I want to continue what is rapidly becoming a MaineCrimeWriters.com tradition by announcing some good news here.
As most regular visitors to this site know, I recently published the third novel in my Mike Bowditch series of Maine mysteries. This was the final book in the three-book contract I signed back in 2008—has it really been that long?—when my agent sold The Poacher’s Son to Minotaur Books. People have been asking me whether Bad Little Falls would be the last Mike Bowditch book. I’ve hemmed and hawed, but now I can come right out and answer.
I have just signed a new contract with Minotaur for two more Bowditch books. The next novel in the series, tentatively titled Massacre Pond, is scheduled for publication next summer. I’m writing it now so a lot will change—but I can share a couple of plot points. The first is that the story is set in the month of October during the moose hunt. The second concerns the title, which refers to a real place.
Massacre Pond is a brackish marsh pond adjacent to Scarborough Beach. In 1703 a Native American war party killed settler Richard Hunnewell and eighteen other men. When I was a kid in Scarborough, the story we used to whisper was that the Indians had dropped the bodies in the pond, but I am not sure where that macabre twist came from. It seemed fun to think the pond was haunted by the ghosts of the murdered men.
I won’t give away how Massacre Pond figures into Mike’s story, but I promise it’ll be worth finding out. Now all I have to do is finish writing the book….
Kait Carson
Charlene D’Avanzo 
Congratulations! How wonderful to hear that Mike Bowditch’s stories will continue.
Yeah! I love to start the morning with good news!
Kate
Fantastic! I just finished reading Bad Little Falls — and loved it! Maybe your best yet. Now I have more to look forward to ….. Go, Paul! Excelsior!
That’s really kind of you, Lea. I am still too close to Bad Little Falls to compare it to the others. I definitely wrote it faster than the others! But as we all know, sometimes that isn’t a bad thing.
Good news! I am so happy that there will be more Mike Bowditch stories. I have liked all three books in the series but agree wi th an earlier post that BAD LITTLE FALLS is the best one yet.
Yay! Congratulations!
Thanks for posting this. It’s fun to participate in the anticipation!
I’m so glad I have more of Mike Bowditch to look forward to, and more visiting Maine.
Congratulations
Glad to hear that there are more books in this series coming! Both my wife and I read Bad Little Falls within weeks of it hitting the books stores… And it left us waiting for the next one! Too bad you can’t write them as fast as we can read them! Paul, you are my favorite author and can’t wait for the next in the series! I’m amazed at the locations you have chosen for your books… Poachers Son is set near my childhood home… Trespasser is up near my camp and favorite fishing spots… Bad Little Falls is near another camp that I fish off the Airline… And this next one is in my hometown!
Thank you, everyone, for the kind words. I had been sitting on this news for a while waiting for all the details in the contract to be settled. It’s nice to share my own excitement with fans of the books.
Fantastic News! Moose, October in Maine- I like it already!
Terrific news! Every time one of your books comes back to the library, it hardly has time to return to the shelf before I suggest it to another patron. There are a lot of happy readers in our neck of the woods thanks to you.
That’s just so great! Can’t wait to see the others!!! Thelma in Manhattan
I discovered this website a few weeks ago while looking for Julia. Since then I have read James Hayman’s first book and the first two of your books. I just finished Trespasser today. I am pleased for you that you have a new contract! And pleased for your readers they have more to look forward to. Thank you
Hurray, Paul! So glad to hear this!
I just caught sight of your book Bad Little Falls. I’m from Machias and that is what Machias means. I’m sure you know that. Where can I get a copy?
Did you ever run across my book, Stories told in the kitchen?
Yay, Paul — great news!
Massacre Pond? What is it with you, Mike, and water? 🙂
Just discovered these books about a month ago. Picked up Bad Little Falls @ the library..and then raced out to get The Poacher’s Son and Trespasser. Sort of working backwards. From Aroostook County originally. Love the books. Please keep Mike Bowditch around for a lot more books! You spin a great tale..
bob wagg was my grandfather, he was one heck of a trapper and guide here in maine. they have a statue in the forks of maine of him. he was in the movie dead river rough cut, and was mentioned in a book called americas new wolf, he would get a kick out of the mention of him in a fiction novel even in passing. made my day to read this.
Read all three books. I like when Mike and Charley interact. The young and the old.