Fall Challenge Book Review #3: Bad Little Falls

The title totally caught my eye.

I'm originally from a village a little west of a town called Little Falls, out in Central New York.

I thought the author might be writing about that area of New York State.

Rather, the book is set in "Down East Maine"....the upper eastern corner of that vast state.  The 2 areas the story centers around is the town of Machias and what is known as Township 19. My husband, who is from New England, tells me that there are places in far northern Maine where the villages don't have names...just numbers due to very low population!

The area described in the book sounds lovely...but cold and sounds like winter lasts a long time!

It is a place.....

Where there are more moose than people....and where the sun first touches the USA in the wee morning hours.  And there really is a place called Bad Little Falls on a river in Machias.

STORY SUMMARY

Mike Bowditch is a Game Warden for the state of Maine.  He has recently been transferred by his superiors to a remote area of the state near the Canadian border.  One evening, a blizzard arrives on the coast and he is called to the rustic cabin of a frightened couple.  A half-frozen and raving man is on their doorstep claiming that his friend is lost in the blizzard.  

What starts out as a search and rescue mission, quickly becomes a baffling murder investigation.  The man who is found dead is a known drug dealer as well as the ex-boyfriend of Jamie, mother to Lucas who is a strange little boy who keeps a notebook of weird drawings and thoughts. Mike has met Jaime and is attracted to her. Her son seems to know something about what really happened in the blizzard but his secrets are locked away in a secret code in the notebook.  Mike fears for the safety of the little boy.  Meanwhile, the state police are convinced that the dead man's friend (who happens to be Jaime's brother) is the murder suspect.

Also, an anonymous tormentor has decided to make Mike's life a living hell.  He is alone in this new town.  He turns to his trusted old friend, Charley Stevens, a well-known and loved bush pilot.  In the snowbound landscape, where drug smugglers wage bloody battles at night, help seems far away.  If Mike Bowditch is going to catch the killer, he needs to survive by his own wits and discover the strength he never knew he possessed.

MY THOUGHTS

This was a good mystery; the author is new to me.

Apparently, this is a series featuring the game warden. (fiction based on real-life places in Maine). There are 2 previous novels featuring Mike Bowditch.

I liked the fact that the story took place in Maine and I was intrigued enough to research the Machias and Bad Little Falls legend.  It's an area of Maine I would love to visit but I don't think I'd want to live quite that far north!

I liked that the characters were described so well that they met my idea of what the blue collar folk in that part of Maine would be like.  I could just picture the poverty up there and the beauty of the surroundings.

I highly recommend this book if you like fast-paced mysteries with a little romance tossed in and believable characters.  I was a bit disappointed in the ending and how the author had things end with Jaime and Lucas (I don't want to give anything away in case you want to read this!) The only thing that MIGHT happen is maybe the author will bring these characters back in future Mike Bowditch novels.  The way the author actually ENDED the book was well done (referring back to another incident in the story and linking it to the ending) but I was disappointed in the abrupt departure of Jaime and her son.

In my opinion this novel is appropriate for ages 17 and older.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.