An Evening With Paul Doiron

Come join us for an evening with Paul Doiron, bestselling author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels set in the Maine woods. Find out about his new book coming out on June 25, 2024.

Paul will be reading aloud from his forthcoming novel, PITCH DARK (to be published June 25 by Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio), giving attendees a sneak peek at Maine game warden Mike Bowditch’s fifteenth adventure. As part of the event, he will be giving away an advance reader copy of PITCH DARK to one lucky person. Attendees will be able to preorder the book at the event and Paul will also offer signed bookplates for them to use when their books arrive. See a summary of the book below! Booktenders of York, Maine, will be in attendance to take orders and to sell some of Paul Doiron's books.

A native of Maine, author Paul Doiron attended Yale University where he graduated with a degree in English. He also holds an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. His first book, The Poacher’s Son, won the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award and was nominated for an Edgar for Best First Novel. His second, Trespasser, won the 2012 Maine Literary Award. His novelette Rabid was a finalist for the 2019 Edgar in the Best Short Story category. Paul’s twelfth book, Dead by Dawn, won the New England Society’s 2022 Book Award for Fiction, as well as his second Maine Literary Award. It was also a finalist for the Barry Award. His books have been translated into 11 languages.

Paul is the former chair of the Maine Humanities Council and Editor Emeritus of Down East: The Magazine of Maine. He is an experienced outdoorsman and naturalist, and is skilled in fishing, hunting, canoeing, and wilderness survival. He knows the secrets of the Maine woods as well as his protagonist, Mike Bowditch. He is a Registered Maine Guide specializing in fly fishing and lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, Kristen Lindquist. 

PITCH DARK by Paul Doiron

Legendary bush pilot Josie Jonson can’t believe her luck when a skilled builder just happens to show up after she purchases land near Prentiss Pond. All Mark Redmond asks in return for building Josie’s dream cabin is that he be left alone to homeschool his 12-year-old daughter, Cady.

For Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch, the intensity of Redmond's secretiveness is troubling, especially in light of suspicious criminal activity being reported around the area―including rumors of an armed man offering large sums of money in exchange for the location of Redmond and Cady. Josie, though hesitant to violate the trust of her prized builder, eventually agrees to fly Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens to the secluded pond in an attempt to protect Redmond and Cady. But hours after landing, the trip takes a dark turn when they witness a horrific murder and are taken captive themselves.

Freeing himself, Mike is forced to set off through the impenetrable Maine forest towards Canada, alone and unarmed in pursuit of a mysterious fugitive. As he navigates a windblown landscape choked with deadfalls and blocked by swollen streams, he marvels at his enemy’s bush craft. The killer possesses skills surpassing his own, and Bowditch can't tell if he is the cat or the mouse in this dangerous game. Can Mike Bowditch stop his adversary in time to save the life of a young girl, or will he be forced to watch another innocent soul die?