Occam's Razor

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?"The same attention to detail that leads Joe Gunther to the hidden connections of his diverse criminal cases also gives us close-up views of how things get done in other businesses—from a one-room machine shop and an old army-navy store to a giant lumber mill and even the state legislature. And if you should want to know what brutal things you can do with a ball-peen hammer, here's where you can find out." — Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times"Archer Mayor turns in another excellent police procedural" — Robert Wade, The San Diego Union-Tribune"Though Mayor makes his hero simplify matters on the way to an answer, he demands more of himself, keeping his narrative complex. While manipulating multiple storylines, Mayor portrays a minor metropolis where one sleuth makes strides through dingy neighborhoods and dirty politics to get to the truth." — Rosemary Herbert, The Boston Herald