Review: Dark Harbor: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin

Dark Harbor: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin is the latest read in an excellent police procedural series that began with Crimson Thaw. As always, it is best to read in order though one could start here if you really wanted to do so.

 

Granville Warren III is wealthy and one of those guys who has to make sure everyone knows he has the best of everything. He has the best house, the best car, the best boat, and certainly the best wife. The former Lily Marshall is his third wife and is far younger and very beautiful. After a day of sailing, they have returned to their mansion in Maine and are planning on going out to dinner.

 

That plan died, along with Granville Warren III, within minutes of their arrival home thanks to the intruders in the mansion. He died, as did one of the intruders, and that is the latest case for Maine State Police Detective Brock Justice and his partner, Detective Chole Wright, and the rest of their team.

 

According to the wife who was found by local responding police officers wearing a bloody bathrobe and holding a gun, she shot and killed the intruder after he had shot her husband. The Warren’s were very wealthy and the local power brokers in the community. Everyone knew them and often had jobs because of them or some other very strong connection. That includes the local police chief who was very tight with them as the couple routinely donated funds and equipment to the local small department.

 

That local dynamic makes the investigation more difficult. One of several difficulties that will rear their ugly heads in Dark Harbor: A Detective Justice Novel.

 

This is a great police procedural series. Led by the main character, Brock Justice, and numerous returning secondary characters, the read is complicated and a real page turning pleasure to read. Every book gives a little more on the background of Justice and others and this one is no exception. 

Highly recommended, as is the entire series. This read and the others are available on Kindle Unlimited.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:

 https://link.amazon/B00vzLBER

Amazon Associate Series Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bfNpTR

 

 

My digital ARC came directly from the publisher, Severn River Publishing, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Publication Day Review: Storm Tide: A Novel by Paul Doiron

 

In some sense what began in The Poacher’s Son long ago is about to come full circle. As Storm Tide: A Novel by Paul Doiron begins, Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch, who had a very problematic relationship with his own father, is about to be a father. His wife, Stacey, is just a few weeks away from giving birth. The clock is ticking on the arrival of their child in a world that has seen dad demoted back to patrol and about to lose his career with the Maine Warden Service.

 

On this October night others have lost far more. The roaring blaze in the shattered remains of the house means people have lost their lives. Somehow, a baby made it out, and a nearby neighbor has the child. Allegedly, the father brough the baby out and went back in for his wife. Bowditch had made it to the scene fast after the call came out and tried the same feat. The intense heat almost killed him as he entered and saw a man in flames collapsing to the floor. Bowditch managed to pull the man out of the raging inferno, but it was too late.

 

It is only in the aftermath with the arrival of Detective Sergeant Delphine Cruz of the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit that Bowditch realizes something is up. Originally from Boston, she has made it to the scene before the Arson Investigator. So too has her attitude as she doesn’t like Maine or, as she sees it, what Bowditch represents. Through her, while answering her questions, he learns this is the home of the Malloys.

 

Specifically, the home of the infamous Brian Malloy who has been in the news for over a year due to his infidelity, a child out of wedlock, and the disappearance of the child shortly after he was ordered to pay child support. Many in the area searched for the missing child that has yet to be found. The court of public opinion has found them both guilty as people think dad took and killed the child and his wife lied for him. Their alibis had proven unshakable. There is a lot of anger amongst the locals who believe the Malloys got away with it all.

 

Now, both are thought to be dead in what is left of their relatively new home. Bowditch is pretty sure that something is off about the fire and the situation, in general, but he isn’t an investigator anymore, and never has been one for arsons anyway. Nobody is going to listen to him on this. Especially with his record and the fact that he is about to lose his job due to his recent actions.

 

Then some really weird things start happening. Somebody is once again toying with Bowditch. To mess with him is one thing. But, now Stacy and the baby are at risk.

