Generation Gap

I first conceived of the character of Mike Bowditch, rookie Maine game warden, when I was in my early thirties.

I was a little older than the character—enough to have some perspective on the identity issues he was wrestling with—but not of an entirely different generation. It took me a while to write The Poacher's Son, however, and a while longer to get it published, and one of the results was that I aged faster than Mike. Three books into the series, he is still in his mid twenties while I am now in my mid forties. 

Maybe I'm rationalizing this, but I've come to see the age gap in my fiction as a positive. Most Millenials grew up wired at birth, and so Mike's decision to pursue what he calls "an old-fashioned profession" as a game warden and his rejection of texting and other aspects of the Information Age have become even more defining character traits for him.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that the website 20SomethingReads asked twenty mystery authors to talk briefly about our work and recommend books we thought would speak to readers in their twenties. I like how the writer of the feature characterized me:

Paul Doiron, author of BAD LITTLE FALLS, shares books about people who  live their lives a bit off the beaten track, but carry within them a lot of soul.

Anyway, here are my recommendations. Frankly, I think you should read these books whatever your age is.