(1990) Joe is detoured off of an assignment to help with the case of a near cult where a fire kills 5 of its members and then another murder of a father of one of the cult members. Pretty good Vermont series. KIRKUS:A solid, ingratiating follow-up to Open Season, with all of that first book's plusses--Vermont topography rendered with map-precision; crusty protagonist, Joe Gunther, here on leave from the Brattleboro force; the forensic sciences, front and center. On temporary assignment in the tiny hamlet of Gannet, where he lived for a time with his gruff uncle Buster, Gunther finds the New Englanders upset by some interlopers--the Natural Order, a sexually loose band of cultists headed by autocratic environmentalist Edward Sarris. When a suspicious fire kills five cult members, the prime suspect is Brace Wingate, who threatened them when they wouldn't release his daughter Julie. Other possibilities include: Paul Gorman, a cult deprogrammer; a Gannet restauranteur, the feisty Greta, whose business was going under due to the Kingdom (cult) health-food cafe; Rennie Wilson, who was blackmailing Sarris; and one of Julie's lovers--but which one? Two murders follow before Gunther and assorted forensic specialists reconstruct the fire scene, as well as the boot and car tracks leading to a certain rendezvous, but not before the the formerly slumbering Gannet lumbers into a new decade of progress--and greed. A cool, dispassionate narrative style contrasts with the intense emotion and gruesome body assaults, to chilling effect. A powerful series--and this is only book two.Pub Date: Oct. 22, 1990ISBN: N/APage Count: -Publisher: Putnam

Brattleboro, VT, police Lt. Joe Gunther, has traveled north to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom to assist the State's Attorney with an embezzlement case. Joe had spent many happy summers in this area when he was growing up so it is a good excuse to visit with some old friends as well. The small town of Gannet has undergone major changes since Joe was last there. Much of the original town is going to ruin while a lot of the houses and farmland have been purchased by the Natural Order, a group of devoted followers of nature and their charismatic leader. There has been dissension between the townspeople and the cult but by and large they leave well enough alone. Joe is drawn into the turmoil when a housefire kills 5 members of the Order and it is suspected that a desperate father, who has come looking for his daughter in the cult, intentionally torched the house. When the father himself is murdered several days later Joe is devastated to learn that a long-time friend of his may be the chief suspect in all of the murders. Although he is worried about his friend, Joe follows every lead no matter where it might take him.

I really enjoy this series and Mayor's writing is just so well done. Joe is a great character, heroic but flawed, and you just have to root for him to catch that bad guy, which of course he does. I've only read 2 of the series so far but am really looking forward to more.
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Joe is loaned out to a state agency with a problem in a town he has close ties to, but before he can deal with the petty problem originally assigned, trouble breaks out between a sect that has taken over half the town, and the residents, when parents come to 'rescue' their daughter from the sect. Murder, friendship, memories that get tarnished, some brilliant tracking in the woods, and the thoughts and troubles of a man in the middle of his life - great stuff. ( )

Interesting characters and story with a complex and sort of a "cowboy up" ending. ( )

Loved the story seemed a bot long but this is the author's second book. I really think that Mayor is one of the best writers out there today. Looking forward to reading the third book in the series. ( )