Knife Creek

Edgar-finalist Doiron’s intelligent eighth mystery featuring Maine game warden Mike Bowditch (after 2016’s Widowmaker) finds Mike and his girlfriend, Stacey Stevens, in the woods of western Maine, where their job is to kill feral pigs that have migrated into the state and pose a serious environmental threat. To their horror, they discover that one pig has been eating buried human remains belonging to a weeks-old female infant. Mike and Stacey are even more unsettled when they realize that the corpse was likely buried in that specific location in a deliberate attempt to have it consumed by the pigs, eliminating any evidence of its existence. When Mike, who’s hoping for a promotion to investigator, starts looking into who might be responsible for the burial and the possible infanticide, he encounters someone long believed dead and triggers a wave of violence. Doiron maintains a high level of suspense while adding new insights into the character of his complex lead. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. (June)