cbr17 B
Oh, look. Here’s another series I have gotten sucked into. Fortunately, it started about 15 years ago, so I’ve got plenty more coming up to enjoy. And unlike my precious Perry Mason, these all seem to be available at my local library, so that’s a good thing.
Well, it looks like Mike Bowditch, Maine game warden, has been sent into exile for the crime of not paying much attention to his bosses, and having the uncanny ability to turn over murders in the course of his daily duties. That really isn’t part of his job description, but they just seem to fall into his lap. Exile in this case consists of Washington County, the farthest most northeast corner of Maine, AKA where the sun first hits the US. Except in the winter, there isn’t much of that.
Bowditch first gets called on the case of a zebra that has frozen to death on a big game hunting ranch. Hardly a surprise, since this was obviously not its native habitat. Our introduction to Machias, the town at the heart of this county, has Bowditch living in a rented trail, on which a coyote skin is nailed on the front door, and a skunk is let in to run amuck through a broken window. Quite the welcome committee. But a severe winter blizzard leads Bowditch to a couple of hard luck young drug dealers, one of which frozen to death and the other rescued just in time but with a disfiguring case of frostbite. His sister, Jamie, is the perky McDonalds shift Manager of the Month with a shifty ex-husband, an odd duck teenage son, and a brain-damaged sister (from the car accident that killed their parents) to take care of. There are plenty of secrets to uncover, and chases through the frozen woods as well.
What can I say? I’m hooked on this series with its gripping sense of place. I have a feeling Bowditch is going to be sent off to every corner of the state. Works for me.