Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read and review this book.

What do you do when your mentor and the man that you view as a father has secrets? This is the question Mike Bowditch asks himself when Charley Stevens disappears. The man he normally goes to for advice is missing and it seems he might not be the man that Bowditch thought he was. Mike has to dig deep into Charley's past to find out what Charley is running from. He needs answers to why an old antique badge found by Charley at a flea market spooks him enough to leave his family and friends.

I am a big fan of Paul Doiron and this series. It has all of the feels that one wants in a mystery/thriller book. At times dark the author brings a sense of truth to his characters flaws and all. No one runs perfect in this series.

This book had tension and made me sweat a little when it seemed like no one really knew which way it was going to go for Charley. On a side note, there is tension for Mike within his personal life. The author blends the two storylines seamlessly.

If you haven't started this series, you need to because it's fast paced and taut with angst. Can't wait for the next book!

If you are a fan of nature, animals and well written and developed characters, this book is for you! Fans of the series will enjoy the attention focused in Mike & Charley's relationship. As always, Doiron does a stellar job bringing you right into the great outdoors of Maine. If this sounds like your kind of read, this can be read as a standalone but as always, there is richness from reading the entire series.

Thank you SMP and Netgalley for the gifted eARC to read and review.

I love the cover of this novel and the inside. "One Last Lie" is an exciting novel by Paul Doiron. A page turner for sure.

Not sure if I just wasn’t in the mood for this kind of book, but I felt like it was a little slow and I’m a fast paced plot kind of person unless there’s a dialogue and the characters are interesting.

I had to DNF this one. I found it hard to follow. Maybe because I had not read the other books in the series.

Retired game warden Charley Stevens does not speak a word to his wife Ora before leaving unexpectedly. The woman asks their surrogate son, Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch, to investigate. Mike soon suspects that Charley's mysterious departure is tied to a cold case from his past, one that the Maine Warden Service would rather stay forgotten. As the investigation deepens, will Mike Bowditch be placed in danger?

Having read the other books in the series, it was nice to get a little background into Charley's life. For the most part, however, One Last Lie followed along a familiar outline as the previous novels. Mike inevitably got entangled in a hornet's nest and got stung many times in the process. The biggest problem that I had was the fact that there was really no character growth as far as Mike was concerned. I reasonably assumed that Mike would follow a similar path as the other books, which was one source of disappointment to me. Overall, I have liked the series, but the character development stalled out in this one.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy of One Last Lie by NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur Books. The choice to review this novel was entirely my own.

First Sentence: Before I left for Florida, my old friend and mentor Charley Stevens gave me a puzzling piece of advice.

Retired Game Warden Charley Stevens has been mentor, friend, and father figure to Mike Bowditch since early in his career. Disappearing from his wheelchair-bound wife Ora, is enough to bring Mike back from Florida. When he finds Charley didn't take his seaplane and left a note for Mike instructing him not to search, it's an automatic dog whistle for Mike to do everything he can to find Charley.

A book should open with a compelling hook: goal accomplished. The Florida sense of place is distinct—"Never had I encountered nature in such glorious, riotous abundance. An eye-popping, caterwauling carnival of life." This is followed by another good life lesson—"A small fish came up to snap at it. A bigger fish rose from the depths to swallow the smaller fish whole. There's always someone bigger, someone hungrier."

Having strong characters makes all the difference. Eleven books in, Mike is only 31 with that combination of hard experience, intelligence, and skills, yet offset with youthful arrogance, occasional overconfidence, and romantic cluelessness. The women in Mike's world are bright, tough, and intelligent. Not a lot of time is spent on backstory. Instead, the author lets the story fill in the blanks so one never has the sense of coming in at the middle of the series.

Maine is a state most people think they know from photos of the coastline. The author's Maine is one of vast wooded areas, lakes, self-reliant, often dangerous people, and drugs. The action scenes happen fast and there are plenty of them. They are visual and heart-stopping, with barely a pause of relief before one crisis moves to the next. The plot follows Mike's investigation step-by-step, and place to place, which avoids one becoming confused. The inclusion of an investigation report adds realism to the story. However, along with Mike, one must always question who can be trusted.

"One Last Lie" is a literary mystery of many different elements brought together through intelligent writing and a complex protagonist. Mike may be a game warden, but this is a case where the threats come from animals with two legs. Doiron and Mike are unique. One cannot help but want to read more of this exceptional series.

