Bury the Lead

A murder, an arson, and an outbreak of Ebola - the latest case for Joe Gunther and the VBI team is a deadly and complex puzzle.

When the body of a young woman is found near a trail at a popular ski mountain, the case falls to Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI). They quickly have a suspect, Mick Durocher, and a confession, but not everyone on the team is convinced. Despite Mick's ready admission, investigators sense there might be more to the case than meets the eye.

At the same time, a large local business is targeted with escalating acts of vandalism-a warehouse fire, a vandalized truck, a massive cooling system destroyed-resulting in loss of life. Intriguingly, Mick Durocher, the confessed murderer, was once employed by this very company.

These two puzzling cases-now possibly connected-are further complicated when a key member of VBI, Willy Kunkle, undergoes surgery at a hospital that appears to be having an unlikely-and suspiciously timed-outbreak of Ebola.

As Joe and his team dig deeper, they uncover motives that might link the crimes, realizing that trust betrayed can be a toxic virus, turning love into murderous loathing. With another victim's life on the line, Joe must unravel a tragic history before it's too late in this gripping addition to Archer Mayor's acclaimed Joe Gunther mystery series.