 

What follows is a complicated read full of twists, turns, and links to the past. If Maine Game Warden Mike Bowdicth does not figure it out fast, he and his family may not survive.

 

Storm Tide: A Novel by Paul Doiron is the latest outing in a strong series best read in order. It finds Bowditch contemplating faith, fatherhood, and family, while also trying to prove that he isn’t just a conspiracy nutcase with a badge and gun. Sometimes you aren’t paranoid if they really are trying to get you.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Mia20a

 

 

My digital ARC reading copy came by way of the publisher, Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, in early November 2025, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Blaze Orange by Doiron

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Blaze Orange by Doiron

Short Story Wednesday Review: Blaze Orange: A Short Story by Paul Doiron

The latest novella, while billed on Amazon and elsewhere as part of the Mike Bowditch Mysteries, does not have a trace of him in the read. Blaze Orange: A Short Story by Paul Doiron is a prequel of sorts built around young Maine Game Warden Kathy Frost. With a year under her belt, the first and only woman in the Maine Warden Service has been transferred to a new district where she is still being ignored and treated like a rookie. Being the first woman in the service comes with a heavy burden and that is not the only thing she deals with on a daily basis.

 

Her new field training officer is Charley Stevens. Already a legend among all, he has quite a few years on her and, more importantly, an openness to her presence in the service. At attitude that is almost as rare as her status.

 

He shows up at her new home one Sunday morning seeking her company on a call. It is November and deer hunting season is well underway. Earlier today a man has been shot in the area of Wilton. He was shot and killed by a hunter.

 

The case should have been hers from the start, but nobody bothered to alert her. Instead, Charley Stevens has come by to collect her and take her to the scene. According to Charley, Douglas Ludwig is dead after being shot by Don Sands. Both the shooter and the victim await their arrival.

 

Charley Stevens takes her to the isolated scene being held down by a Maine State Trooper who is clearly less than thrilled to see the female game warned. The trooper has already decided it was clearly an accident.

 

Was it?

 

Or, was it murder?

 

That question is one that Charley Stevens and Kathy Frost work to answer as they investigate in this fast-moving read. During the course of this enjoyable novella, readers learn quite a lot about the background of Maine Game Warden Kathy Frost. The same figure that will play a large role in Mike Bowditch’s professional and personal life in the coming years.

 

Also included with the novella are the first three chapters of the upcoming book, Storm Tide. Having already read that book by way of the ARC by way of the publisher through NetGalley, I skipped the approximately 20 paged excerpt. My review of that book will appear here on the blog on the scheduled publication day of June 30^th.

 

As to this read, while I was very disappointed that Mike Bowditch was nowhere to be seen, I did enjoy the novella. Most of the background of the first female game warden  was already known to series readers, such as myself, so this tale just fleshed it out a little more. We also got to see Charley in action and that is always a treat. How successful this novella will be in attracting new readers to the series, since it does not have one whiff of the signature series character, I have no idea, but I did enjoy it.

  

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4nvqx7W

 

By the way, the image to the right is the only workable one I could find and it was posted to the author's Facebook account. Everywhere else, the image comes up as "webpage" and I have no idea how to make those work and only know how to use jpegs and card catalogs. My old Kindle does not look that good either. 

Because I thought the Dallas Public Library System was not getting it, I used a little bit of my funds in my Amazon Associate account to obtain this eBook. I should have waited as it is now listed in the Hoopla system through the library.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Body in the Kelp by Katherine Hall Page

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Body in the Kelp by Katherine Hall Page:   Reviewed by Jeanne Faith Fairchild, her minister husband Tom, and toddler Ben are spending the summer on Sanpere, an island in Maine. ...

Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Bitter Fall by Bruce Robert Coffin

 Lesa's Book Critiques: Kevin’s Corner Annex – Bitter Fall by Bruce Robert Coffin

Review: Bitter Fall: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin

 

Comes out next Tuesday...

