Paul Doiron Books in Order
Browse Paul Doiron books in order, with Mike Bowditch reading order, quick summaries, series background, and clear advice on where to start.
Last updated: July 10, 2026
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Paul Doiron books in publication order
26 books
Eating Between The Lines
by Paul Doiron
1998
In this practical nonfiction guide, Doiron helps decode supermarket language that sounds healthy but often is not. It is a useful look at food labels, marketing claims, and how to shop with a clearer head.
The Poacher's Son
by Paul Doiron
2010
Rookie Maine game warden Mike Bowditch learns his estranged father, notorious poacher Jack Bowditch, is the prime suspect in a cop's murder. To clear him, Mike heads into the Maine woods and back into the family damage he tried to escape.
Trespasser
by Paul Doiron
2011
When a driver vanishes after supposedly hitting a deer, Mike suspects an old murder conviction may be wrong. Digging into the case pits him against prosecutors, locals, and a killer who has every reason to stay buried.
Bad Little Falls
by Paul Doiron
2012
Exiled to a remote post near the Canadian border, Mike answers a blizzard rescue call that turns into a murder case. A frightened boy and his cryptic notebook may hold the truth, if Mike can survive the people who want it hidden.
Massacre Pond
by Paul Doiron
2013
Ten butchered moose on a wealthy activist's estate look like local revenge, until a human murder changes the stakes. Mike is pulled into a brutal fight over land, jobs, and power in eastern Maine.
The Bear Trap
by Paul Doiron
2014
Retired bush pilot Charley Stevens spins rookie Mike Bowditch a tale from his first year as a warden. What starts as advice becomes a sly, tense showdown with a mysterious North Woods hermit.
The Bone Orchard
by Paul Doiron
2014
After leaving the Warden Service, Mike is drawn back when mentor Kathy Frost is targeted after a deadly shooting. Hunting a sniper means digging through Kathy's past and facing hard questions about his own future.
The Precipice
by Paul Doiron
2015
Two hikers vanish in the Hundred Mile Wilderness, and bodies gnawed by coyotes throw Maine into panic. When Stacey Stevens insists a killer is being overlooked, and then disappears herself, Mike's search turns desperate.
Widowmaker
by Paul Doiron
2016
A troubled woman claims her missing son is Jack Bowditch's other child, giving Mike a half-brother he never knew. The search pulls him into snowy mountains, vigilante justice, and the violent shadow of his father's past.
Knife Creek
by Paul Doiron
2017
While tracking destructive feral hogs, Mike uncovers a dead baby in a shallow grave. The grim find reopens an old disappearance and leads him toward neighbors with terrible secrets and no reason to let him walk away.
Rabid
by Paul Doiron
2018
Mike accompanies Charley to visit a woman whose long-ago call for help still haunts him. Charley's story of a bleeding husband, a rabid bat, and rising violence turns into one of the darkest cases of his early career.
Stay Hidden
by Paul Doiron
2018
What looks like a hunting accident on an island off the Maine coast quickly falls apart. A dead woman walks off the ferry alive, and Mike has to sort out a secretive community, a missing manuscript, and a killer still at large.
Almost Midnight
by Paul Doiron
2019
On vacation, Mike is pulled into two cases at once: a suspicious prison assault and the shooting of a rare wolf-hybrid he once cared for. As both investigations close in on people he loves, he starts bending rules to protect them.
Backtrack
by Paul Doiron
2019
In a snowstorm, young warden Charley Stevens heads out to rescue a missing hunter. The deeper he tracks the man through the woods, the more he suspects this is not a simple search at all.
One Last Lie
by Paul Doiron
2020
Retired game warden Charley Stevens vanishes after warning Mike never to trust a man without secrets. Mike follows the trail to an old warden's missing badge, a cold case, and powerful people determined to keep the past closed.
The Imposter
by Paul Doiron
2020
A dead man pulled from Roque Harbor is carrying a driver's license in Mike Bowditch's name. To clear himself, Mike has to untangle a strange impersonation scheme that has already terrorized locals.
Dead by Dawn
by Paul Doiron
2021
After someone ambushes Mike on a winter road and sends his Jeep into a frozen river, survival becomes part of the investigation. To learn who wants him dead, he has to solve a suspicious drowning before dawn.
The Caretaker
by Paul Doiron
2021
A couple's dream lake cottage becomes a nightmare when an unseen prowler starts taunting and threatening them. Mike and Charley step in, only to realize the owners may be hiding as much as the intruder.
