Paul Doiron

Paul Doiron is the editor in chief of Down East: The Magazine of Maine, Down East Books, and DownEast.com. He is also a Registered Maine Guide, licensed by the state to lead trips into the wilderness.

His new novel is The Poacher’s Son.

From his Q & A with Bob Hughes of Criminal Element:

Criminal Element - Your novel has a vivid sense of the outdoors, and the life of a game warden. Have you ever worked as a game warden yourself?

Paul Doiron - I have worked as a Registered Maine Guide. I do have my license to lead trips, but I'm not a game warden. With guides and game wardens, there are different areas of specialization � general recreation, camping, fishing. My specialty is fly fishing.

CE - There've been other mystery novelists who've used the outdoors, and the life of a game warden, as the settings for their works. One of the best known is C.J. Box, whose novels feature a Wyoming game warden. Are there similarities between what you're doing?

Doiron - Definitely. But being a game warden in Wyoming is very different from being a game warden in the state of Maine. It's been interesting to read his books and see the differences. There are some things that are the same - catching poachers, and checking people's fishing licenses and all those mundane sort of tasks. But in Maine, game wardens really are policeman. The way I describe it, their beat is the forest. In fact, one of the great controversies in Maine is that the warden service, always underfunded, has been asked to take on more responsibility for investigating more and more crimes that have nothing to do with fish and wildlife. Part of the issue that wardens face now is that people do live closer to nature. In Maine we have these exurban communities where people are living farther and farther away from urban centers, and so you begin to have issues with wildlife. People aren't prepared for those sorts of things.

CE - "The Poacher's Son" has a bear that's wandered too close to some people's homes.

Doiron - Yes. The bear incident was...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Paul Doiron's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Poacher's Son.

--Marshal Zeringue