Dead Man's Wake by Paul Doiron

Dead Man's Wake (Mike Bowditch Mysteries)

by Paul Doiron

On the evening of their engagement party, Maine Game Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch and Stacey Stevens witness what seems to be a hit-and-run speedboat crash on a darkened lake. When they arrive at the scene, their spotlight reveals a gruesome sight: a severed arm beneath the surface. As day breaks, the warden dive team recovers not one but two naked corpses: the dismembered man and the married woman with whom he was having an affair. Mike begins to suspect the swimmers' deaths were not a senseless accident but a coldly calculated murder.

Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the mysterious boater. Suspects abound on the lake, nicknamed 'Golden Pond', and every discovery leads to a new mystery. Alone among his fellow officers, Mike begins to sense the involvement of a trained professional, smarter and more dangerous than any enemy he has faced. As Mike and Stacey get closer to identifying the killer, their own lives are suddenly put on the line, leading to a confrontation designed to silence them forever.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4.5 of 5 stars

Share

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Dead Man's Wake is the 14th procedural thriller featuring Mike Bowditch by Paul Doiron. Released 27th June 2023 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook format. Paperback format due out late second quarter 2024 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

This is a strong and long running action driven procedural series with appealing characters, believably well rendered. It's easy to identify with Mike and his colleagues and family. They're recognizable and feel real. This installment, written around the weeks before his long anticipated wedding to his fiancé Stacey, sees them investigating a speedboat accident and suspicious deaths on the lake near his stepfather's home.

The plot of this installment is self contained and works well enough as a standalone. It's a long running series with numerous returning characters and as such, there are spoilers for earlier books if read out of order, especially the lead characters. 

The dialogue is sometimes a bit simplistic, but it's solidly plotted, engaging, and entertaining overall. 

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 9 hours 26 minutes and is narrated by series narrator Henry Leyva. He has a gravelly, professionally trained voice which suits the rough-around-the-edges lead character very well. He does a good job of delineating the secondary characters, and there was never any confusion in his narration. Sound and production quality are high throughout the recording. 

Four and a half stars. It would be an excellent choice for a mystery book club selection (lots of thorny/interesting ethical and cultural issues), public library acquisition, or a long binge/buddy read. This series will appeal very much to fans of Stabenow's Kate Shugak and Box's Joe Pickett mysteries. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • 10 November, 2023: Started reading
  • 10 November, 2023: Finished reading
  • 10 November, 2023: Reviewed