Maine game warden Mike Bowditch is back.

Introduced in Paul Doiron’s 2010 debut novel, “The Poacher’s Son,” Bowditch is only slightly more seasoned as a warden in the sequel, “Trespasser.” But he’s still impetuous, impassioned and inclined to stick his nose into murder investigations outside his jurisdiction — disregarding the damage it could heap on the rocky start of his career.

In “Trespasser,” it’s the murder of two people from “away”: a professor at the Harvard Business School with a summer place on the Maine coast and his attractive young research assistant.

The story opens as Bowditch is dispatched to investigate a late-night accident caused by a car striking a deer on a deserted stretch of coast highway. He arrives to find the wrecked auto — but both the driver and the deer carcass are missing.

There are echoes of a real Maine murder that happened more than 20 years ago, one that still has the power to disturb the public conscience, driven by a small, devoted group who believe the wrong man was imprisoned.

“Trespasser,” however, is its own story. Like “The Poacher’s Son,” it is filled with a cast of memorable characters — some making repeat appearances, others newly introduced. Some are allies who both admire and are annoyed with Bowditch’s zeal; others seemingly only want his downfall.

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Doiron is clearly a talented storyteller. “The Poacher’s Son” won wide acclaim and was a finalist for the Edgar Award.

While “Trespasser” is engaging — if not riveting at times — it is not of the same caliber in story or writing. Doiron’s first book is more compelling in part because the story is grounded in the pathos of a damaged father-son relationship.

The appeal of “The Poacher’s Son” also has to do with the structure and setting: a major manhunt through the fabled wilds of Maine’s north woods.

What truly distinguishes the first work, however, is the quality of the writing: the power of the mood the author is able to evoke and the controlled cadence of carefully crafted scenes, one following another through to the end.

This is not to say that “Trespasser” lacks in being a good read. It’s hard not to root for Mike Bowditch, to admire his devil-may-care attitude for damage he may incur in disobeying orders and overstepping his authority.

The book is hard to put down. And it clearly establishes the Maine game warden mystery franchise. It will be interesting to watch what Doiron does with it. There’s tremendous potential and appeal in it.

I hope the publishing world’s demand for a book a year for such a series, however, doesn’t work against his talent as a writer of the first order.

Frank O Smith is a Maine writer whose novel, “Dream Singer,” was a finalist for the Bellwether Prize.

 


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