ONE LAST LIE (LicInv-Warden Mike Bowditch-Maine-Contemp) – VG
Duiron, Paul – 11th in series
Minotaur Books, Jun 2020, 320 pp.

Thanks to the publisher for the free copy in exchange for my honest review

Full review to follow - can't wait for the next one from Doiron! Another thrilling ride from start to finish and I loved the new mystery

Great Read! Full of mystery and intrigue. It was hard for me to put it down. Love the dynamics between Mike and Charlie. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

The Mike Bowditch books strike just the right combination--a character-driven series with plenty of action and an excellent sense of place. This latest installment begins with the Maine game warden in Florida, home to his ex-girlfriend, to check into a warden applicant’s background. Even that quick trip involves all kinds of conflict, with uncooperative witnesses and dangerous wildlife. Back in Maine, Mike goes in search of his mentor, who left a a cryptic message and disappeared. The great thing about this series is that there is always tension, danger, and action. Even though we are highly invested in the characters and there various dilemmas, conflicts, and relationships, there is never a digression into any sort of long-winded, action-stopping back story. Instead, we learn the background information bit by bit as the novel progresses. I’ve read only the last two books of the Mike Bowditch series, but I didn’t feel in any way lost or, conversely, bored by too much exposition. There’s always something happening, but alongtheu way there’s also so much fascinating detail about life in Maine. We all know the hero is going to get out of the next jam, but that doesn’t stop us from reading late into the night so that we can see exactly how he does it.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a digital advance review copy.

This was a great book! I love this series and I hooe there is another book! Definitely a great read!

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

"Never trust a man without secrets" is the puzzling advice Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch receives from longtime friend and mentor Charley Stevens before Mike heads to Florida for a job applicant background check. The applicant had secrets. Mike tags along on a tremendous python hunt (with Stacey, former girlfriend and Charley's daughter) before having to race home when he learns Charley has secrets, too, and has disappeared. Charley's wife, Ora, doesn't want Stacey to know, adding to Mike's already complicated emotions surrounding Stacey and his current girlfriend, Dani.

Accustomed to tracking poachers, Mike has to hunt the man who taught him everything he knows. He traces Charley to a crafts fair where he argued with a man about a Depression-era game warden badge on his sale table. Tracking the badge leads to an old case involving the murder of an undercover warden whose body was never found. Charley was heavily involved in the violent case, including the death of the alleged killer. As Mike closes in and Charley behaves more like someone he doesn't recognize, the tension between solving the case and potentially losing a hero is gut twisting.

One Last Lie, Paul Doiron's 11th Mike Bowditch mystery, is a triumph for aficionados and newcomers alike. The secrets, old and new, are compelling, and Doiron's landscape imagery is perfectly balanced (as is the literary history). The people and relationships beautifully elevate from that foundation. Trust, friendship, love, faith and how the family we choose holds powerful sway is at the heart of this impressive series entry.

STREET SENSE: I read the first Bowditch and then for some reason didn't continue. I know the followups are on my list, but time and assignments seemed to have gotten in the way. So I went ito this missing a few years and nine books of material. I was pleased to discover it didn't matter. I really dug this entry, which was high on character issues. I didn't feel lost or like I had missed out on crucial facts. Yet it made me want to go back and fill in blanks. It was a perfect blend of past and present. A good story, well told.

COVER NERD SAYS: I think at this point, the series is relying on past readers and Doiron's name. Which is completely understandable. I kind of understand why the water is red, but it doesn't make a ton of sense. I hate to say this, but these days when I see red, white and blue it's almost a turnoff. And I say that as someone who loves her country, always flew a flag, but is currently greatly disappointed. Hard to hold a book cover responsible for those feelings, but it is just a reaction I have at present. There's nothing wrong with this cover; the image is attractive, there's a little mystery to it, it just doesn't blow my socks off. It doesn't really need to, Doiron's name is the seller here.

One Last Lie by Paul Doiron is the eleventh book in the MIne Warden Inspector Mike Bowditch series. Although this is book eleven, toucan read this one without having read the previous entries in the series.

Bowditch travels to Florida to do background checks on a potential new hire when he is called by his mentor's wife because Charley is missing. Mike travels home to Maine and starts a clandestine search for his mentor and father figure and also hunts for clues in a cold case involving the murder of an undercover warden.

