I am a huge fan of this author and warden Bowditch . This is a good one too . I really enjoyed the plot , pacing and setting as always. I just find these characters feel like old friends
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me ot his book

An awesome setting, fairly short chapters, a wonderful introspective protagonist, great characters, and a murder suspect that I at least didn't see coming. What's not to like? I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

What a fun read! I was so excited to get an early copy of Paul Doiron's newest novel "Dead Man's Wake." His vivid imagery takes to the water as game warden Mike Bowditch is once again in the middle of a murder investigation. He gathers with his fiancee Stacey along with family and friends to celebrate their engagement. Hours before the party even begins he hears the sound of a boat impact out on the water. From there he takes on murder and mystery as he tries to unravel who is responsible before he and Stacey fall victim as well. From kayaks to airplanes they race to find an answer that will find them all safe.

I prefer to read books in order for a series, so it made me a little twitchy that this is book 14. However, it's fantastic. A slow start but it becomes riveting. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, so reading the other books in the series probably would have been helpful, but this can be a stand alone book. Mike attends his engagement party with his fiancée, afterwards they find a dismembered arm and also a dead body in the lake!

I really enjoyed reading Dead Man's Wake. Game Warden Bowditch is a complicated character and I really enjoyed the latest in the series. This one kept me guessing and kept me engrossed in the story from the beginning.

“Dead Man’s Wake” by Paul Doiron
Excellent Read !!
Never a boring moment in this story. There were more twists and turns than a bowl of well tumbled limp linguine. A tasty treat for stretching your who-done-it muscles for certain sure. Happy Reading ! !
Note: This review expresses my honest opinion.
I received an ARC of the story from the publisher via NetGalley.

I’m late in discovering Paul Doiron and his well written, straight forward police procedural series based on Mike Bowditch, a Maine game warden. The author hails from Maine and his love of the area shines through his main character.
Interesting fact - in rural Maine, game wardens have the same arrest powers as sheriffs, and serve as an auxiliary police force when no other officers are available. So, it’s not a leap of faith to have Mike helping in an investigation following the death of a man on the Great Pond.
The story begins with Mike and his fiancée, Stacy, visiting his stepfather and his new wife for an engagement dinner. They hear the sound of a crash on the lake. Investigating, they find a severed arm. They end up finding not only the rest of the body, but a dead female. Turns out the two were having an illicit affair. Mike is working with two homicide detectives, one of whom seems determined to pin the murders on the husband. But the facts don’t point that way. Mike’s soon to be father-in-law retired as a game warden and I liked that he was still capable of teaching Mike more than one trick. Think of him as the Yoda of the story. The entire book is told from Mike’s POV, which I appreciate. I like it better when I learn facts along with the main character.
This is an entertaining book. It moves at a pretty brisk pace and stays believable. Doiron writes in a clear cut style that makes it easy to envision each scene.
This could easily be read as a stand-alone.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

In the 14th Bowditch installment by Paul Doiron, Mike & Stacy are celebrating their engagement at his stepfather’s lake home. Hearing a loud crash out on the lake they rush to investigate and come across a floating arm. Mike is only supposed to look into the crash but as the suspects pile up he can’t help but get involved. Another good fast paced mystery!

Dead Man’s Wake by Paul Doiron is the fourteenth book in the game warden series featuring Mike Bowditch.
Mike and Stacy are at Great Pond celebrating their engagement at his stepfather’s home. There is a boat crash, and they find an arm and then the rest of the body. It is murder.
This mystery was good and the story engaging. I enjoyed it even though I had not read any of the previous books so did not know much back story. The characters and mystery were particularly good.
I will go back and read the rest of the series.

“Dead Man’s Wake” is another riveting, fast-paced Mike Bowditch thriller from Paul Doiron. One of Maine’s most popular tourist attractions, Great Pond, becomes the scene of a bloody double homicide. Bowditch’s thorough investigation makes him the walking bullseye for a psychotic assassin who will kill anyone in order to protect his/her dark secrets.

For my complete review, please see the June edition of Gumshoe Review at www.gumshoereview.com.

This is an interesting story with a lot of moving parts. there are a lot of suspects and the protagonist is not your usual detective. The characters are likable and believable. There is suspense and romance- everything you need for a good story.

Loved all the interesting moves in this novel. The characters are great and grow on you. Would like to see more from this author.

Dead Man's Wake
By Paul Doiron

This is the 14th book in the Mike Bowditch series. Mike is a Maine Game Warden Investigator, who is celebrating his engagement to Stacey Stevens at a party at the home of his stepfather on Great Pond. Suddenly the sound of a boat crash is heard, and Mike and Stacey head outside to see what's happened. Obviously somebody in a boat has hit something – or someone - in the water near Mouse Island. Mike's soon-to-be father-in-law, Charley, is a retired game warden who once mentored Mike – and in fact often still does. They go out to the crash site and find an arm severed by a boat propeller in the water. A subsequent search turns up the rest of the body, and a call goes out to the various law enforcement agencies in the area. But the boater have left the scene – hit and run.

The dead man turns out to be Kip Whitcomb, the philandering husband of the island's owner. It seems he has had a rendezvous at the island with Gina, the young wife of a badass biker dude named Joey Randazza. It's only a matter of time before Gina's body turns up. But she has been murdered, strangled – unlike Kip. So now there are two bodies, a murder investigation (Gina), a water vehicle caused death (Kip) and large issues over legal jurisdiction.

