Gail Zigman, town selectwoman and Joe Gunther's companion of many years, is raped, and the detective finds himself caught between the media, local politicians, and a network of well-meaning victims' rights advocates as he tries to put his own feelings aside and follow the trail of evidence. Every lead seems to point to a single, obvious suspect, but is the evidence too perfect? Risking his friendship with Gail, the respect of his peers, and his own life, Lt. Gunther keeps digging, hoping to find out if the man they have in jail is rightly there, or if the evidence against him is tainted-"fruits of the poisonous tree."
Publishers Weekly,This latest case featuring Brattleboro, Vt., detective Joe Gunther is the series' most ambitious entry-and its most flawed. Two hours after Joe leaves the bed of his lover, Gail Zigman, she is raped. The rapist's methodology-including tiny knife wounds, property destruction and underwear draped across a lamp shade-strongly hints at the identity of Gail's assailant: local deadbeat and drunk Bob Vogel, who has raped before and gotten away with it. This time the case against Vogel is a sound one, especially after he stabs Joe during a chase in an underground tunnel. But there are subtle discrepancies between Gail's rape and Vogel's earlier ones. Is there a copycat rapist on the prowl? Mayor's attempt to enter the traumatized minds of Gail and Joe is courageous and partially successful, but too many cardboard characters impede the story. The feminists supporting Gail are too strident, the local newspaperman is too crusading, the local politicians are too self-serving and the prime suspect is too, too vile. This novel is, overall, a morass-and an unexpected one after the author's success with such earlier Joe Gunther novels as Borderlines. Author tour. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
