Maine is one of the safest states in the nation. Our murder rate is low, we don’t have dangerous wildlife or poisonous snakes, and when you take a walk at night in the woods, the only thing that’s likely to kill you is your own stupidity. Yet in the world of fiction, Maine seems to be ground zero for all things scary: monsters, murderers, and the occasional homicidal clown. For years storytellers have been spinning our state’s scary reputation into mesmerizing books. Beyond our most famous scaremeister Stephen King, here are a handful of novels that will give you a few Maine-made thrills:
In The Poacher’s Son, author Paul Doiron introduced the hero of his much-loved mystery series featuring game warden Mike Bowditch. The author himself is a registered Maine guide and knows his way well around our woods. That knowledge shines in every detail as we watch Bowditch struggle to prove his father is innocent of a brutal murder.
Maine is also a state with struggling mill towns, and author Gerry Boyle places his hero Jack McMorrow in just such a setting—the fictional mill town of Androscoggin, where McMorrow is the new editor of the local weekly paper. In Deadline, the first in a now-long-running series, McMorrow follows his newsman’s nose into a small-town stewpot simmering with murder and scandal. This is lean, mean storytelling, revealing the dark side of “vacationland.”
Also focusing on the dark side of Maine is author James Hayman, whose hero Mike McCabe is a homicide detective in Portland, Maine. In The Cutting (first in the series), McCabe and his partner Maggie Savage search for a killer who surgically excises the hearts of beautiful women. Real-life Portland is a vibrant city known for its lively arts and its foodie culture, but in the nightmarish world created by Hayman, a killer seems to be lurking behind every red-brick corner.
The city of Portland is also the setting for Kate Flora’s crime series starring Det. Sgt. Joe Burgess. In Playing God, the murder of a prominent medical doctor lures Burgess down a confusing investigative path that leads to hookers, ex-wives, and disgruntled patients. Tenacious and cantankerous, Burgess is also a canny cop with enough juice to propel him into what is now a six-book series. (Author Flora is also the co-author of Maine-based nonfiction, including the delightful A Good Man with a Dog, about the life of a Maine game warden.)
Focusing on the gentler side are two Maine authors who offer a sometimes delicious, soft-focus look at murder. If you’re into the culinary arts—or heck, if you just like feasting on seafood—the Maine Clambake Series by Barbara Ross just might be your favorite dish. In Clammed Up, Julia Snowden is a cook struggling to revive her family’s catering company. While catering a wedding, she comes across the corpse of the best man—and naturally she transforms into an amateur sleuth. It’s now an eight-book series. Comes with recipes!
One of my favorite characters of all time is amateur sleuth Albert, a bumbling and sweetly innocent musicology professor. Decades ago, I read the first Albert mystery Requiem for Ashes by David Crossman (its previous title was Murder in Minor Key) and I was utterly charmed by Albert. The book garnered critical praise and I thought Albert would surely find a huge fan base. I was saddened when the book and the character seemed to disappear. I’m delighted to discover that the book has been re-released and there are now four mysteries featuring this uniquely lovable character. Crossman is also the creator of another charmingly oddball sleuth: Winston Crisp, an octogenarian and retired code-breaker. I have no idea how Crossman dreams up such wonderful characters; I just know that it’s a shame more readers haven’t discovered his books.
My final recommendation is nonfiction, but it bears mentioning because the story is compelling and the writing is superb. Sarah Perry’s After the Eclipse is a heartbreaking memoir about the murder of her mother in a small Maine town. Sarah was twelve years old and in the same house on the night her mother was slain. The unsolved murder haunted Perry into her adult years, drastically altering her life and her trust in others. Determined to discover the truth, Perry returns to her home town to ferret out the identity of the killer. As gripping as any novel, this book is all the more compelling because it is true.
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