(2013)I had to skip to #4 in series because library did not have the next in line. Don't think I missed too much. Game warden Mike Bowditch is reluctantly drawn into an investigation of the murder of several moose on the property of a rich woman who wants to create a National Park in part of Maine where such an action is highly unpopular with the locals. The warden unit is put into action investigating the crime(s). Along the way further damage to property and the harassment of the family ensues. The daughter of the woman is chased by an unknown truck thru the wilderness once with no effect and then again which results in her death. Mike finally susses out the perpertrator as being the son of the owner of a large lumber operation in the county. All of the offenses are to try to stop the Park plans which would devastate the local economy and the business of the sawmill. The owner's son hired two local thugs to kill the moose and harass the daughter to her death. Mysterious Review:After Maine game warden Mike Bowditch finds several shot moose on the gated estate of Elizabeth Morse, he's essentially reassigned off the case by his superior, Lt. Marc Rivard, who realizes this is a career-making crime involving a controversial resident of the state. But Bowditch's instincts tell him Rivard is looking in all the wrong places, and pursues a parallel line of investigation, in Massacre Pond, the fourth mystery in this series by Paul Doiron.Elizabeth Morse � "Queen Elizabeth" to her detractors, of which there are many ¥ had her start making herbal remedies as a hippie of the 1960s and made a fortune from them when her company was purchased for nearly $500 million decades later. Snapping up 100,000 acres of forest land with the profits, she has banned all logging operations as well as hunting and fishing and any other recreational activity on the property, and intends to will the estate to the Federal government upon her death to create a national park. In a region that depends on the land for its economy, this decision comes down hard on many residents of the region, especially those that lost their jobs as a result. She thinks the dead moose are a warning; Bowditch isn't so sure. And as unsure as he is about the case, he's really puzzled by the sudden change in his good friend Billy Cronk, Morse's driver, handyman, forester, and personal bodyguard.Massacre Pond is a superior mystery, from its riveting and rapidly moving storyline to its nearly nonstop action, which takes place over just a couple of days. The suspects are many and diverse ¥ maybe just a few too many and maybe just a couple too obvious in a red herring sort of way ¥ and are all given credible reasons for threatening, and carrying through on their threats to, Elizabeth Morse. The Maine environs are inviting and realistically depicted, and Mike Bowditch is a terrific series lead, conflicted (as many are) but not debilitated by it, dealing with his issues in a positive, pro-active manner. Two relatively minor quibbles when all is said and done: the body count seems unnecessarily excessive and a number of key plot points are left unresolved at the end. This is an exceptionally well executed series to date, and Massacre Pond a fine entry in it.Acknowledgment: Minotaur Books provided a copy of Massacre Pond for this review.Review Copyright ? 2013 ¥ Hidden Staircase Mystery Books ¥ All Rights ReservedShare1Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author 

Great story! ( )

Massacre Pond, author Paul Doiron’s fourth novel starring game warden Mike Bowditch, is the best yet in the series. But then I say that about each book. Each book is unique but they are all riveting, and watching Mike grow and mature and stumble and struggle makes for a satisfying, fulfilling read each and every time.

Mike is 26 now, still young but with more experience under his belt, working hard to play inside the lines more. His reputation precedes him, however, and most of the time it seems his superiors are just waiting for him to get himself into the trouble that will be the final straw. And even though he’s grown both personally and professionally, at his core he is still that unique young man who is Mike Bowditch. As a reader, I don’t really want him to stop making those waves that make him who he is.

Professionally, even though he’s first on the scene of a calculated moose slaughter that seems to be politically motivated and has more than the skills necessary to investigate and solve the crime, that reputation of his causes him to be sidelined. Based on past history we know how that will work out. His friend’s freedom is at stake, and when there is a human murder to add to the killing of the moose Mike can’t help but follow his instincts and do all he can to find out who is behind this.

Personally, even though she is now engaged to someone else, and even though in his own words he acknowledges she “wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, or the most emotionally grounded, and God knows she wasn’t the nicest” he admits to getting “googly-eyed” when she is near. It’s funny and touching and poignant. We not only want Mike to have great success as a game warden but to get the girl.

Each book is a little Maine history lesson; author Doiron takes a nugget from real-life Maine events and weaves it into a first-rate suspenseful, tense, thrilling mystery. If you’ve never been to Maine, you’ll be packing your bags after reading a couple of books in the series to see for yourself the harsh, beautiful, forbidding, magnetic lakes and rivers and forests and woods that Doiron so wonderfully, lovingly describes.

This is truly a series that gets better with each book: the setting, the atmosphere, the fast-paced action and danger, and the irresistible nature of Mike Bowditch and the characters that surround him. Recommend you start at the beginning of the series and read through. ( )

There are several storylines going on in this one. There is the story of Mike and Billy's friendship, Mike's relationship with his mother...not touched on a lot in previous books and of course, how Mike continues to work on his relationship as a part of the Maine Game Warden Service. He's dealing with a lot. And deal his does. He is growing. ( )

Browsing the library shelfs sometimes paysoff big time, and in the case of this Maine based story with Warden Bowditch featuring the beauty of the State of Maine intertwined with the horrible slaughter of 10 moose, the zeal of a powerful woman's desire to built a new national park, and the desperate greed of a desperate man this is a terrific read that only makes the reader anxious to find the next in the series. Paul Doiron, no stranger to awards for his writing, sends me to my local bookstore to bring home a few more of Paul Doiron's great reads. ( )