‘Bad Little Falls’ by Paul Doiron

Published by Constable and Robinson Crime, 1August 2013.
ISBN: 978-1780338194  

This is Doiron's third adventure starring Game Warden Mike Bowditch, described by one of his superiors as 'an arrogant ****up who thinks he's the smartest guy in the Warden Service.'  He also a good – if often misguided man – has the instincts of a terrier and will never give up until he's got his man. 

In Bad Little Falls, he has been exiled – mainly for insubordination – from his former posting to the desolate country in Down East Maine, up near the Canadian border.  This is an area of poverty, drug-dealing, drunkenness and danger, both man-made and natural.  Snow, ice, frozen rivers, ice-covered roads, solitary woods and isolated farmsteads: they're all here, along with a game park full of exotic animals which rich hunters can come and kill, and a skunk let loose in Bowditch's dismal trailer.

There are two beautiful women, with both of whom he falls half in love.  There is a precocious pre-teen boy.  The plot rattles along at a fine old pace, much enhanced by Doiron's brilliant scene-setting and truly excellent writing abilities. 

I loved Doiron's first two books, Trespasser and The Poacher's Son, and Bad Little Falls is as good as both of them.  Read it.

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Reviewer: Susan Moody

Paul Doiron is a native of Maine, he attended Yale University, where he graduated with a degree in English, and he holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. He is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels, including The Poacher's Son, which won the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel and Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and the Maine Literary Award for "Best Fiction of 2010. His second book in the Mike Bowditch series, Trespasser, won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction, was an American Booksellers Association Indie Bestseller and has been called a "masterpiece of high-octane narrative" by Booklist. His third novel in the series, Bad Little Falls, will be published on August 7.  He is the editor in chief of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, Down East Books, and DownEast.com. He is a former member of the Maine Arts Commission and a current member of the Maine Humanities Council. Paul is a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing and outdoor recreation and lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine.

Susan Moody was born in Oxford is the principal nom de plume  of Susan Elizabeth Donaldson, née Horwood, a British novelist best known for her suspense novels. She is a former Chairman of the Crime Writer's Association, served as World President of the International Association of Crime Writers, and was elected to the prestigious Detection Club. Susan Moody has given numerous courses on writing crime fiction and continues to teach creative writing in England, France, Australia, the USA and Denmark.  In addition to her many stand alone books, Susan has written two series, on featuring PI Penny Wanawake (seven books) and a series of six books featuring bridge player Cassie Swan.