Skin
and Bones And Other Mike Bowditch Short Stories by Paul Doiron is an
entertaining collection of eight short stories. Some of the tales here are
actual short stories while others are novellas. Seven of the reads have been previously
published and are collected here with the all-new tale, “Sheep’s Clothing.” If
you have read the previously published tales before, doing so now once again is
like visiting old friends. And, of course, there is that new short story, Sheep’s
Clothing, and it is really good too.
The book opens
with the short story, “Bear Trap.” Charley Stevens, retired Maine Game Warden,
friend, mentor, father figure, and a lot more, and Mike Bowditch are in a canoe
fishing for northern pike. Mike is in his first year as a game warden. They are
on a lake that back in the day saw Charley on patrol a lot. Many things have changed
here in the decades since. The subject of a local legend, a hermit of sorts,
comes up and Charley tells the story.
Next up is “Backtrack.”
When Charley Stevens gets the call, he is a 28-year-old Maine Game Warden. Dr.
Phillip Stoddard, one of four men staying at a hunting cabin has been missing
for a few hours. A major snow storm is on the way. Soon Charley Stevens is with
the remaining hunters at their cabin and working to get the details such as Dr.
Stoddard’s mental state, what supplies he has with him, and determining who saw
him last and where. All of that is important as those details will help him
find the missing hunter in this highly atmospheric tale. If so inclined, you
can read my November 2019 full review of the story here.
“Rabid” comes
next where, after a long day of riding with Mike Bowditch while he was on
patrol, retired Maine Game Warden Charley Stevens is finally going to explain
why he put a large brown package in the bed of the patrol truck that morning. The
actual events that Charley tells and later explained in further depth by
Charlie’s wife, Ora, happened decades ago. It is a situation that has long
haunted both Charlie and his wife and one that is very hard for them to talk
about even today. If you want to know more, you can read my full August 2018
review here.
Next is the “The
Imposter” where Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch was new to “Down East Maine.”
In those early days, he had a bit of a reputation and his new boss is less than
friendly. As the short story opens, Bowditch is on the dock at Roque Harbor
watching as a body is recovered from the water. The body has a driver’s license
with the dead man’s name on it. Who he was claiming to be and what he was doing
these past few weeks is the driving focus of this entertaining short story. The
rest of my full review from May 2020 can be read here.
“Skin and Bones”
from May 2022 is also set early in Mike Bowditch’s career. This time, Mike has
been working for the warden service about three years and is in a very foul
mood. He has come to his old friend, Charley Stevens, for advice. He brings the
body of a deceased American Bald Eagle that was killed for no other reason that
the guy could shoot it in a wing and leave it to die. While Bowditch wants to
tear the fishing camp where he believes the suspect is hiding out apart with
his bare hands and toss the guy into jail, Charley has a better way of getting
the suspect into custody at minimal risk based on his own story from long ago
that still haunts him to this day.
Next in the
collection is the short story, “The Caretaker.” Warden Maine Game Warden Mike
Bowditch is sitting on the porch with Charley Stevens when Violet and Josiah
Baker show up to ask for help. They recently bought an old cabin at nearby
Quillpig Pond and started massive renovations. Things were going as expected
until approximately two weeks ago when strange things started happening. Violet
is sure their caretaker, Kevin Moran, is responsible. Charley and Mike are not
so sure. While he is known to the Game Wardens as a loner and with a strange
sense of humor, he isn't known for what Violet is reporting. The couple,
especially Violet, are frustrated and want it stopped. If so inclined, you can
read the rest of my June 2021 review here.
As “Snakebit” begins,
a woman has called Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch to report that she saw a
rattlesnake. She claims to have seen it during her hike on Black Cat Mountain. Without
proof and with a bad attitude, Mike Bowditch doesn’t believe her. He soon has
an opportunity to reconsider that thought when hours later he is awakened with
news that a teenager has been bit while attending a keg party in the nearby
woods. Something is going on and Bowditch is going to get to the bottom of it. My
full May 2023 review can be read
here.
“Sheep’s
Clothing” is the all-new tale and brings the book to a close. Due to recent
events that took Mike Bowditch to Canada, he has been busted back down to
patrol. He is lucky to still have a job. He knows it and always liked patrol so
he is happy. Though the Withams are not folks he likes to deal with as they are
so problematic in many ways, they also haven’t been seen for some time now as
the read begins. As the only representative of law enforcement in the area for
many miles, it is up to him to go out to their place and do a welfare check.
As one always expects
from this author, Skin and Bones And Other Mike Bowditch Short Stories,
is highly entertaining. If you have read most of the works in the book before,
like I had, the new tale is worth the price of admission. If you are new to
this excellent series, this short story collection will give you a glimpse of
what you have in store by way of his novels. CJ Box may own Wyoming, but Paul
Doiron owns Maine.
Amazon Associate
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3GaeStC
My digital ARC reading
copy came from Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, and with no expectation of a
review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2025
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