Bad Little Falls by Paul Doiron – Thriller – A Maine Ranger, Drug Deals, Freezing, and Murder
Award-winning mystery author Paul Doiron returns with his third book starring Maine ranger Mike Bowditch. In bad little fallsBowditch’s affinity for murder investigations beyond the scope of his authority thrives.
The Warden Service reassigned Bowditch from the central coast of Maine to Bad Little Falls in inland Washington County near the Canadian border. Bowditch knows that his routine conflicts with management and his dishonest professional behavior explained his transfer during the harsh winter of February.
Jamie Seawall is a divorced Employee of the Month at the local McDonald’s, whose neatness draws Bowditch in soon after he arrives. He and his college girlfriend, Sarah, broke up last summer. Tensions between the pair increased, as Bowditch generally preferred his career to Sarah’s. Hiding his pregnancy from him until he aborted didn’t help his situation.
Seawall sports his own baggage, including a drug and alcohol addiction, and a penchant for attracting toxic romantic relationships. Her last ex-boyfriend is Randall Cates, a well-known drug dealer. “That’s the thing about drugs. Once you start using, you’ll do anything to stay high, including convincing yourself that you love the man who’s giving you the drugs,” she says.
Cates is believed to be responsible for the death of Trinity Raye. Last year he sold contaminated heroin to a seventeen-year-old Whitney High School student; and she overdosed. Authorities have been unable to connect Cates to the crime. John (Prester) Seawall is Jamie’s brother and Cates’ right-hand man.
The Heath is a trackless wasteland where Cates and Seawall commonly deal drugs. During a particularly brutal snowstorm, Seawall stumbles upon the home of Ben and Doris Sprague, frozen to the brink of death. He manages to tell the couple that his friend is clinging to life in the blizzard.
Doc Larrabee, a friend of the Spragues and a recent acquaintance of Bowditch, asks him to help him search for the endangered missing man.
Setting off on one of Sprague’s snowmobiles, Bowditch discovers Cates near the Heath, freezing to death. An autopsy reveals that he suffered a cracked sternum before he died, turning his death into a murder investigation.
Once again, Bowditch finds himself on the hunt for a killer, defying the authorities’ warning to stay away. Doiron adds an element of surprise that could be considered the catalyst for the story’s deadly chain of events.
Lucas is the strange and troubled twelve-year-old son of Jamie Seawall. He keeps notebook diaries with disturbing images on the cover, including vampire women and owls with bloodstained beaks; and he likes Bowditch.
Some people in Washington County despise Bowditch’s arrival as a ranger. Joe Brogan operates the Call of the Wild and Game Ranch guide service. It is a legally closed ranch that stocks up on exotic creatures, allowing hunters to pay good money to shoot land animals. The concept irks Bowditch; and he and Brogan become archaemias.
Returning home in his rented trailer one day, Bowditch finds a coyote pelt nailed to his door, accompanied by a threatening note signed “George Magoon”. Magoon was a legendary poacher from Maine in the 1880s who often threatened area rangers.
Shortly after the coyote fur incident, Bowditch discovers a skunk inside his trailer, which entered through a deliberately broken window. Are these two incidents the work of a villain?
Bowditch rekindles his friendship with legendary Guardian pilot, Charley Stevens. He and his wife, Ora, now live an hour away from the new Bowditch jurisdiction. Stevens helped Bowditch track down his father at Rum Pond, in Doiron’s debut, the poacher’s son; and assisted with the Ashley Kim murder investigation in Sin.
Doiron is a registered Maine guide, giving him the ability to describe the state’s wildlife and terrain in vivid detail. “I was traveling through a landscape as sharp as a black and white photograph. The greens of the pine trees seemed black. The shadows beyond my headlights were gray. The only brightness was the white of the snow.”
Every book Doiron publishes expands his audience and recognition. If you like discovering talented authors during their budding careers, add this to your list.
While each story stands alone in Doiron’s current triad of books, consider reading his previous two before diving in. bad little falls. It will help you join the narratives and fully appreciate their talents.
If you like to read crime novels, check out Bouchercon 2012. It’s the annual conference dedicated to crime novel authors and readers. This year’s event was held in Cleveland, Ohio, from October 4-7; and it reads like a Who’s Who of presenters. For more information visit: http://bouchercon2012.com.