Book Review: Dead Man’s Wake by Paul Doiron (Mike Bowditch #14)

My Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

A hit-and-run speedboat crash interrupts the engagement celebrations of Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and his fiancée Stacey Stevens at Mike’s stepfather Neil’s home in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine. Mike, who works for the Wildlife Crimes Investigation Division of the Maine Warden Service, rushes to the spot where he and his companions discover a severed arm floating in the water. Subsequently, two bodies are discovered – Kip Whitcomb whose arm was the husband of the owner of Mouse Island was severed, and Gina Randazza, the young wife of a biker with whom Kip was having an affair. What follows is a deep dive into the lives of the victims which points them to several suspects – the spouses of the respective victims, those who were driving the speedboat, a vacationer renting nearby who might have seen more than she claims. Mike has to coordinate his efforts with local law enforcement, careful not to step on too many toes, among whom is an eager young constable who himself might be involved. We follow Mike, Stacey, an emergency medical technician/bush pilot/ wildlife biologist among other things and Stacey's father Charley, retired Game Warden, as they try to find the killer and bring him/her to justice.

Fast-paced, well-written with great characters and a solid mystery at its core Dead Man’s Wake by Paul Doiron is an absorbing read. Twisty and atmospheric with an ending that I did not see coming, I thoroughly enjoyed this crime procedural. I loved the setting and the descriptions of the underwater search and crime scene processing procedures. I also enjoyed getting to know more about Mike and Stacey and their respective families.  This is #14  in a series of which I have not read any of the previous installments, but now am eager to explore. This book works well as a standalone. The author does a great job of providing those new to this series sufficient information about the main characters.

I paired my reading with the audio narration by Henry Leyva, who does a great job of bringing the story to life.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the digital review copy and the ALC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.