Award-winning mystery author Paul Doiron returns with his third book featuring Maine Ranger Mike Bowditch. On Little bad fallsBowditch’s affinity for murder investigations beyond the scope of his authority thrives.
The Warden Service reassigned Bowditch from the central Maine coast to Bad Little Falls, in the interior of Washington County, near the Canadian border. Bowditch knows that his routine conflicts with management and dishonest professional behavior accounted for his move during the harsh winter month of February.
Jamie Seawall is a divorced employee of the month at the local McDonald’s, whose beauty attracts Bowditch shortly after his arrival. He and his college sweetheart Sarah broke up last summer. Tensions between the couple rose, as Bowditch routinely chose his career over Sarah. Hiding her pregnancy until she miscarried did not help her situation.
Seawall sports his own baggage, including drug and alcohol addiction, and a penchant for attracting toxic romantic relationships. Her latest ex-boyfriend is Randall Cates, a well-known drug dealer. “That’s the thing about drugs. Once you start using, you will do anything to stay high, even convince yourself that you love the man who is giving you the drugs,” he says.
Cates is believed to be responsible for Trinity Raye’s death. Last year he sold tainted heroin to a seventeen-year-old Whitney High School student; and she overdosed. Authorities have been unable to connect Cates to the crime. John (Prester) Seawall is Jamie’s brother and Cates’ right-hand man.
Heath is a pathless wasteland where Cates and Seawall often trade drugs. During a particularly brutal snowstorm, Seawall stumbles upon Ben and Doris Sprague’s home, frozen and on the brink of death. He manages to tell the couple that their friend is holding on to life in the middle of the blizzard.
Doc Larrabee, a friend of the Spragues and a recent acquaintance of Bowditch, asks him to help him in the search for the endangered missing man.
Setting off on one of Sprague’s snowmobiles, Bowditch discovers Cates near Heath, freezing to death. An autopsy reveals that he suffered a fractured sternum before he died, turning his death into a murder investigation.
Once again, Bowditch finds himself in pursuit of a murderer, defying the authorities’ warning to stay away. Doiron adds an element of surprise that could be considered the catalyst for the deadly chain of events in history.
Lucas is the strange and troublesome twelve-year-old son of Jamie Seawall. She keeps notebook diaries with haunting images on the cover, including vampire women and owls with bloodstained beaks; and he likes Bowditch.
Some people in Washington County despise Bowditch’s arrival as a gamekeeper. Joe Brogan operates the Call of the Wild and Game Ranch guide service. It is a legally closed ranch stocking up on exotic creatures, allowing hunters to pay good money to shoot land-restricted animals. The concept irritates Bowditch; and he and Brogan become arch enemies.
Returning home one day to his rented trailer, Bowditch finds a coyote skin pinned to his door, accompanied by a threatening note signed by “George Magoon.” Magoon was a legendary Maine poacher in the 1880s who often threatened rangers in the area.
Shortly after the coyote fur incident, Bowditch discovers a skunk inside his trailer, which is allowed in through a deliberately broken window. Are these two incidents the work of a villain?
Bowditch rekindles his friendship with legendary Guardian Pilot, Charley Stevens. He and his wife, Ora, now live just an hour away from Bowditch’s new jurisdiction. Stevens helped Bowditch locate his father at Rum Pond, in Doiron’s debut, The son of the poacher; and assisted with the investigation into the murder of Ashley Kim in Intruder.
Doiron is a registered Maine guide, giving him the ability to describe the state’s wildlife and terrain in vivid detail. “I was traveling through a landscape as sharp as a black and white photograph. The greens of the pines were black. The shadows beyond my headlights were gray. The only glow was the white of the blowing snow.”
Every book Doiron publishes expands its audience and acclaims. If you like discovering talented authors during their fledgling careers, add them to your list.
While each story is unique in Doiron’s current triad of books, consider reading his previous two before diving into Little bad falls. It will help you tie the narratives together and fully appreciate your talents.
If you like to read crime fiction, visit Bouchercon 2012. It is the annual conference dedicated to the authors and readers of crime fiction. This year’s event takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, October 4-7; and it reads like a Who’s Who of the presenters. For more information, visit: http://bouchercon2012.com.