It is October as Bitter Fall: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin begins. It is just after midnight on a desolate stretch of Maine roadway. Red and blue strobe lights from various emergency vehicles as well as portable floodlights keep the darkness at bay. For Maine State Police Detectives Brock Justice and Chloe Wright, what was already along day is about to get way longer.

 

A woman is dead in the roadway. Nearby, a dark SUV is on its crumpled roof with the front end of the vehicle smashed up against a huge pine tree. While the scene looks like the typical car versus pedestrian type situation, it isn’t. Homicide Detectives from the Major Crimes Unit North out of the Troop E barracks in Bangor are not called out to investigate fatal motor vehicle accidents.

 

They were told to make the ninety-minute drive, one way, not simply because Summer Randall is dead in the road. There is no doubt that the vehicle hit her. She is dressed in running clothes and may have come off of any number of nearby trails before being struck in the roadway. But the drunk driver, Jonathan Watters, probably did not kill her.

 

What killed her, in all likelihood, was a stab wound into her stomach. Dr. Ginny Waite from the medical examiner’s office believes she was stabbed some time shortly before she was hit by the car. That she was bleeding heavily internally and her body was failing her before she made it out on the roadway to be hit by the impaired driver. The discovery of a blood trail in the nearby woods means the medical examiner was right.

 

Meanwhile, Greenville, Maine, has a population of approximately 1400 people. That means the victim is well known among the locals. So too is her ex-boyfriend. He could be their prime suspect, but at the same time, other people also had reason to kill.

 

What follows is a complicated case full of twists, turns, and dead ends. It isn’t the only case Detective Justice is working either as he is continuing to pursue his suspicions about his exonerated former partner.

 

Building on the events of Crimson Thaw, Bitter Fall powers along at a steady pace that tightly holds the attention of the reader. Character building continues here at a slower pace as the main focus is investigating and solving cases.

 

A main aspect also seems to be aimed squarely at making the reader hungry for massive sized cinnamon buns.

 

A mighty good read in what is a very good series. The third book in the series, Dark Harbor, is currently scheduled to be released in August. One hopes that might be moved to a sooner date.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/4j71YvJ

 

Published by Severn River Publishing, my digital ARC came direct from the author with no expectation of a review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026

Jim Nesbitt Reviews: The Iceman Cometh

 Jim Nesbitt Reviews:  The Iceman Cometh 

Publication Day Review: Crimson Thaw: A Detective Justice Novel by Bruce Robert Coffin

I have long been a fan of police procedurals by Bruce Robert Coffin. His latest, Crimson Thaw: A Detective Justice Novel, takes readers to Maine where Detective Justice is going through some things because he stood up for what was right. 

Maine State Police Detective Brock Justice, and his partner, Evan Mathers, should have waited for backup to take down Terrance “Terry” Kirke. But, backup was delayed so they went in on their own. Things went horribly wrong and both are dealing with the repercussions of that event. 

Detective Brock Justice has transferred to a new station far to the north of where he had been working before now. He’s in Bangor, Maine, newly divorced, and a pariah to most of his fellow state troopers. His new boss, Lieutenant Penelope Cumberland, is less than thrilled to have him in her command and makes that fact clear from their very first meeting.

Warned to toe the line and do things by the book, she sends him out on his first case. He will partner with a detective who has investigator experience, but not working homicides, Chloe Wright. The scene is about an hour away at a body of water known as “Second Pond” located near the town of Blue Hill. 

He arrives in time to see a snowmobile float to the surface with considerable assistance by the dive team. A dive team that includes his new partner, Chloe Wright. It isn’t uncommon to find bodies in or near various vehicles as lakes and ponds thaw in the spring. Usually, liquor is involved, and people got intoxicated and stupid, and died as a result. It can take awhile and consistent warmer weather to recover the bodies. 

