Bury the Lead

Joe Gunther and the VBI team are investigating a murder and an arsoncase-both potentially related to a small but lethal outbreak of Ebola at a localhospital. When the body of a young woman is found near a trail at a popularski mountain, the case falls to Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureauof Investigation (VBI). They quickly have a suspect, Mick Durocher, anda confession, but not everyone on the team is convinced of Mick's truthfulness.

Despite his ready admission, investigators quickly sense there might bemore going on than is immediately apparent.

At the same time, a large local business is being targeted with escalating acts ofviolence-a warehouse fire, a booby rigged truck, an industrial gas leak murderouslyunleashed. The odd and common denominator? Mick Durocher, the self-confessedmurderer, was once employed by the same company. These two puzzling cases-onlytenuously connected-are further complicated by the sidelining of a key member ofVBI. Willy Kunkle is undergoing surgery at the same hospital saddled with the unlikely-and suspiciously timed-outbreak of Ebola.

Joe and his team pursue these cases, uncovering motives that might link them, while proving that trust betrayed can be a toxic virus, transforming love into savageloathing. Indeed, behind the mayhem and murder, Joe must uncover a tragic familyhistory before another victim dies.