Book Review: Skin and Bones: And Other Mike Bowditch Short Stories by Paul Doiron

Readers have a reason to rejoice—Paul Doiron is releasing a new Mike Bowditch short story, “Sheep’s Clothing.” “Sheep’s Clothing” is one of eight Mike Bowditch short stories in the Skin and Bones collection. We’re in familiar territory—Maine game warden Mike Bowditch has managed to tick off the higher ups to whom he reports to such an extent that he’s been demoted.

I had just been busted back to patrol from my position as a warden investigator because of some trouble I had gotten myself into up on the Quebec border. The move had been made to placate the Canadians and, to a lesser extent, certain bureaucrats in my own state who felt that a sworn officer who had violated so many rules and regulations, never mind international law, by chasing a fugitive into another sovereign nation, need to be made a public lesson.

 

“Don’t be a reckless idiot like Mike Bowditch if you value your career” was the statement my demotion was supposed to send to my fellow officers.

To clarify, until Mike was put back on patrol, he was a warden investigator (i.e., a detective) for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. I puzzled over which book contained Mike’s fall from grace. There were international border shenanigans in One Last Lie (#11 of 15 Bowditch mysteries), but frankly, it’s impossible to think of a Bowditch mystery where Mike doesn’t piss off someone(s). In “Sheep’s Clothing,” Becca Bray, a clerk at the Kentville General Store, tells Mike when he stops by for coffee and a “molasses doughnut,” that John Witham hasn’t been by for a week “to get his sheet of scratch tickets or, more crucially, his daily suitcase of Natty Light Bear.” John and his wife Martha are a pair of “reclusive misfits” who live at the end of a dirt road “in the far reaches of the Maine woods.” Inside their “three-walled house,” Mike discovers two corpses, seemingly a murder-suicide. It looks like Witham killed himself after killing his wife. Mike calls it in to the appropriate authorities, the state police detectives—but Mike being Mike, he’s not convinced. It’s not his bailiwick nor is he a warden investigator but try and stop him from trying to figure out what might have happened.  

“The Bear Trap” came out in 2015. Prepare to meet “legendary Maine woodsman and bush pilot,” Charley Stevens, Mike’s guide, mentor, and father figure. Charley tries to impart wisdom to young Mike, who doesn’t view himself as a rookie. Here’s a link to “The Bear Trap.”

“Rabid” (2019 Edgar award nominee for Best Short Story) was published in 2018. Elements include Charley Stevens, a bat, and rabies. Here’s an excerpt to “Rabid.”

“Backtrack” (2019) is a story from Charley Steven’s younger days. “When a visiting hunter goes missing in the middle of a snowstorm, a young Charley Stevens sets off to rescue him—but begins to suspect the man may not want to be found.” Here’s a link to “Backtrack.”

The title of “The Imposter” (2020) gives away the plot. A driver’s license on a dead body (that Mike discovers) has Mike’s name on it. Criminals and stolen identity cases are one thing, but this is weird. Read an excerpt of “The Imposter.” 

A recurring theme in the Mike Bowditch mysteries is the impact of wealthy folks who seek to impose their vision, their lifestyle, on the Maine landscape. “The Caretaker” (2021) is the cautionary tale of “a sinister prowler who turns a couple’s dream vacation home into a nightmare.”  The tension is more than clashing mores. Read an excerpt of “The Caretaker.”

For Mike Bowditch, an old case is not necessarily a cold case. It’s more than curiosity; Mike is relentless, and it matters not that the crime might have happened years earlier. A slain bald eagle connects Mike to “an old case of a missing young man whose physically abusive brother might have murdered him,” in “Skin and Bones” (excerpt, 2022). 

The murder weapon in “Snakebit” (2023) is a rattlesnake. How can that be? Rattlesnakes were eradicated in Maine more than one hundred years ago. Here’s an excerpt to “Snakebit” and a link to my review. By now you probably understand that saying words like no, never and not possible is waving a red cape to bull-headed Mike Bowditch. Here’s Mike’s response when the commissioner in Augusta tells him no pictures of the rattlesnake are to appear online because “she won’t have folks panicking about “poisonous snakes in Casco”.”

It was generally known in the building that no one talked back to the commissioner, least of all a junior warden.

 

“Poisonous means that they’re dangerous to eat. Venomous means that they secrete toxins to paralyze and kill their prey.”

“Snakebit” takes us full circle back to “Sheep’s Clothing.” Mike Bowditch has an unnatural ability to get under folks’ skin because he doesn’t suffer fools gladly (or silently).  

Criminal Element is an excellent spot to catch up on all things Bowditch. Doiron’s mysteries don’t have to be read in order but it’s not a bad idea, since people, like Mike’s mentor Charley Stevens, and places, and themes reappear. In 2020, Paul Doiron did a Q&A on his Mike Bowditch mysteries: he spoke a lot about the first book, The Poacher’s Son (2010). Pitch Dark (#15) was published in 2024. My review began with, “Almost always the smartest man in the room, Maine Warden Investigator Mike Bowditch’s career exemplifies courage, self-possession, and off-the-scales stubbornness.” Putting my cards on the table, I’m a big fan of this series. After you read Skin and Bones, you will be too—and fifteen terrific Mike Bowditch mysteries await.