This one is very different form the normal death by drunken misadventure as the body is handcuffed to the snowmobile. Along with teaching Chloe various tricks of being a homicide detective as this is her first homicide case, it becomes clear they have a literal cold case on their hands in more ways than one. Not in terms of years, but in terms of the body having been submerged since sometime in the winter as well as the identity of the victim. Their first clue is the fact that the snowmobile is incredibly expensive. 

What follows is a complex police procedural as the author sets the foundation stone for a new series while providing a case full of twists and turns. The tentacles of the past reach deep into the present and weave a complex tapestry of crime and deceit as a back drop to the murder. 

Simply put, Crimson Thaw: A Detective Justice Novel is a mighty good read and very much worth your time. Strongly recommended. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4gYywGZ 

My reading copy came from the author with no expectation of a review. 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

FFB Review: Within Plain Sight: A Detective Byron Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin

Portland, Maine has gone from the season of ice and snow in the last novel, Beyond the Truth, to the season of heat and great humidity in Within Plain Sight: A Detective Byron Mystery. It is middle of July in 2017 as the read by Bruce Robert Coffin begins and it is just after 5 in the morning when Police Detective Sergeant John Byron arrives on scene. As the lead homicide detective, it will be up to him and his team to identify the murder victim, identify the killer, and arrest the person or persons who did it. Clearly she met with foul play and clearly that event happened some unspecified time earlier at another location. A quick overview of the scene indicates to Detective Sergeant Byron they have little to go on as forensics are going to have to provide some avenues of inquiry.

 

It would really help the case if they also had her head.

 

Unfortunately, they only have her body that was dumped in the weeds of a long since derelict lumberyard. Specifically, the weeds and dirt inside an open-air drying shed, one of several such sheds and other decaying structures, on the long since abandoned property. Though it is not completely abandoned as a roving security guard found the body inside the fenced lot and called it in to the 911 system. Whether it is the work of a serial killer known as the “Horseman” who has been active over in the Boston area, a copycat of some type, or something entirely else is going to take time to determine. Time they don’t have once the media gets wind of the case and events begin to escalate in dangerous ways.

 

The fourth book in the series that started with Among the Shadows continues to build on that initial police procedural. While these are billed as mysteries, they only are in the sense that the criminal or criminals are not known to the reader or the team. These books are police procedurals and each one builds on the preceding read. Characters develop and change, even die, in this series as things are not at all static. Politics and the personal lives of a number of characters are interspersed with the complex cases, flashes of humor, and plenty of action. Each read is an intense one that delves deep into police work and the complexities and personal consequences of doing the job. Such is the case again here in Within Plain Sight: A Detective Byron Mystery. This book and the entire series are strongly recommended.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/3VUsjCB

 

My reading copy was a print edition from the author with no expectation of a review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020, 2025

FFB Review: Beyond the Truth: A Detective Byron Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin

  

It is the middle of January as Beyond the Truth: A Detective Byron Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin begins. As expected Portland, Maine, is bitterly cold and there is ice and snow the ground with a major snowstorm on the way. That snowstorm is going to make things even more complicated when investigating an officer involved shooting.

 

 

That shooting by veteran officer Sean Haggerty is going to have tragic and far reaching repercussions. Not just because Detective Byron and his team of investigators can’t find the weapon that Haggerty saw the muzzle flash emanate from so he fired back. Not only did a white police officer kill a black teenager, Thomas Plummer, who was a high school star athlete and was going places, nobody seems to know why he would have been involved in a crime. What he was doing in an armed robbery, nobody knows, and nobody has any idea who his robbery partner was that night his life abruptly ended.

 

As the hours pass and the weapon remains missing, the rage among some in the community builds stoked by outside agitators and those who believe this is just the latest in criminal police shootings. Soon, increasingly violent protests erupt, threats against the involved officer are made, and the politicians do what they always do in such circumstances. Meanwhile, Officer Haggerty has to deal with the personal and the professional repercussions. At the same time as he tries to help an officer he cares deeply about, Detective Byron deals with trying to find the weapon and a lot more in this intense read.

