Trace by Archer Mayor

In Mayor’s 28th outing in the Joe Gunther series (the previous book being Presumption of Guilt, which apparently I didn’t review), Joe actually takes a back seat to the rest of his small crew: Lester Spinney, Sam Martens and Will Kunkle. Each is responsible for his/her own case–Lester follows up on a cold case (actually a case which seemed cut and dried previously which now has developed some wrinkles), Sam investigates the murder of a friend of Rachel Hillstrom (the daughter of medical examiner and Joe’s par amour Beverly Hillstrom) and Willie chases the possible sabotage of a supplier of U.S. military equipment. Joe, meanwhile, it out of town in Louisiana with his mother who is in a rehab center, having contracted a rare form of Lyme disease.

There are different types of families. There are those that get together quite often, love each other and are animated and there are those who get together once a year and that’s just fine. I’m finding the Joe Gunther family is falling into the latter category. While Trace was interesting, there was no spice to it. It’s tough writing a 28 episode series and keeping it young and fresh. Possibly some new characters are in order. Maybe a little more action. Whatever the missing ingredient, Trace is a lackluster entry into Mayor’s long running series.