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Book Summary and Reviews of The Bone Orchard by Paul Doiron

The Bone Orchard by Paul Doiron

The Bone Orchard

A Mike Bowditch Mystery

by Paul Doiron

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Jul 2014, 320 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In the aftermath of a family tragedy, Mike Bowditch has left the Maine Warden Service and is working as a fishing guide in the North Woods. But when his mentor Sgt. Kathy Frost is forced to kill a troubled war veteran in an apparent case of "suicide by cop," he begins having second thoughts about his decision.

Now Kathy finds herself the target of a government inquiry and outrage from the dead soldier's platoon mates. Soon she finds herself in the sights of a sniper, as well. When the sergeant is shot outside her farmhouse, Mike joins the hunt to find the mysterious man responsible. To do so, the ex-warden must plunge into his friend's secret past - even as a beautiful woman from Mike's own past returns, throwing into jeopardy his tentative romance with wildlife biologist Stacey Stevens. 

As Kathy Frost lies on the brink of death and a dangerous shooter stalks the blueberry barrens of central Maine, Bowditch is forced to confront the choices he has made and determine, once and for all, the kind of man he truly is, in The Bone Orchard by Paul Doiron.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Excellent...Thoughtful plotting and strong characters raise this above the crime novel pack." - Publishers Weekly

"Massacre Pond is a tough act to follow, but Doiron avoids series stagnancy by placing Bowditch outside of the law-enforcement circle he once loved and treating readers to another round of top-notch outdoors-Maine descrition. Highly recommended for fans of C.J. Box and Craig Johnson." - Booklist

"Vivid local characters and wild Maine landscapes, as well as a satisfying mystery. Recommended for readers who appreciate maverick backwoods investigators like Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight." - Library Journal

"A high-stakes, high-tension yarn in which you keep wishing everything would turn out fine for the deeply flawed, deeply sympathetic hero." - Kirkus

This information about The Bone Orchard was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Paul Doiron Author Biography

Photo: Mark Fleming

Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels, including The Poacher's Son, which won the the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for an Edgar Award, an Anthony Award, a Macavity Award, and a Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and the Maine Literary Award for "Best Fiction of 2010." PopMatters named it to its Best Fiction of 2010 list.

His second book, Trespasser, won the Maine Literary Award, was an American Booksellers Association Indie Bestseller, and has been called a "masterpiece of high-octane narrative" by Booklist. The third novel, Bad Little Falls, was a Bookscan Bestseller and a nominee for the RT Reviewers Choice Award and the Maine Literary Award. Massacre Pond, the fourth in the series, was an Indie Next...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Paul Doiron's Website

Name Pronunciation
Paul Doiron: DWAHR-uhn. First syllable rhymes with "R"

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