The plot proceeds with all the twists and turns the reader has come to expect from Mr. Doiron. I like these books and keep coming back for more.
If you are a fan, you will like this one as well – if you are a first time reader, welcome to the world of Mike Bowditch. You will probably want to go back and read the previous 13!

I really enjoyed Dead Man's Wake. I have read all the books in the Mike Bowditch series. I really enjoy that most of them are set in Maine.
I did find a few typos as I was reading this version, but not enough to take away from the book.
I would definitely recommend reading this latest book by Paul Doiron

Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch has become a favorite character over the half-dozen or so years I've been reading books in this wonderful now 14-book series, and this latest entry doesn't disappoint. Mike and his fiancee, Stacey Stevens, are at a lake house for an engagement party with her parents and his stepparents, when they hear a loud bang - and Mike's certain that there's been a hit-and-run accident on the lake. That's putting it mildly; when Mike gets to the scene, he finds - and carefully fishes out - a human arm. Early the next morning, that discovery is augmented by the discovery of the rest of the guy - plus a female body (both naked). That adds up to an affair gone wrong near a privately owned island in the lake.

Almost as quickly, what early on was suspected to be a gruesome accident turns out to be murder; that puts Mike, whose job it is to identify the pilot of the hit-and-run boat and follow that to its legal end, on the outside looking in while the state police take over the actual murder investigation. Not surprisingly, though, the lines tend to blur more often than not, and happily, Mike has a great working relationship with the cops (well, most of them, anyway). Keeping things stirred up in the mix - and a constant thorn in Mike's side - is a local "lake constable" who refuses to keep his nose out, constantly bemoaning the fact that he wasn't deemed qualified enough to get hired as a "real" game warden.

There's a lot of interaction between Mike and Stacey's retired game warden dad Charley - who's really more of a father to Mike than is his own stepfather, with whom his relationship is rocky at best. There's plenty of action and well-researched details (almost a little too many of the latter, in fact), and the whole thing ends with a scary yin followed by a very welcome yang that makes me eager to read the next installment. All told, well done once again, and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

Boasting a compelling premise, I was excited to delve between the pages of “Dead Man’s Wake,” my very first book in the Mike Bowditch series. The Maine Game Warden’s discovery of two corpses and subsequent investigation is undoubtedly both gripping and intriguing. However, the boating references are very detailed and technical, which caused me to disengage from the mystery at hand. Still, the story is complex and suspenseful, and makes for an enjoyable read overall.

Game Warden Mike and his bride to be are attending an engagement party given by his stepfather and stepmother at their lake home. When a boat accident, turned murder happens in the lake Mike assumes his role as Game Warden and goes into investigation mode. Working with the local authorities Mike strives to solve the mystery. As Mike and his future father in law, a retired game warden and his mentor, work together they find their investigation hampered at every turn. Everyone has a story and everyone has secrets they are hiding.
As Mike strives to bring the investigation to s close he also finds some important personal realizations in his own life.
This book is part of a series but can easily be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

Dead Man’s Wake – Paul Doiron

Mike Bowditch & fiancée Stacy Stevens are celebrating their engagement and impending nuptials with family lakeside in Maine, when Mike hears the unmistakable sound of a fast-paced boat motor striking some type of object. A Maine Game Warden, Mike knows what the sound means, and he, Stacey & their respective parents head out on the lake to assess for injuries. The boat had fled the scene, but much to Mike’s dismay, Stacey spots a dismembered arm floating in the lake, clearly the casualty of a boat propeller.

As they await further assistance, they attempt to locate the body that the arm once belonged to, and Mike & Stacey, along with the Lake Constable Galen Webb, examine the arm. On its wrist is a high-end Rolex watch, which Galen immediately identifies as belonging to the owner of nearby Mouse Island, a Kip Whitcomb. With further questioning, Mike learns that Kip often brought women to the island, despite being married. After marking the area w/ a buoy, the group heads to Mouse Island to have a look around, quickly finding evidence that there had been a woman with the victim. But where was she?

State Police Detective Roger Finch arrives to assist, and the woman’s body is quickly located, with obvious evidence of homicide. The investigation kicks into high gear as the team looks for evidence – did Kip kill his lover and then go for a swim, only to be struck and killed by a boat, or was there something much more sinister at play? Where is the boat that struck Whitman? Interviews with family members and locals close to the scene, while enlightening, lead to dead ends as obvious suspects are quickly ruled out. Meanwhile Galen Webb seems to turn up everywhere…is he a young deputy who is hoping to prove himself worthy of the Warden’s Service, or is there something else altogether at play??

Another fabulous read from the Mike Bowditch series. As a former, short-term resident of the great state of Maine, I just adore this series, the characters and the familiarity of the areas used as a backdrop for some great fiction! The Belgrade Lake area is absolutely beautiful – and I’d taken that ride more than a few times in my years there. Awesome series, great characters, ingenious plots – I cannot say enough about this series!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Review will post to my blog on 6/20 🥳

Another great book by Paul Dorian. This series is seriously under rated. Dorian's characters and development are spot on. This series would look great on Netflix.

I am a big fan and have read most of his books. The last couple of books including this one I could not finish. He has just lost his edge.