That's the opinion of Linda Rodriguez, who writes widely about literary mysteries and is the author of the wonderful novel Every Last Secret. On her blog today she takes an early look at Bad Little Falls:
Doiron uses his gift for language that evokes the environment surrounding his characters to make this northernmost part of Maine another character within the book. As usual, his plot is complicated and full of suspense and surprising twists, and his characters are multifaceted and well-drawn, making sometimes questionable choices due to unfortunate relationships. One of the real pleasures of Bad Little Falls is watching the development of Mike Bowditch. In the first books in the series, Mike was likable, but self-destructively impulsive with severe anger issues. In this book, he has the same problems, but he’s seriously trying to control them, not always successfully. Doiron offers a very realistic portrait of an engaging and troubled young man who is slowly and painfully maturing.
Linda says my third book is my best yet. That's very kind of her. Like Mike Bowditch, I hope I'm making progress.