One Last Lie

Mike Bowditch, an investigator for the Maine Warden Service, is on assignment in Florida when he receives a phone call from the wife of Charley Stevens, the man Mike considers as close to him as a father. Charley has gone off without a word to anyone. Mike returns to Maine to search for him. He finds a letter from Charley warning him not to look for him, but Mike perseveres. He learns that Charley, just before he disappeared, found an old warden’s badge at a flea market. He comes across a photograph of the man Charley killed in the line of duty, and he hears about the young undercover warden who blew his cover and paid the price. All of this convinces Mike that Charley is out to right a wrong from the past. Mike’s search takes him through the unincorporated townships, woodlands, and rivers of northern Maine, which are described in great detail, as he interacts with past and present wardens as well as poachers, all of whom seem to withhold as much as they reveal. The reader of One Last Lie will enjoy this well plotted and expertly written mystery and learn enough about the flora and fauna of Maine – muskelunges, boreal chikadees, puckerbrush – to last a lifetime.