 

 

Third in the series that began with Among the Shadows and was followed by Beneath the Depths, Beyond the Truth: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin is another compelling read. Characters and relationships continue to evolve as does the world around them. Prior events continue to make their impact in the here and now of this complicated third book. This is not a static series and therefore should be read in order.

 

 

Beyond the Truth: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin is strongly recommended.

 

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/46Ji5uH

 

 

 

My reading copy was a print edition from the author with no expectation of a review.

 

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020, 2025

Friday's Forgotten Books: Among the Shadows: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin

 

Anyone who knows me knows I am very much into police procedurals. If life had gone just slightly different, I would have been a cop. Dipping into the archive once again to remind you today of this first book in a very good police procedural series…

 

Among the Shadows: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin is the first book in a police procedural series. Set in Portland, Maine, and the surrounding area, it features Detective Sergeant John Bryon and his team of detectives. Internal politics and rivalries play a role in this complicated police procedural where former officers are dying a variety of ways.

 

Detective Sergeant John Byron is your classic hard-working detective who drinks a lot, has a failing marriage, can’t get along with the bosses, and has a slowly building attraction to his female partner. He is also a very good detective and does not know how to back off in his search for the truth.

 

He is called out in this far too warm September morning to the house of Mr. James O’Halloran. At least he is missing the weekly time wasting CompStat meeting that does nothing to suppress crime, but does give the bosses an illusion that they are doing something and practicing effective leadership while chewing out those under them. Mr. James O’Halloran was under hospice care thanks to terminal bone and lung cancer, so his death is not a surprise. However, as the body is examined in place in the home, it quickly becomes clear that this was no suicide or natural caused death. Somebody decided to speed up the process by forcefully applying a pillow over his face and suffocating him. His current nurse is on the short list of possible suspects, but nobody seems to be likely including her and she found the body.

 

Then a second retired former officer is also killed, and Detective Sergeant John Bryon realizes that something far more sinister is going on. Something that may also link back to his own father’s time on the job decades ago and sudden death.

 

This is a classic police procedural that uses many of the tropes familiar to readers and yet manages to twist them in ways that create a highly entertaining read. Politics and rivalries serve as the backdrop to an increasingly violent murder investigation that puts Bryon as well as many members of his detective team at substantial risk. A solidly good read well worth your time, Among the Shadows: A Detective Bryon Mystery by Bruce Robert Coffin is recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/45MaHym

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Skillman Southwestern Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2020, 2025

Publication Day Review: Skin and Bones And Other Mike Bowditch Short Stories by Paul Doiron

  

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

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – PITCH DARK BY PAUL DOIRON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – PITCH DARK BY PAUL DOIRON

Review: Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron

 

Recently Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacy Woodson were married. As Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron begins, they are talking about the important changes to their lives when they are interrupted by a phone call. Game Warden Brandon Barstow is a young warden and unsure of himself, but thinks he might have a missing person’s case.

 

It is the first week of May and pouring rain, as it has for weeks now. Game Warden Barstow gradually explains that a man from Idaho, Hammond Pratt, is missing from his rented cabin at Seboomook Farm located up in the Rockwood District. Pratt rented an ATV from the property owner and left on it after asking questions about some guy and his young daughter that are supposed to be in the woods, somewhere nearby.

 

Game Warden Barstow knows that a guy by the name of Mark Redmond and his young daughter are in the area at Prentiss Pond building a cabin. The work site is very close to the Canadian Border. Apparently, they are the ones that Pratt was asking about before he left on the ATV.

 

Game Warden Barstow tells Bowditch other things that paint a seriously odd picture. It becomes clear that, regardless of the weather, he needs to get up there and assess the situation, in order to know what to do. He has to make a determination in order to start a search and rescue operation. At this point, Bowditch does not know enough to make that determination.

 

As it turns out, the horrible weather will be the least of his problems.

