Crosscut

The very first short story from Archer Mayor's much-loved Joe Gunther series.

Going into the previously unexplored history of VBI Detective Sammie Martens, Archer Mayor reveals the story of how Sammie first met Joe Gunther and Willie Kunkel. Sammie Martens, raised by a single mother in a chaotic household, returns home after leaving the Army only to have her mother's current boyfriend kick her out of the house. When her mother is arrested the next day on a charge of armed robbery, Sammie is convinced her mother's boyfriend set it up and is now up to no good. Warned to stay away by the seemingly uninterested police, Sammie does exactly the opposite and starts her own investigation.