2026 Book Review #8:Hatchet Island

 

This is book 13 in the Maine series I enjoy.  Each book includes a mystery that needs to be solved, along with  the main character's life which is always a sub plot. And his life always includes a little bit of non-sappy romance.  The main character is Mike Bowditch who in this book is now  32 years old. He is a Game Warden Investigator.  We now see Mike helping with not one, but 2 murders and 2 suicides and somehow they are all linked together!  This was probably my 2nd fave in the series so far.  

STORY SUMMARY

Mike Bowditch, and his girlfriend Stacey Stevens, are on their way in their sea kayaks to have a camping trip  in July, on Spruce Island, off the coast of Maine.  He gets a call for help from a former colleague and so before their camping trip, they head to a research station on Bakers Island. It's a place where Stacey spent her summers as an intern which is a sanctuary  for endangered seabirds.  Other islands in the area are Ayers Island which has a small community of lobstermen and a famous photographer and his wife who act as lord and lady of the entire island. He is known for his crass photos and disturbing images. Their names are Clay and Alyce Markham.  They are very wealthy. Ayers is connected to Hatchet Island by a sandbar. Hatchet is the site of a former granite quarry and no one lives on the island although Clay has a studio there. 

 

Mike and Stacey are shocked when they arrive and  can feel the tension on the island. There are 3 biologists on Bakers Island:   Garret (an intern) Kendra (Stacey's former college roommate and good friend), and Hillary (intern).  Kendra, who also used to be an intern with Stacey for a couple of summers, is now the Project Manager for Dr Maeve McLeary who is in charge of the Maine Seabird Initiative's restoration efforts on the island.  The biologists are being threatened and stalked by some mysterious boatman.  They suspect he's been trespassing on the refuge late at night. 

And now....the founder of the sanctuary...Dr Maeve...is missing! Kendra reports that Maeve's mind has been slowly going downhill....unraveling.....

When Stacey and Mike promise to return to Bakers Island the next morning, they head over to Spruce Island to camp.  In the middle of the night...before dawn....they are woken up by a gunshot. Also, Mike heard a boat come ashore after they had gone to bed.   Once it's dawn, Stacey and Mike kayak back over to Bakers Island and their worst fears are confirmed:  they find Kendra and Hillary brutally murdered and Garrett is missing. The island skiff is also missing. Soon, the state police arrive, after Stacey kayaks over to Ayers Island to get a signal and make the call.  Meanwhile, Mike looks around and discovers that Maeve has returned. 

However, Maeve makes a decision that ends in suicide. 

What is going on with these islands?? 

Mike becomes convinced that someone on Ayers Island knows more about the killings that they are willing to admit. 

Will Mike and Stacey figure out the mystery murderer(s) before they too end up dead??

MY THOUGHTS

As always, I have enjoyed this mystery set in Maine. 

I love that Stacey is back in Mike's life and that their relationship has developed over the last several books. There's a bit of foreshadowing in this book but I don't want to reveal what it is as that would ruin it for you. 

The characters in this series are always so believable. 

The setting is spot on and according to some online research I did, there really is an Ayers Island near University of Maine at Orono. It's actually located in the Penobscot River, not the Atlantic. There is also a real Baker Island which is part of the Cranberry Islands and a part of Acadia National Park. It is about 4 miles from Mount Desert Island which is where we camped when we were in Acadia National Park years ago. And the granite for the Brooklyn Bridge really did come from Maine. 

Hatchet Island, Maine is fictional. 

This story is very fast paced and a real "Who did it".  It's got plenty of twists and turns and drama.  It takes place in less than a week and the ending wraps everything up well. 

Please note: some parts of this plot could be triggering for individuals who have been victims of s*xual abuse and manipulation.  There are brief mentions of inappropriate relationships between one of the male characters and several of the younger male characters in this plot. There is nothing outwardly explicit.  

The book also features 2 characters committing suicide and htis could be triggering as well for people who have had to deal with that. 

I liked that this particular book had less swearing and much less use of the "f " word.  It seems as though the last few books have done much better at using other words, which is something I appreciate. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to some mature content mentioned above). 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9. 

Monday Morning Meditation

 

Potholers
Southern ADK

I've been meditating on the following Scripture from Isaiah:

" Is anyone thirsty? Come, and drink....." Isaiah 55:1a NLT (New Living Translation)

and then later in the chapter at verse 3b:

"Come to Me with your ears wide open.  Listen---and you will find Life.... 

and then in verse 6: 

"Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call on Him now while He is near" 

But when I read it in the New King James Version, verse 2b really jumped out:

"Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance." 

I re-read the verses and then silenced my thoughts. I began to meditate (think deeply) on what I had read and what God might be saying here.  

