"Suspenseful and Gripping"

John Cleal has a glowing review of The Poacher's Son up today at Reviewing the Evidence:

But it is the wilderness itself and its animal inhabitants that are the real stars of this book. Doiron is a registered Maine guide and his love of one of the few remaining unspoiled stretches of north east America is almost palpable and his wonderfully evocative descriptions drag you into the tangle of bogs, giant trees and dense undergrowth that frame Mike's working life. You feel his character's anger at the heartless developers, constantly buying up land for exclusive developments for the rich and threatening to end a way of life that has existed for generations.

Doiron combines a love story with his pain at the state's shrinking wilderness with a study of a son struggling to love and be loved by his father, and in the process provides a gripping murder mystery. THE POACHER'S SON has already won awards in America and should collect plenty more.

Fingers crossed. 

"Precision, clarity and a keen sense of plot"

The Poacher's Son has just been published in the UK by Constable & Robinson, and reviews are beginning to appear in the journals and Web sites there. It's thrilling to experience the release of my debut all over again, especially in the land that created the detective novel. Here's what We Love This Book has to say:

Paul Doiron writes with precision, clarity and a keen sense of plot. The story of a son trying to prove his father’s innocence is well handled in terms of both suspense and surprise; this is not a story in which the ending can be confidently foretold. 

I'll be posting other reviews as they appear.

"The Last Page Sells Your Next Book"

That's part of a quote from Mickey Spillane. Here's the full thing: “Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.”

At Maine Crime Writers today I talk about last pages and last lines. Nailing the ending is one of the hardest parts of writing a novel. As I write in the blog, The Poacher's Son didn't originally end where it now does. And it took me a number of drafts to find the right note on which to conclude Trespasser. I knew the last line of Bad Little Falls early on. 

I guess the test will be if it helps sell my next book, right?

My 12 Favorite Maine Stories of 2012

Happy New Year! At Maine Crime Writers today I look back at the last year at Down East Magazine and pick my twelve favorite articles. It's a real grab bag of stories covering everything from famous paintings to gutter politics to spicy hot sauces.

One of the great things about being Editor in Chief is that it gives me the freedom to pursue some offbeat interests. As perks go, it's a pretty cool one.