Mike Bowditch & fiancée Stacy Stevens are celebrating their engagement and impending nuptials with family lakeside in Maine, when Mike hears the unmistakable sound of a fast-paced boat motor striking some type of object. A Maine Game Warden, Mike knows what the sound means, and he, Stacey & their respective parents head out on the lake to assess for injuries. The boat had fled the scene, but much to Mike’s dismay, Stacey spots a dismembered arm floating in the lake, clearly the casualty of a boat propeller.
As they await further assistance, they attempt to locate the body that the arm once belonged to, and Mike & Stacey, along with the Lake Constable Galen Webb, examine the arm. On its wrist is a high-end Rolex watch, which Galen immediately identifies as belonging to the owner of nearby Mouse Island, a Kip Whitcomb. With further questioning, Mike learns that Kip often brought women to the island, despite being married. After marking the area w/ a buoy, the group heads to Mouse Island to have a look around, quickly finding evidence that there had been a woman with the victim. But where was she?
State Police Detective Roger Finch arrives to assist, and the woman’s body is quickly located, with obvious evidence of homicide. The investigation kicks into high gear as the team looks for evidence – did Kip kill his lover and then go for a swim, only to be struck and killed by a boat, or was there something much more sinister at play? Where is the boat that struck Whitman? Interviews with family members and locals close to the scene, while enlightening, lead to dead ends as obvious suspects are quickly ruled out. Meanwhile Galen Webb seems to turn up everywhere…is he a young deputy who is hoping to prove himself worthy of the Warden’s Service, or is there something else altogether at play??
Another fabulous read from the Mike Bowditch series!! As a former, short-term resident of the great state of Maine, I just adore this series, the characters and the familiarity of the areas used as a backdrop for some great fiction! The Belgrade Lake area is absolutely beautiful – and I’d taken that ride more than a few times in my years there. Awesome series, great characters, ingenious plots – I cannot say enough about these books!!
I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!
Tropical Delusions...... 