Hatchet Island
by Paul Doiron
2022
Mike and Stacey kayak to a remote seabird refuge where researchers are being stalked and the founder has gone missing. By morning there are two murders, one disappearance, and nowhere to hide from the truth.
Skin and Bones
by Paul Doiron
2022
When Mike finds a bullet-ridden bald eagle, Charley is forced to revisit a case that once joined him with Mike's father, Jack. A wildlife crime opens into something darker, involving abuse, a missing young man, and a brutal moral choice.
Dead Man's Wake
by Paul Doiron
2023
During Mike and Stacey's engagement party, a late-night speedboat crash reveals a severed arm, and then two naked corpses. The hunt for the boater turns into a knotty lake-country murder case with a killer far more dangerous than he seems.
Snakebit
by Paul Doiron
2023
A teenager shows up at a Maine hospital with a rattlesnake bite, even though rattlesnakes vanished from the region long ago. Mike follows the trail to eccentric scientists, family grievances, and a killer with a very unusual weapon.
Pitch Dark
by Paul Doiron
2024
Trying to help a secretive builder and his young daughter, Mike is flown into the North Maine Woods and lands in the middle of a killing. Escaping captivity, he has to track a skilled fugitive through brutal country before another child is lost.
Sheep's Clothing
by Paul Doiron
2025
Mike suspects a grisly murder-suicide is not as straightforward as it looks. In a short, sharp case, he has to figure out what really happened before appearances harden into truth.
Blaze Orange
by Paul Doiron
2026
In 1990s Maine, veteran warden Charley Stevens investigates what looks like a tragic hunting accident. But the victim should have known better than to wear brown in deer season, and one missing detail makes murder hard to ignore.
Storm Tide
by Paul Doiron
2026
A house fire that kills a man accused of murdering his son, and a second savage death miles away, hint at a vigilante pattern. As Mike faces career trouble and threats to Stacey and their home, the case turns frighteningly personal.
Where to start with Paul Doiron
If you want the full Mike Bowditch journey: The Poacher's Son → Trespasser → Bad Little Falls → Massacre Pond
If you want a strong recent run: Hatchet Island → Dead Man's Wake → Pitch Dark → Storm Tide
If you like Charley Stevens backstory and side cases: The Bear Trap → Rabid → Backtrack → Blaze Orange
If you want his nonfiction instead: Eating Between The Lines
Paul Doiron sub-series and character series
Mike Bowditch books in order
Explore this series
The Poacher's Son
by Paul Doiron
2010Mike Bowditch, Book 1
Trespasser
by Paul Doiron
2011Mike Bowditch, Book 2
Bad Little Falls
by Paul Doiron
2012Mike Bowditch, Book 3
Massacre Pond
by Paul Doiron
2013Mike Bowditch, Book 4
The Bear Trap
by Paul Doiron
2014Mike Bowditch, Book 6
The Bone Orchard
by Paul Doiron
2014Mike Bowditch, Book 5
The Precipice
by Paul Doiron
2015Mike Bowditch, Book 7
Widowmaker
by Paul Doiron
2016Mike Bowditch, Book 8
Knife Creek
by Paul Doiron
2017Mike Bowditch, Book 9
Rabid
by Paul Doiron
2018Mike Bowditch, Book 10
Stay Hidden
by Paul Doiron
2018Mike Bowditch, Book 11
Almost Midnight
by Paul Doiron
2019Mike Bowditch, Book 13
Backtrack
by Paul Doiron
2019Mike Bowditch, Book 12
One Last Lie
by Paul Doiron
2020Mike Bowditch, Book 15
The Imposter
by Paul Doiron
2020Mike Bowditch, Book 14
Dead by Dawn
by Paul Doiron
2021Mike Bowditch, Book 17
The Caretaker
by Paul Doiron
2021Mike Bowditch, Book 16
Hatchet Island
by Paul Doiron
2022Mike Bowditch, Book 19
Skin and Bones
by Paul Doiron
2022Mike Bowditch, Book 18
Dead Man's Wake
by Paul Doiron
2023Mike Bowditch, Book 21
Snakebit
by Paul Doiron
2023Mike Bowditch, Book 20
Pitch Dark
by Paul Doiron
2024Mike Bowditch, Book 22
Sheep's Clothing
by Paul Doiron
2025Mike Bowditch, Book 23
Blaze Orange
by Paul Doiron
2026Mike Bowditch, Book 24
Storm Tide
by Paul Doiron
2026Mike Bowditch, Book 25
Mike Bowditch books in chronological order

The Poacher's Son
by Paul Doiron
2010Mike Bowditch, Book 1
Trespasser
by Paul Doiron
2011Mike Bowditch, Book 2
Bad Little Falls
by Paul Doiron
2012Mike Bowditch, Book 3
Massacre Pond
