The Poacher’s Son by Paul Doiron

doiron-poachers-son-coverI have had this book in my “to read” pile for a long time-the book was published in 2010.  As all fellow booklovers know your book pile can get, well,  a little out of control.  While a friend was visiting I loaned her this book from my pile, to read and she couldn’t put it down.  “The Poacher’s Son”  was Paul Doiron’s first book and it was recognized by multiple award nominations including the Edgar, Anthony and Macavity awards.  So I decided it was time to finally read “The Poacher’s Son”. 

By all accounts Mike Bowditch had a difficult childhood, with an alcoholic father who never held a job for more than a few months and had an explosive temper.  Mike’s mother divorced his father when Mike was young so Mike grew up mostly without his father.  The memories he does have of his father are mostly negative and at the beginning of the book, Mike has not spoken to his father in over two years.  Mike arrives home from a call about a rampaging black bear to listen to a strange message on his machine from his father.  The next morning Mike wakes up to the news that a well liked local cop and a paper company executive have been killed.  It is quickly apparent that everyone believes that Mike’s dad is the killer.  Everyone except Mike, who risks everything he loves and has worked for to prove that his father is not the killer people believe him to be.  Oh, did I mention that that there are plenty of suspects as well as twists?

I loved this book for many reasons.  One, because it brought the Maine wilderness to life and two because it had strong characters that I cared about.  This is the first book which features Mike Bodwitch and I have already checked out the second book called “Trespasser”.  The third book in the series is “Bad Little Falls” and the next book out this summer is “Massacre Pond: A Novel”.  Enjoy!