Dead Man's Wake
A Novel
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4.3 • 155 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Game Warden Mike Bowditch's engagement party is interrupted by the discovery of a gruesome double murder in Dead Man's Wake, a thriller from Edgar Award-nominated author Paul Doiron.
On the evening of their engagement party, Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacey Stevens witness what seems to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash on a darkened lake. When they arrive at the scene, their spotlight reveals a gruesome sight: a severed arm floating just beneath the surface. As day breaks, the warden dive team recovers not one but two naked corpses: a dismembered man and the married woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike begins to suspect the swimmers' deaths were not a senseless accident but a coldly calculated murder.
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the mysterious boater. Suspects abound on the lake, nicknamed "Golden Pond,” including the violent biker husband of the murdered woman who may have taken vengeance on his wife and her paramour; a strange woman who claims to have witnessed the crash, but then changes her story; a very aggressive realtor and his wife who were determined to catch trespassers; and the lake’s earnest young constable whose eagerness to help may hide darker motives.
Alone among his fellow officers, Mike starts to sense the involvement of a trained marksman, smarter and more dangerous than any enemy he has ever faced before. As Mike and Stacey get closer to identifying the killer, their own lives are suddenly on the line as they confront a lethal killer who plans to silence them forever. The finale is a tour de force of drama and suspense.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Doiron's long-running series featuring Maine game warden and criminal investigator Mike Bowditch delivers one of its most satisfying shocks yet in this 14th entry (after 2022's Hatchet Island). Bowditch is celebrating his engagement to Stacey Stevens on a lake in central Maine when a collision on the water disrupts the festivities. Once Bowditch reaches the area, the boats are gone, leaving only a severed human arm with a wristwatch still attached. Galen Webb identifies the likely victim as Kip Whitcomb, the wealthy owner of a private island in the middle of the lake, who is now missing. As Bowditch sets about determining whether Kip's dismemberment was an accident or an act of foul play, reports surface that the playboy had been cheating on his wife with a younger woman who has also disappeared. Just when the plotting begins to flirt with predictability, Doiron pulls off a sucker-punch fair-play twist that puts entirely new suspects in play. That jolt, combined with vivid descriptions of the Maine woods and authentic depictions of the forensic science, make this a winner.
Customer Reviews
Dead Mans Wake. Paul Doirom
On the evening of their engagement party Maine Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacy Stevens is iteruppted by a double murder in Dead Mans’s Wake.Mike along with his former mentor Kathy and her dog trained in sniffing corspes and his soon to be father in law Charley discover an arm and later the body who is the husband of an extremely wealthy family who own the island. What unfolds is a tale of revenge by a highly skilled clandestine operator who is the brother of the sole heir to the island. Revenge against his brother in laws countless affairs on the island. An excellent read in this series!! My highest recommendation!!
Another great story
Another engaging story from an author who has become a favorite.
Dan in VT