Tag Archives: police-detective stories

Knife Creek

Posted on September 23, 2025 by smellincoffee

Mike Bowditch and his biologist girlfriend Stacey were out in the woods doing game warden things — specifically, seeking and destroying feral hogs invading from New Hampshire — when they stumbled upon a shallow grave for a baby wrapped in … Continue reading →

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Dead Man’s Wake

Posted on May 9, 2025 by smellincoffee

Game Warden Mike Bowditch is not on duty. He is at a party. His engagement party. He is not on duty. He is not on duty. Yes,  there’s someone jet-skiing at night and that’s illegal and every bone in his … Continue reading →

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The Highwayman read a western! Plus, game wardening in Maine

Posted on May 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

I’m going to short-round a bunch of Paul Doiron books and just comment on them in general, since the quality is fairly consistent from book to book. But first, on Willie Nelson’s birthday, I searched his name in Audible just … Continue reading →

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Shadows Reel

Posted on May 2, 2025 by smellincoffee

Game Warden Joe Pickett has been told about a dead moose on someone’s property, and has gone to investigate to see if it’s natural causes or someone winging a moose out of season and then living the poor creature to … Continue reading →

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The Poacher’s Son

Posted on April 27, 2025 by smellincoffee

Game Warden Joe Pickett Mike Bowditch just got a call about a bear attacking a man’s prized pig.  Mike’s just a rookie serving the Game and Fish department of the State of Maine in the middle of nowhere, so taking … Continue reading →

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Force of Nature

Posted on April 1, 2025 by smellincoffee

One of Joe Pickett’s few friends and allies is a federal fugitive named Nate Romanowski.  To be fair,  Joe didn’t know Nate was a fugitive when they became friends, only that he had a shady past as a member of … Continue reading →

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Cold wind

Posted on March 31, 2025 by smellincoffee

Joe Pickett, Game Warden, is not a fan of his mother-in-law, but he wouldn’t figure her for murder. One morning while making his rounds and checking herds, he notices something odd about the wind turbines being installed on the far … Continue reading →

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Nowhere to Run

Posted on March 24, 2025 by smellincoffee

Warning: this review contains partial spoilers for Winterkill and Below Zero.  Joe Pickett is finally about to go home to Saddlestring after an exile in Baggs, where the governor sent him to keep a low profile – but there’s something … Continue reading →

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Below Zero

Posted on March 23, 2025 by smellincoffee

Warning: this review contains spoilers for Winterkill, #2 in the Joe Pickett series by CJ Box. Joe Pickett is cooling his heels in the hind quarters of Wyoming, thanks to ….uh, well, let’s just say repeated acts of insubordination in … Continue reading →

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Blood Trail

Posted on March 22, 2025 by smellincoffee

Terror in the deep woods! A hunter has been deliberately killed, then field-dressed like a deer. The gruesome sight makes Wyoming law enforcement realize that two prior ‘accidents’ may be connected, and Joe Pickett, Game Warden at Large, is asked … Continue reading →

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