applied to Gunther's caseload, how many incisions would it make?

Review Quotes

"Mayor is a gifted storyteller, and his books always offer well-crafted characters, skillful storytelling, and one of the strongest senses of place in the mystery genre. This one wont disappoint, and a lyrical 200-word description of a Brattleboro snowfall might be the sweetest, most knowing 200 words of the year."

Booklist

"As a stylist, Mayor is one of those meticulous construction workers who are fascinated with the way things function. He's the boss man on procedures."

The New York Times

"Mayors sturdy series about police lieutenant Joe Gunther has much more on its mind than just mystery. Each book tackles at least one important social issue -- but Mayors greatest strength remains his uncanny ability to capture the seedy, seamy sides of life in his home state of Vermont."

Publishers Weekly

"Mayor is not given to gimmicks and manipulation. There are flashier writers, but few deliver such well-rounded novels of such consistently high quality. When asked what they do for a living, Mayor explains, most Vermonters will answer, everything. As it happens, that's also what Mayor the writer does well: everything."

The Arizona Daily Star

About the Author

Archer Mayor is the author of the highly acclaimed Vermont-based series featuring detective Joe Gunther, which the Chicago Tribune describes as "the best police procedurals being written in America." He is a past winner of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction--the first time a writer of crime literature has been so honored. In 2011, Mayor's 22nd Joe Gunther novel, TAG MAN, earned a place on The New York Times bestseller list for hardback fiction.

Before turning his hand to fiction, Mayor wrote history books, the most notable of which, Southern Timberman: The Legacy of William Buchanan, concerned the lumber and oil business in Louisiana from the 1870s to the 1970s. This book was published in 1988 and very well received; it was republished as a trade paperback in 2009.

Archer Mayor is a death investigator for Vermont's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, a detective for the Windham County Sheriff's Office, the publisher of his own backlist, a travel writer for AAA, and he travels the Northeast giving speeches and conducting workshops. He has 25 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter/EMT. Mayor was brought up in the US, Canada and France and had been employed as a scholarly editor, a researcher for TIME-LIFE Books, a political advance-man, a theater photographer, a newspaper writer/editor, a lab technician for Paris-Match Magazine in Paris, France, and a medical illustrator. In addition to writing novels and occasional articles, Mayor gives talks and workshops all around the country, including the Bread Loaf Young Writers conference in Middlebury, Vermont, and the Colby College seminar on forensic sciences in Waterville, Maine.

Mayor's critically-acclaimed series of police novels feature Lt. Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro, Vermont, police department. The books, which have been appearing about once a year since 1988, have been published in five languages (if you count British), and routinely gather high praise from such sources as The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker, and others, often appearing on their "ten best" yearly lists.

Whereas many writers base their books only on interviews and scholarly research, Mayor's novels are based on actual experience in the field. The result adds a depth, detail and veracity to his characters and their tribulations that has led The New York Times to call him "the boss man on procedures".