It reminded me of when I was working out on the treadmill Saturday morning. I had on my yoga pants, a tee shirt and my power walking sneakers. I can no longer run due to disc herniations in the spine.  They no longer give me pain, thanks to good chiropractic work and daily exercises.  But once you have them, you can not run or do high impact workouts. It can exacerbate the issues immediately or years later.  So....I had set the treadmill for the "weight loss routine" at a level 2 which is like a HiiT routine.  It got my heart rate up to the cardio load level and beyond.  But.....

the 30 minute workout also left me with a deep thirst. I had put my water bottle on the treadmill to grab when needed but I think I only grabbed it twice in the 30 minutes. 

As the treadmill slowed to the recovery walk, I couldn't wait to be done, wipe my sweaty face with the towel and go upstairs to the kitchen for a big tall iced glass of refreshing water.  

As I poured the water over the ice, it reminded me of the waterfalls I had hiked to with a friend of mine in the autumn of 2024.  It's called Potholers.  We were the only people there!  It's miles from civilization and in fact, you drive about 10 miles down a dirt road to a specific spot, park, and then hike just a few hundred yards to the river where the falls are.  I never would have found this spot if my friend hadn't gone previously with other friends. As we sat there, it was the kind of autumn day that when the sun was out, it was very warm.  We were sitting on that log you see behind the falls.  I wanted to just reach down and scoop up some of that refreshing, pure water.  But it's not really pure, is it?    Nowadays we have to think about acid rain, giardia  aka "beaver fever" ( which I've had and it is NOT pleasant!), and other bacteria that has tainted our beautiful waters. 

Thankfully, we did have our filtered water bottles with us. 

This morning's Scripture time  that I had before I went to a class I take at church, reminded me that only Jesus can really satisfy our spiritual thirst.  He is the Living Water as told to the Samaritan woman He spoke with at the well. 

 

and when John had the vision of the new heaven and the new earth, when Jesus returns, he said this in Revelation 21:

And God the Father describes Himself as the living water in Jeremiah: 

Jesus is also known as the "Bread of Life".  How do we partake of the "bread of life".  Bread means sustenance.  Water is cleansing.  The bread refers to the Word of God.  We must partake of His Word daily to stay strong. Just like I have to workout daily to remain strong and healthy, so too do we need Scripture to remain spiritually strong and healthy.    This is what is meant by "eat what is good".  The Word of God? It's good. It's vital for our soul. 

Are you partaking of the life-giving water today and chewing on the Word of God? 

It's the way to an abundant life.  

 

 

Sunday Stealin' Meme

Yesterday felt like the end of March. Today feels like January. 

sigh.

I liked the questions to Sunday Stealing meme...head here to link up. 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week's astonishingly random questions were stolen from Love Me Some Surveys. 

Survey Asks ...

1. Did you/will you have coffee or some other form of caffeine today? 

Absolutely.  Had my first mug with my mornign meditation at 7 AM.  Filled a travel mug with some for the 9 AM church service. And because it's still winter, I might have an early afternoon mug from my French Press. 

2. Who did you last have a text conversation with and what was it about? 

My long time friend Cheryl B who lives in our childhood home town out in The Mohawk Valley. We  were texting about the stupidity of a hiker from my area who had to be rescued not once but twice by the NYS DEC rangers and how we honeslty think the state needs to start charging hikers who have to be rescued for being stupid/doing stupid things.  This my friends is why I will NOT hike alone in the high peaks region!! (I've been tempted, trust me....I'm experienced). In fact, I hike all over the ADK not just the high peaks and there's only maybe 3-4 trails I'd be comfortable hiking alone and mainly because they are popular.  Too many risks by one's self. Especially in the winter. They need to publish his name AND send him a hefty bill/fine or start requiring permits to hike in the Dix Mt range (one of the most difficult ADK ranges). 

3. Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? 

yes. We live north of NYC and Albany/Rensselaer is right on the train line. I'm in the northern  burbs so have to  travel a few minutes south to hop on the train. 

4. Have you ever been hospitalized due to dehydration?

No.  But i've been dehydrated on a hiking trail and it sure isn't fun. 

5. Someone texts/IMs you just as you’re about to go to sleep. Do you reply? 

Only if it's someone on my faves list(and is an emergency)  because all other contacts are silenced after 10 pm. I love the Focus feature!!

6. Do you grind your teeth?  

No. But my sister Joy did when we were kids. 

7. When you listen to music with headphones, do you keep the volume low enough to hear surrounding noise, or do you blast it?

I keep it low enough to hear sounds around me because when I have my ear buds in, I'm generally power walking outdoors and we  don't have sidewalks here so I need to be able to hear cars, etc.