by Paul Doiron
2013Mike Bowditch, Book 4
The Bone Orchard
by Paul Doiron
2014Mike Bowditch, Book 5
The Bear Trap
by Paul Doiron
2014Mike Bowditch, Book 6
The Precipice
by Paul Doiron
2015Mike Bowditch, Book 7
Widowmaker
by Paul Doiron
2016Mike Bowditch, Book 8
Knife Creek
by Paul Doiron
2017Mike Bowditch, Book 9
Rabid
by Paul Doiron
2018Mike Bowditch, Book 10
Stay Hidden
by Paul Doiron
2018Mike Bowditch, Book 11
Backtrack
by Paul Doiron
2019Mike Bowditch, Book 12
Almost Midnight
by Paul Doiron
2019Mike Bowditch, Book 13
The Imposter
by Paul Doiron
2020Mike Bowditch, Book 14
One Last Lie
by Paul Doiron
2020Mike Bowditch, Book 15
The Caretaker
by Paul Doiron
2021Mike Bowditch, Book 16
Dead by Dawn
by Paul Doiron
2021Mike Bowditch, Book 17
Skin and Bones
by Paul Doiron
2022Mike Bowditch, Book 18
Hatchet Island
by Paul Doiron
2022Mike Bowditch, Book 19
Snakebit
by Paul Doiron
2023Mike Bowditch, Book 20
Dead Man's Wake
by Paul Doiron
2023Mike Bowditch, Book 21
Pitch Dark
by Paul Doiron
2024Mike Bowditch, Book 22
Sheep's Clothing
by Paul Doiron
2025Mike Bowditch, Book 23
Blaze Orange
by Paul Doiron
2026Mike Bowditch, Book 24
Storm Tide
by Paul Doiron
2026Mike Bowditch, Book 25
Paul Doiron collections, short stories, and related book types
Author bio
Paul Doiron is a Maine native who grew up in Scarborough, just south of Portland, in a landscape of woods, salt marsh, and cold Atlantic light that never really left him. He studied English at Yale and later earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College, but Maine stayed at the center of his imagination.
He did not set out to become the novelist of Maine game wardens.
Before fiction took over, Doiron worked as a journalist and magazine editor. He spent years at Down East and served as editor in chief from 2005 to 2013. While reporting around the state, he kept running into stories about Maine game wardens, their odd calls, their huge territories, and the mix of police work and woodcraft the job demands.
That reporting became the spark for The Poacher's Son. Doiron has said he wanted to write the kind of book he himself wanted to read, one that could hold his own experience of growing up in Maine in a more personal way than magazine work allowed. To make it convincing, he interviewed wardens, learned their culture and procedures, and leaned on his own outdoors background. He is also a Registered Maine Guide who specializes in fly fishing.
He knows how weather can become plot.
Readers met that blend of reporting, wilderness knowledge, and family tension in The Poacher's Son, where young warden Mike Bowditch is forced to hunt for his own fugitive father. The novel won the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award for best first novel and helped launch a long-running series. Later books like Trespasser, The Bone Orchard, Dead by Dawn, and Storm Tide show what people tend to like about Doiron's work: fast-moving mysteries, believable field craft, rough country that feels real, and damaged but decent characters trying to do the right thing.
His short fiction fits the same world. Rabid was a finalist for the Edgar Award in the best short story category, and stories such as The Bear Trap, Backtrack, and Skin and Bones dig deeper into the lives of Charley Stevens, Jack Bowditch, and the older Maine that shaped the series. Across the books, Doiron keeps coming back to a few themes: fathers and sons, loyalty, grief, the line between law and justice, and the way wild places can both shelter and expose human behavior. He also has a nonfiction side. Eating Between The Lines takes a reporter's approach to food labels and supermarket claims, asking what they really mean.
These days Doiron lives on a trout stream in coastal Maine with his wife, Kristen Lindquist. He is Editor Emeritus of Down East, a former member of the Maine Arts Commission, and a past chair of the Maine Humanities Council. He stepped away from magazine editing to write full time, but the old reporter's habits are still there. They are a big part of why his novels feel lived in, not just plotted.
Edited by
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