This book was a very enjoyable read. I felt like we got enough of the characters' histories that we don't miss much in getting to know these characters. I also liked how the characters interacted with each other. The plot was well developed and the pacing was excellent. Overall a very enjoyable experience.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur, an DC author Paul Doiron for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Mike Bowdwitch gets entangled in a mystery trying to save his friend Charlie. He needs to untangle a mystery from many years before. He is also trying to figure out where his romantic loyalties lie.

A solid addition to the series.
I was given a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review

Mike is off his game from the get-go in One Last Lie, thanks to Charley Stevens.

Before I left for Florida, my old friend and mentor Charley Stevens gave me a puzzling piece of advice. “Never trust a man without secrets.”



I thought he’d misspoken. “Don’t you mean a man with secrets?”



But the retired game warden only winked as if to suggest he’d said exactly what he’d meant to say. It would be up to me to figure out the meaning of his cryptic remark.

Might it be as simple as someone who seems too good to be true probably is too good to be true? Mike is in Florida to check out air force vet Tom Wheelwright, a seemingly great candidate for the Maine Warden Service, but he has “vague yet creeping doubts.”

When I’d asked him why he wanted to trade the salary of a Learjet pilot for that of a Maine State employee, he said he hoped to raise his kids somewhere that “still felt like a real place.”



It was a good answer.



Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Wheelwright was not the paragon everyone swore he was.

Eventually, Mike looks for a person who isn’t there, “a name conspicuous by its absence from any of the files I’d been given.” Why wasn’t Captain Joe Fixico, “Wheelwright’s electronic warfare officer,” part of Wheelwright’s disclosure list? Sure enough, Fixico knows where the bodies are buried—he tells Mike that “pilots are held to different standards. Especially when it comes to reports of inappropriate conduct with the other sex.” Mike tells his superior, “an unabashed champion of Tom Wheelwright,” that they shouldn’t hire him, but Wheelwright’s efforts to smear his former air force co-worker, to circumvent the system and go around Mike’s negative recommendation, continue unabated. Mike’s doggedness, his unwillingness to take anything at face value, is at the backbone of One Last Lie.

The eleventh Mike Bowditch mystery is personal for Mike: his surrogate father, Charley Stevens, has disappeared and his wife doesn’t know why. She doesn’t think Charley wants her to know, as indicated by his note: ‘I love you, Ora. I’ll be back as soon as I get a puzzle sorted out.’ After Ora calls him, Mike returns to Maine asap. Ora is in a wheelchair, which limits her ability to search for clues, obviously not an issue for Mike. His problem is how he feels about Charley.

He had taught me how to do my job, enforcing the state’s laws while staying true to my inner compass. Most importantly, he had instructed me in what it meant to be a man in a cultural moment when masculinity was presumed toxic until proven otherwise.

The nub of it is, as Mike admits to himself, “… in running off without explanation from his beloved wife, Charley had behaved like someone I didn’t recognize.” Even at thirty-one, “too old to believe in heroes,” Mike is afraid that at the end of the day, he won’t feel the same way about a man whom he has always respected and revered. The ambiguous letter Mike discovers in Charley’s floatplane alludes to a long-ago mistake, a “moment of weakness,” but there’s no explanation why Charley left “like a thief in the night.”

I know you well enough to reckon that you won’t heed my words of caution. Which is why I am leaving you in the dark, too. I will cover my trail to keep you from following, but I fear I may have taught you too well.



I love you, son. Don’t come after me.



Charley

Mike painstakingly reconstructs Charley’s routine. A few days ago, Charley and Ora were at a flea market and Charley got into it with a disheveled “ruin of a man.” Ora’s artist friend Carol Boyce describes him to a tee.

He had a kerchief around his bald head and a scraggly beard, more gray than black; wore dungarees and a flannel shirt, no sleeves. He never removed his sunglasses, but they looked cheap, like ones you might choose from a rack at the gas station.



Her detailed description made me wish more of my witnesses were visual artists. “Did you catch his name?”

Unfortunately not, but by dint of persistent questioning (Mike) and an artist’s focus on visual details (Carol), she recalls that Charley grabbed something off the man’s table that “was small enough to fit in his hand.” Mike reconstructs the scene circuitously: what items does Carol recall seeing on the vendor’s table? Then his phone rings.

“He also had a badge,” Carol Boyce said.



“Excuse me?”



“He had a badge for sale. Seeing yours made me remember.”



In reaching for my phone, I had exposed the badge clipped on my belt.



“It was a game warden’s,” she said, “only smaller and tarnished. And it had a number on it. Don’t bother asking me what the number was. I just happened to have noticed because the digits were so clumsily engraved in the metal.”

