STORY SUMMARY
On the little island known as Maquoit Island, off the northern coast of Maine, a woman has been found shot to death in the backyard of the cottage she was renting in the autumn.
Mike Bowditch has just been promoted, a few months earlier, to Warden Investigator. This case seems pretty open and shut and appears to be a hunting incident because the woman, known as Ariel Evans, was hanging up white laundry on the clothesline and a hunter most likely thought she was a deer.
However, as soon as Mike begins to investigate the scene and people associated wit the island, the mysteries begin to pile up one on top of another.
The hunter...an older teen boy named Kenneth Crowley...is now claiming he didn't fire the fatal shot from his hunting rifle. And..the evidence proves this is true.
Mike begins to suspect that the secretive community is covering up the true identity of whoever killed the woman. Ariel Evans was supposedly on the island to write a book about the island's mysterious hermit, Blake Markman, a former Hollywood producer and very wealthy man. Ariel is also a controversial author for having written about some neoNazi, white supremacist group located in Idaho. However, upon searching the cottage, no computer or notes or anything an author might have, were found.
But then a huge blow comes: the next day, the weekly ferry arrives to the island and off steps the dead woman herself! She is the real Ariel Evans and she's alive, well, and determined to solve her own "murder" even if it upsets Bowditch's investigation. Little do they know, they both will become targets of an elusive killer who will do anything to hide his crimes.
MY THOUGHTS
I really enjoyed this character driven story.
The plot is pretty good although not as good as some other books in the series.
What I really enjoyed about this story was the new twist in Mike's personal life...I wasn't surprised but I was disappointed to hear Stacey, his long-time girlfriend and daughter of his mentor Charley Stevens, had moved to Florida and that they were not really a couple anymore. But, I think now he can develop a better friendship with the ex-game warden turned state trooper Dani. (These characters appear in previous books).
I liked that this story was fast-paced and contained some little known facts about the deer population and hunting in Maine. I find that kind of thing interesting.
Main themes in this book are: secrets, drugs, alcoholism, murder, infidelity, poverty, an us vs them mentality, old family feuds, environmental issues/overpopulation of deer, lobstermen and their way of life, trust.
I loved the unpredictability of this story and the character description as well as the rugged Maine coast/island descriptions.
There are quite a few editing errors in this book, some words left out, extra words, etc.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content).
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
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