8. Are you wearing nail polish?

Not currently but I'm putting on my clear polish later today!  Funny this is a question, since I was just telling a friend of mine, I need to do my nails. I rarely   wear color on my fingernails. Just my toes. 

9. Do you have an ice maker in your refrigerator door?

Nope 

10. Do you have a friend named James?

YES!  We are friends with a wonderful couple named Jeanie and James. Their 2nd child, Rebekah, is a good friend of our 2nd child, Claire Rebekah. They've been friends since they were in elementary school and go to our church. Both girls are now out on their own but Rebekah is still one of my fave friends of Claire's.  Her dad James is awesome person. Plays keyboard in our music ministry. 

ENJOY YOUR SUNDAY, EVERYONE!!

End of February Faves

 

It's the end of February and that is a HUGE thing to be thankful for. Besides that, I'm here to share FIVE of my FAVE blessings from this past week. Join in with us by linking up at Susanne's site. 

FIVE FAVES

• SURPRISE NEWS! After church on Sunday, the young woman whom we think of as a third daughter, and who is our church choir director, approached me and said my oldest daughter (Courtney) and I along with 3 other women, have been chosen to be a vocal ensemble for the Good Friday service this year!  We will be backing the worship team! There will be me and another alto (Melissa) and Courtney, Emily (Melissa's twin!) and another soprano.  I'm so thankful for this opportunity to glorify God with our singing.

Hope and Donny's driveway
central NYS 
Saturday 21 Feb

Courtney's cursive writing
a letter she wrote her Aunt Hope
when she was in 3rd grade and just learning cursive!

• GAME DAY!  Saturday was a day to head out to the central part of NYS where there is a lot more snow and spend the afternoon with my sister Hope and her husband Donny. They live in the woods. Literally. She made a delicious tortellini soup and cheddar muffins.  The soup was meatless and had veggies from their garden.  I had brought some peanut butter chocolate chip brownies to share and she had made peanut butter cookies!  We play Splurt (Hope won),  Shut the Box (I won) and Apples to Apples (Dave won). Before we played the games though, Hope showed me a letter Courtney had written to her in third grade! She was going through a box of old things and came across it.  How precious it is!  In our school district, you begin learning cursive in 3rd grade along with proper letter writing as a precursor to beginning to learn to do research and essays in 4th grade. Courtney had written to Hope about a dog she made out of paper and that she included in the letter. Courtney was in 3rd grade during the 2001-2002 school year. She was 8.  I texted Courtney the pic I took (shown above) and she couldn't believe her Aunt Hope kept it all these years! I'm thankful we had a fun day and the walk down memory lane.  

Salmon salad dinner
with basil-herb cous-cous
and steamed beets

chicken chili and cheddar biscuits

• PORTION CONTROL:  My husband needs to lose about 25 lbs for his optimal weight. My doc says I'm fine with a normal BMI but I want to lose about 5-8 lbs anyways. We've realized this winter that we were taking seconds at most dinners. We eat dinner around 6:15-6:45 depending on the day and realized we need to do better at portion control like the meals we had in Europe. So this past week I made meatless meals twice and meals with meat twice. The meat meals are shown above. We did really well with the amounts you see.  The salmon was a piece I had bought at the fish market we like and it was already seasoned. We split it in half and each had a half.  That's more than enough meat for a meal!  I'm thankful we are on the right track for Dave to lose some weight. I'm also thankful he's joining his work gym.

• SUNSHINE!!  I'm so very thankful that we had a couple of days of full sunshine for outdoor brisk walking. One day, after I had done my treadmill cardio workout for 1.4 miles, I then went and walked another 1.7 miles outdoors, later in the day.  I'm thankful for the late winter sunshine and it's helping to melt the snow off the deck and driveway! 

• NYCB TICKETS!  The amphitheatre tickets at this place opened up to the public on Wednesday so I went on the website first thing in the morning. I managed to get Claire and I tickets for the middle section balcony row D!!  If I was a higher tier member, I could have ordered the tickets a couple weeks ago and gotten seats in rows A, B or C.   ( for those of you who are new here, Claire is our youngest daughter who studied classical ballet from age 3 to 22 and was in the UNH Ballet Company for 4 years during her college years. We've been attending the NYCBallet at SPAC since she was 8 years old) We've always splurged on the balcony tickets, mid-section.   We chose to go the night that they are featuring their Innovators and Icons ballet. I'm so thankful I have the money to buy these tickets AND that this is a mother-daughter event she still wants to participate in. One of our fave ballerinas will feature one of her choreographed pieces and it's her premiere! 

That wraps up my faves for the week. 

Have a wonderful weekend and only 3 more weeks until SPRING!!!