Last year I read and reviewed 52 books with some of those being non-fiction and/or small group studies. I would have read 53 books but there was one that was so bad, I just couldn't read it so after about 3 chapters I returned it to the library. My goal on Goodreads was to read 45 books so I surpassed my goal. This new year (2024) my goal is 60 books. I'd like 4 of those to be non-fiction and I'd like to read at least one biography or auto-biography.
This one is the second book in the Mike Bowditch, Game Warden series set in Maine. I love this series. I first read book 3 without realizing it was part of a series. Last year I read book one and now I've finished book 2. It will be awhile before I get to book 4 because there are 3 books on my nightstand waiting for me, first.
STORY SUMMARY
Mike Bowditch, a game warden, is on patrol one foggy early Spring evening in March, when he receives a call for help. A young college-aged woman has struck and killed a deer on Parker Point Road which is a lonely coast road. When Mike gets to the scene, he discovers that the deer is gone, just leaving a large bloody spot in the road and the young woman...the driver....has disappeared as well! The state trooper who has been assigned to this case seems to be oddly unconcerned about the disappearance of the young woman.
The details of this disappearance have a familiar feel. It's very similar to 7 years ago when a lobsterman named Erland Jefferts was convicted of rape and murder. The victim was a very wealthy college girl. The judge in his case sentenced him to life in prison. Justice was served. But....Erland has a team of defender friends and family known as the J-Team. When this new missing woman is found in a local mansion, owned by very wealthy people from Boston, MA, and she was brutalized in the same manner as the case from 7 years ago, it seems that Jefferts may have been framed! After all, he's been in prison for the last 7 years!
Mike is determined to find out just what happened to this new victim (Ashley Kim) and yet he is given a warning from the state prosecutors to not get involved.
Not only is the young woman found dead but the man who owns the house is also found dead in his car a few miles away! He happens to be her professor! His wife claims there is no way he would have commited suicide as the scene suggests. She also is in denial that her husband and Ashley were having an affair.
But for Bowditch, doing nothing is not an option. His investigation is opening up old wounds between the locals and the summer people. Now his life and the life of the woman he loves (Sarah) are on the line. As he begins to unravel this mystery, he learns that the suspects are extremely dangerous. And he learns just how far they will go to prevent him from bringing a killer to justice.
MY THOUGHTS
This is a fast-paced mystery with a tiny bit of romance and a whole lot of "who done it" twists and turns.
I love the characters portrayed in this series. There's a retired game warden (Charley) and his disabled wife Ora who are very good friends of Mike's. There's Sarah, Mike's girlfriend and a local teacher, and there are police officers and the Game Warden Supervisor from the first book. The character development is excellent.
I liked that the author had a note in the back of the book that there was a real life case involving a man and a young girl and that's where he got the idea for this story. However, he also notes that everything in this story is fiction.
If you like reading good mystery series, you might like this series set in the upper part of Maine. The description of the area is spot on.
Sadly, there were several editing errors in this book.
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.
3 comments:
Hi Faith. Sounds like an interesting book! You always do such good, thorough book reviews, but I understand why you might want to cut back. I am having a hard time keeping up with book reviews so I am also thinking of cutting them down to a paragraph at most - and only reviewing the most interesting books I read each month. I am back to work tomorrow. Not really looking forward to it. I will try to do another MP tomorrow night. See you then!
I love how detailed and thorough your book reviews are - it's something I want to improve upon this year. I'm aiming for 52 books this year and to be better at doing reviews.
Love a book with some good twists and turns that I didn't see coming. I've never seen this author. You did great keeping up with your reviews. I dropped the ball to the point where I'm about 5 or 6 reviews behind from last year and now I can't even remember the gist of the story or how I felt about it so I'm just going to give myself grace and start fresh with this year.
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