Review: Hatchet Island by Paul Doiron

Stacy Stevens and Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch have planned a quiet getaway on Spruce Island as Hatchet Island by Paul Doiron begins. The plan was to paddle out on their kayaks and get away from everything. That was before Stacy got a concerning email from her old friend Kendra Ballard. As it happens, Kendra Ballard is on nearby Baker Island working as part of The Maine Sea Bird Initiative Project as Stacy did long ago. Kendra Ballard supervises the two interns and organizes everything from May to August. Her email was concerning and she specifically requested Mike to come with Stacy and bring his badge and gun.

 

Baker Island is in a dead zone so they have to go out there to learn what is going on at the island. Fortunately, the island which is home to numerous types of birds, is close by and not much of a detour on thus July morning. They make it out to the island in the fog, despite the near miss with a boat moving at far too high a speed for the weather conditions. Once they arrive at the island, they are met by an armed intern who clearly does not want them to land. The intern, Hillary Fitzgerald, is eventually persuaded to check in with Kendra who makes it clear she is in charge and she wants Stacy Stevens and Mike Bowditch to come ashore.

 

Maeve McLeary, the person in charge of everything overall, has gone missing and none of the researchers now where she or her boat is or why she is not on the island with them. In addition to that, some of the locals are harassing one of the interns. They claim it is all in good fun, but Bowditch knows it is racism and is disgusted. There are other strange things happening as well.

 

Within hours, all that will be eclipsed by the murders.

 

Stacy Stevens and Game Warden Mike Bowditch are soon in the thick of it and there are suspects galore. Hatchet Island is a complicated mystery filled read that shifts across several islands and puts Stevens and Bowditch in peril several times in the often violence filled read. Hatchet Island is another solidly good book in the long running series.

 

 

Hatchet Island is currently scheduled to be released on June 28, 2022. My reading copy was an ARC via NetGalley. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022