I liked the sound of Dead Man's Wake - a hit and run boating accident results in the gruesome death of a man. During his investigation Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch soon uncovers a second body - and this one is no accident. Things pick up from there as Mike tries to piece together exactly what happened.

First, I didn't realize this was part of a long running series (this is Book 14) as this isn't mentioned anywhere in the blurb or on the cover. Although it is a stand alone, I might have been a little more engaged if I'd read some of the previous books first. It's a good procedural/whodunnit book but I can't say it enthralled me. To be honest, despite the novelty of having a Game Warden as the main character instead of the cliched cop or federal agent, Mike just isn't that interesting. He investigates crime scenes, interviews witnesses, and does everything the actual cops do to the point that his title really is irrelevant. His personality is just kind of blah to me - no different then the hundreds of other protagonists I've read in this genre

Dead Man's Wake isn't a bad book at all, but I just couldn't get wrapped up in it. Again, maybe things would have been different if I'd been following this series from the beginning and had more of a connection to the characters. I enjoyed the read, but not enough to be interested in reading any more about Mike Bowditch

I haven’t met a book in this series that I didn’t like. Although this one gets off to a slow start, it more than makes up for it with the likable characters, a beautiful setting, and of course a interesting story that draws you in. Now the ending…..well you will have to read the book for that explosive episode.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This book is set to be published in June, 2023.

As a Mainer, I get so excited to see another Paul Doiron book releasing. The series just gets better and better with each book. Loved seeing the next chapter in Mike and Stacey's story. Looking forward to recommending Dead Man's Wake. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Paul Doiron’s “Dead Man’s Wake—the 14th in his “Mike Bowditch” series—is a well-written and entertaining mystery set mostly on the central Maine lake called “Great Pond.”

Family has gathered at the lake for a dinner celebrating Mike Bowditch’s engagement to Stacy. Suddenly, they hear a powerful boat speed by, seem to hit something, stop, and then flee the scene. Subsequent investigation discovers two naked corpses in the water. As an investigator for Maine’s Warden Service (a police agency charged with enforcing the state’s fisheries and wildlife law), Mike must determine whether the boat caused either death. He quickly discovers there’s more at work than just a speedboat leaving the scene of an accident. Instead, he, Stacy, and their parents find themselves embroiled in a mystery full of twists, turns, and unanticipated dangers from unexpected quarters.

It's a solid mystery filled with likable characters, action, adventure, and a high level of technical detail. Author Paul Doiron excels at researching and explaining the various elements necessary to his story. Whether it be preserving an underwater crime scene, or diving to recover a body, or firing a pistol that’s just been submerged, or landing a plane that’s just been sabotaged, Mr. Doiron gives us the details necessary to put us right in the middle of the action. The same goes for his ability to describe settings and what comprises them. His expertise in Maine flora and fauna is highly evident. He puts it to excellent use to give his readers a sense of what it's like to live or vacation on one of Maine's pristine lakes.

In short, I came away from “Dad Man’s Wake” believing I’d learned some things. For me, that's always a plus.

This is the second “Bowditch” mystery I’ve had the pleasure to read. I'm pretty sure it won't be the last.

This is the 14th book in Doiron’s crime series featuring former Maine game warden and now warden investigator, 32-year-old Mike Bowditch. (In Maine, game wardens are full law-enforcement officers, with all the powers of state troopers: “They are the ‘off-road police.’” A warden investigator, on the other hand, is “for all intents and purposes a plainclothes detective.”) Mike now works in the Wildlife Crimes Investigation Division of the Maine Warden Service, where his cases “involved everything from busting poaching rings to solving hunting homicides to reconstructing boating accidents.”

An apparent boating accident interrupts his engagement party at the Great Pond home of his stepdad, Neil Turner, and his wife Jubilee. (Great Pond, covering about twelve miles in area, is in Kennebec County in Maine.). Mike’s fiancée Stacey Stevens and her parents, Charley and Ora, are also in attendance. Getting some fresh air, Mike witnesses what appears to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash and he, Stacey, and Charley ask Neil to take them on his boat to the scene of the crime. There, they make the first of a series of gruesome discoveries: a newly severed arm.

Other local law enforcement officials get involved after daybreak, including the lake constable Galen Webb, Lieutenant Rick LaJoy, Detective Roger Finch, and Finch’s partner Detective Sergeant Ellen Pomerleau. Mike also asks his former boss, Kathy Frost, to bring her cadaver dog Maple to the scene.

A warden dive team, partly assisted by Maple, recovers not one but two naked corpses: the dismembered man and the married-to-someone-else woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike began to suspect the swimmers' deaths were not the result of a carelessaccident but rather of coldly calculated murders.

The hunt for the hit-and-run boater goes rather quickly, but the mystery of what actually happens just intensifies. Complicating the case even further, some of the law enforcement officials have troublesome histories with either the victims or the suspects.

Evaluation: I always learn a lot in Doiron’s books, in this case, all about the necessities and vagaries of an underwater crime scene. Furthermore, his descriptions of the flora and fauna of Maine are so evocative, I feel like I am right there at any scene, experiencing the beauty of the landscape and birds. Doiron is, among his other assets, an excellent promoter of the desirability of seeing Maine. These are crime stories, however, and so there is also plenty of tension, especially toward the end of the books, when Mike generally encounters life-threatening situations. I always look forward to more stories in the series.

Paul Doiron's 14th Mike Bowditch novel is hard to believe. Yet. Doiron's character and writing are still top notch page turners. Whether its the Maine locations or the advancement of the the characters I fly right through his writing.

This novel deals with Mike about to be married but is interrupted by a boat accident on a lake he is visiting with his family and friends. Multiple layers await Mike as he tries to put all the incident into focus.

Highly Recommended

This author is one of my all time favorites! The series never disappoints and love reading about another location in Maine. I am sure you will love the story as much I did.

This story started with a bang! An evening boat crash leaving a severed arm floating nearby propels Paul Doiron’s story into a spellbinding full-blown investigation after a dive team discovers two corpses. A suspenseful ‘who done it’ with complex characters and well-placed drama and clues.

Game warden, Mike Bowditch returns as he’s about to be married. He and Stacey are celebrating their engagement when they witness a speedboat strike something before it jets off. On the lake, all the couple find is a severed arm, but the next day, an investigation brings even more gruesome finds to the surface. The bodies of a dismembered man and the woman he was having an affair with lead Mike to believe what he witnessed was no accident. The most obvious suspect is the husband of the dead woman, but there are others in the community who may have had a motive, and Mike finds himself facing his most deadly opponent yet. Doiron’s long running series show no signs of running out of steam as he continues to build excitement and develop Bowditch into a more complex and multi layered character

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, A surprising who done it and so many crazy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!