 

What follows is a page turning story that gets increasingly violent and convoluted. Much is happening in Pitch Dark: A Novel by Paul Doiron and all of it keeps the reader highly entertained. The situation is complicated. Bowditch is going to be lucky to have a career, let alone his life, when things are said and done. Highly recommended.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3VtpJmn

 

My digital reading copy came from Minotaur Books, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

Review: Dead Man’s Wake: A Novel by Paul Doiron

Dead Man’s Wake: A Novel by Paul Doiron opens with an engagement party. Stacy Stevens and Mike Bowditch are being celebrated by Mike’s stepfather, Neil Turner and his new wife, Jubilee, as well as Stacy’s parents, Charley and Ora Stevens. They are at the stepdad’s lake house in central Maine. Great Pond was the inspiration for the play and subsequent movie, On Golden Pond, and is busy this Labor Day weekend evening. The roar of speedboats as well as the loud noise of occasional jet ski has been something all day and evening. The fact that it is dark has not slowed down those racing across the surface of the lake.

All too predictably with so many racing around after dark, the sounds of a crash are heard. It is clear to everyone in the group that a speedboat and a jet skier collided out in the waters somewhere around the nearby Moose Island. Mike sees a speedboat circle back and then the running lights are turned off. The person or persons on that boat know they hit somebody and are trying to hide in the dark night.

With limited resources, and as the only law enforcement around and available, Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch has to go out to the general area of the crash and look for any injured survivors as well as anyone deceased. After some investigation, a detached human arm is found. Most likely, the person that lost the arm is dead.

What follows is a complicated read featuring a watery crime scene, a wealthy family and their legacy, and a past full of resentment and hate. As is benefits the long running series, the read is not one that focuses on character development as many here are long running characters that readers well know and love. Instead, the primary focus is on the case. Identifying the victims out in those lake waters, the suspects, and working the case. A complicated and entertaining read, the latest in the long running series, Dead Man’s Wake: A Novel is very much worth your time.

 

My reading copy was an ARC via NetGalley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – SNAKEBIT BY PAUL DOIRON

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – SNAKEBIT BY PAUL DOIRON

Short Story Wednesday Review: Snakebit: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery by Paul Doiron

As Snakebit: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery by Paul Doiron 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. Considering there have not been any natural occurring rattlesnakes in Maine in decades as well as the fact she does have pictures and refused to give her name or any other information and got angry quickly, Mike Bowditch doesn’t believe her. He soon has an opportunity to reconsider that thought when hours later he is awakened with news of the fact 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 in this novella.

The read also includes the first three chapters of the next book in the series, Dead Man’s Wake. Thanks to a NetGalley ARC, I have already read the book. My review will go live here on the publication date of June 27^th.

As to the novella, this is a solidly good read. Set in an earlier time of the series when Game Warden Mike Bowditch is only 27 years old (“..take place in the weeks before KNIFE CREEK…” per the author’s Facebook post of May 26th), the tale is complicated, and moves forward at a fairly rapid pace. For those of us long familiar with the series, it is an enjoyable read. For those new to these books, Snakebit: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery is a good taste of why these reads are so good.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3G66mf0

 

My eBook reading copy came by way of purchase using funds in my Amazon Associate account as it appeared the staff of the Dallas Public Library system had no intention of purchasing it for citizens. I have no way of knowing if they changed their mind as a city-wide ransomware attack took down all city systems back on May 3^rd and many are still down. That includes the library system so we still have no access to the catalog, our accounts, and no ability to return books and other materials, or get anything from our holds list. Mayor Johnson and the City of Dallas staff have done an exceedingly poor job of keeping folks updated as to the status of the situation. All we have been told is that it could be “weeks” before things might be fixed.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: Hatchet Island by Paul Doiron

While my review previously appeared here in early May, the book was published earlier this week, so I am reminding you of it today.

 

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.

 

 

My reading copy was an ARC via NetGalley. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022