Thought it was a good story. Straight forward, no real surprises. Charley Stevens and Kathy Frost were the main characters, Mike Bowditch was not part of the story. Charley was still a warden and Kathy was very early in her career so this should be much lower than #15.5 in the series. Worth the read.
In “Blaze Orange,” an original short story by bestselling author Paul Doiron, Maine game warden Charley Stevens suspects that a tragic hunting accident is really cold-blooded murder—if only he can prove it.
When a local man is shot dead during deer season in 1990s Maine, all signs point to a heartbreaking mistake, as the victim was dressed head-to-toe in brown, and the shooter is a respected family man known for his gentleness. But as Charley and rookie warden Kathy Frost sift through the quiet tensions of a small community, two details refuse to add up. The victim knew better than to wear neutral colors during deer season. Why wasn’t he dressed in blaze orange? And something that should be at the scene simply isn’t.
To solve the case, Charley must dig into old grudges and buried motives—and Kathy turns to the most unlikely investigator of all.
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Mike Bowditch
Full series details →The series
In the dense, whispering woods of Maine, justice isn’t handed down in courtrooms—it’s hunted, tracked, and sometimes lost to the wild. That’s the world readers step into with the Mike Bowditch series, a brooding, atmospheric journey through crimes that are as tangled and unforgiving as the forests they’re born in.
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At the heart of these wilderness thrillers is a flawed but fiercely principled game warden whose badge grants him little authority—and even less protection—against the quiet violence of rural life. As he patrols the vast, remote territories where civilization thins and loyalties are buried deeper than any trail marker, he’s pulled into investigations that often pit him against his own past, the people he’s sworn to serve, and the brutal indifference of nature itself.
What sets this series apart isn’t just the crimes—it’s the terrain. The stories unfold in a starkly beautiful landscape where survival is never guaranteed, and the line between hunter and hunted can vanish in a snowstorm. The writing is lean, evocative, and often laced with a quiet dread that builds with every page, mirroring the unforgiving wild that shapes every decision.
Critically praised for its authenticity and emotional depth, the series draws in fans of literary crime fiction who appreciate tightly-woven plots grounded in real-world stakes. These are not just whodunits—they’re stories about consequence, about what it costs to do the right thing when no one else will.
For those who crave mystery novels steeped in nature, rich with moral complexity, and guided by a voice that understands both the darkness of the woods and the men who walk them, this is a journey worth taking—though it may not always lead where you expect.
#1 · 2010The Poacher's Son 
#2 · 2011Trespasser 
#3 · 2012Bad Little Falls 
#4 · 2013Massacre Pond 
#4.5 · 2014The Bear Trap 
#5 · 2014The Bone Orchard 
#6 · 2015The Precipice 
#7 · 2016Widowmaker 
#8 · 2017Knife Creek 
#8.5 · 2018Rabid 
#9 · 2018Stay Hidden 
#9.5 · 2019Backtrack 
#10 · 2019Almost Midnight 
#10.5 · 2020The Imposter 
#11 · 2020One Last Lie 
#11.5 · 2021The Caretaker 
#12 · 2021Dead by Dawn 
#12.5 · 2025Skin and Bones 
#13 · 2022Hatchet Island 
#13.5 · 2023Snakebit 
#14 · 2023Dead Man's Wake 
#15 · 2024Pitch Dark 
#15.5 · 2026Blaze Orange 
#16 · 2026Storm Tide 
#17 · 2027Cold Front Risingshadow
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