STAY HIDDEN is the ninth book in the Mike Bowditch series and I was thrilled once again step into Mike's world. Now, I have only read two books previously in this series, but I enjoy this series very much. Especially since reading about a game warden is a bit different from the usual police or sheriff novels I usually read.

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I enjoy suspense and thriller novels that deal with murder or crime investigations. I especially enjoy them if they throw something unusual, new or creative into the mix. My newest obsession is crime thrillers with main characters in park ranger or wildlife officer positions. It's breathing a bit of new life into the genre for me, as straight cop/bad guy stories can get old hat after awhile.

Stay Hidden is the 9th book in the Mike Bowditch series. This is the first book in this series I've read...and I'm glad I did! The main character is a Game Warden in Maine. Fatal hunting accidents aren't that unusual. People get mistaken for deer or other animals all the time. Mike Bowditch even remembers a case of a lady getting shot because a hunter mistook her white gloves for the white tail of a running deer. But this time.....the shooting death of a controversial author.....the death is a bit more than just a hunting accident. The case soon turns into something much more serious....and dangerous.

I loved this book! The story had so many surprises and twists that the suspense was constant. I love the location and the fact that the main investigator is a wildlife officer.

I was able to follow the story just fine even though I haven't read the previous 8 books in this series. But, I could tell that there has been a lot of character and background plot development since the start of the series. Because I enjoyed this book so much, I'm going to backtrack and read the rest of this series. Then portions of this story and the main characters will make more sense. It isn't necessary to have read the other books to enjoy this one, however.

Great book! Lots of action and a wonderfully complex and suspenseful plot! I will definitely read more by this author!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St. Martins Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
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Another great book to take place in the deep woods of Maine. I'm so glad that this series continues to grow. I always eagerly look forward to one of Paul Doiron's books. His mysteries have you looking over your shoulder because you truly don't know which way the story will go and who will surface as the villain of the book. ( )

I was lucky enough to hear Paul Doiron talk about his books a few years ago. I've read most of them since that time and enjoyed them all, but I have to say that Stay Hidden is the best one so far.
Mike Bowditch is now a Warden Investigator. Circumstances combine to send him to Maquoit Island, a remote Maine fishing village, for his first hunting incident investigation. He's pretty much on his own among the suspicious islanders, trying to figure out if the death, which mirrors another famous hunting incident in Maine, is an accident or a homicide. It doesn't help when the supposedly murdered woman arrives on the next day's ferry.
Mr. Doiron is an expert at capturing Maine settings and unique characteristics. Islanders are even more distinctive, often isolated for long periods of time and reliant on each other. The situation makes it hard for Bowditch to investigate, especially according to the procedures his superiors want him to follow. The nuances of the various islanders' relationships are fascinating to read.
The ecosystem on Maquoit Island is skewed because of the islanders' refusal to cull the deer herd. The author is especially good when writing about this and the consequences: starving deer and rampant Lyme disease.
The murder mystery is good, too. I had no idea and was baffled right to the end. Another great book in this interesting series. ( )

I have read all of the books in the series and found this one to be a little disappointing. I'm not really interested in deer hunting although as a conservation biology I fully understand the need for it. One of the main problems I had with this one was the characters seemed to be off in their interactions with each other. The author used descriptive phases that Mike Bowditch would never have used...but maybe that was because he was constantly thinking of his ex-girlfriend. I'm going to just assume that this was just an off season for Mr. Doiron and move on to the next one in the series. ( )