Paul Doiron

Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels, including The Poacher's Son, which won the the Barry Award and the Strand Critics Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for an Edgar Award, an Anthony Award, a Macavity Award, and a Thriller Award for Best First Novel, and the Maine Literary Award for "Best Fiction of 2010." His latest novel is The Precipice.

What are your ties to Maine or the Boothbay Peninsula?

I grew up in Scarborough and have lived most of my life in various places around Maine.

What is your favorite thing about writing in Maine?

My favorite things about writing in Maine are my favorite things about living in Maine: the rugged beauty, the living history, the independent-minded and big-hearted people.

What are the most important themes in your work?


My books tend to grapple with two issues: what does it mean to be a man in twenty-first century America and the dangers of our increasing alienation from the natural world.

Tell us about the books you will be signing at Books In Boothbay this year?

I’ll be signing The Precipice, which is the sixth book in my series of crime novels about Maine game warden Mike Bowditch. This one is set in the 100 Mile Wilderness section of the Appalachian Trail and concerns the mysterious disappearance of two female thru-hikers.

What do you hope readers will discover in your latest book?

Since I write a series, I am hoping that readers who pick up The Precipice will want to go back to the previous novels to discover more about the eventful life of Mike Bowditch.

If you have attended Books In Boothbay in the past, please tell us what you enjoyed about it?

I enjoy catching up with other Maine authors — many of whom I haven’t seen in ages  — and being introduced to new ones. And of course, it’s always a thrill to meet readers.

What do you feel about the future of our local libraries?

I see libraries evolving more and more into community centers and information hubs which is just the extension of what they have done all along. That said, it saddens me to see some libraries backing away from their historic role as the curators of physical books because books are more than the “content" inside their pages — they are four-dimensional artifacts, each with its own unique history.

Come meet Paul Doiron and many other Maine authors at Books in Boothbay on July 11!