That’s the breakthrough Mike needs. He “convinces” the slimy flea market vendor to tell him how he acquired the badge and then methodically tracks down and interviews anyone who can shed light.

It hadn’t escaped my notice that, in his letter, Charley hadn’t mentioned the badge that had precipitated his disappearance. The omission had been deliberate because he knew it was a clue that I would follow. The Warden Service had stopped stamping identification numbers on its badges back in the 1950s, long before Charley had even joined the bureau.



Whose could it have been?

Mike finds out it “belonged to a warden who was presumed dead fifteen years ago but whose body was never recovered.” Scott Pellerin, “too cocky for his own good,” was working undercover along the thousand mile Maine/Canadian border. Scott reported to Charley Stevens, but their relationship was very much like the one Mike and Charley have now. The badge belonged to Scott’s grandfather, Duke Dupree, “a warden back during the Depression.” Charley’s oldest friend, Native American Nick Francis, listens impassively to Mike’s explanation of why Charley went AWOL.

“For some reason, the reappearance of Duke Dupree’s badge has made him rethink the events of fifteen years ago. He realized he had been misled.”



“Is that my theory?” said Nick. “I’m smarter than I thought.”



“It explains why Charley would want to check things out on his own—in case the man who murdered Pellerin has been preparing for the day when he was finally found out.”

They say revenge is a dish best served cold: Charley, with Mike hot on his heels, is poking a stick at a cold case that threatens to ignite into a massive scandal, particularly if the person(s) responsible for Pellerin’s murder are inside the Warden Service. Paul Doiron surprises the reader at every turn. At the crux of the story: is Mike tracking down Charley or is Charley pulling Mike’s strings? This is my first Mike Bowditch mystery but I can’t wait to start at the beginning, with The Poacher’s Son. Author C.J. Box’s sums up the first Mike Bowditch mystery beautifully: “Excellent … filled with murder, betrayal, and a terrific sense of place,” words that could equally be applied to One Last Lie. Maine, particularly its wild, untamed places that come to life on every page.

Overall, an interesting read. One thing I felt like lacked development was the relationship with the girlfriend. I kept waiting for some significance to her being included but it seemed like it didn’t add much to the storyline except as filler.

A writer who has really caught my attention with well crafted plots and his storyteller"s voice to transport you inside of his book. This one absolutely doesn't disappoint with it's twisty turns and secrets that should not be revealed. Pick up this winner of a book. Happy reading!

I haven't read any previous books in this series though that probably isn't necessary. The book seems to stand on its own. Still, I think if I were more familiar with the characters, it might have made the reading more enjoyable. The characters are interesting as is the Maine setting. This felt like sort of a 'guys type book' to me with all the outdoor adventures. It was a bit slow moving for me in the beginning but the writing is good and it's an enjoyable enough book.

When requesting this book I didn’t realize it was the eleventh book in the series so I was a little confused when I started reading it. But overall, it was a great book. I’m excited and looking forward to going back and reading all of the others!

"Never trust a man without secrets."

Charley Stevens has gone missing and Mike Bowditch has very little to go on - an antique badge found by Charley at a flea market and the letter that Charley left for him. He finds out the badge once belonged to a missing warden who is presumed dead and whose body was never found. On his pursuit to find his mentor and surrogate father, Mike learns that many people he knows have secrets, that some will do whatever it takes to keep the past in the past, and that no matter how well you think you know someone, they can still surprise you.

"Some people are more than they appear. And some people are less than they appear. But nobody is the way they appear."

This book is all over the place and I mean that in a good way. It begins with Mike going to Florida to conduct a background search, finds him on a Python hunt and rushing back to Maine to search for Charlie. His search takes him to various locations in the forests along the Canadian Border.

This was another great installment in the Mike Bowditch series. It can be read as a stand-alone or you could give it the "old college try" and go back to the beginning and dive in. I found this book to be a fast, captivating and riveting read. As always, I learn things about Maine, the wildlife there and the demands of being a game warden (it's not all about trapping and relocating animals!)

There is a fair amount of tension and suspense in this well written book which had me turning the pages at breakneck speed to find out if Mike would find Charley, and if the cold case of the missing warden would be solved. Plus, there is some personal drama for Mike which has me excited for the next book to see/read how things are going to turn out.

Tense, Suspenseful, and intriguing.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press - Minotaur Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.