You’ll want to mark July 2 on your calendar, because that’s when Paul Doiron’s new novel, Almost Midnight, published by Minotaur Books, will be available for purchase.

Paul has written a series of great novels which are now selling worldwide. He was, at one time, the editor of Down East Magazine, and he hired me to write occasional columns for the magazine, so I’ve known him long time. And I am so pleased he has become such a popular novelist.

Of course, there’s a reason for that. Paul has a great imagination and his books are filled with plenty of murder and mayhem, and very compellingcharacters.

His principal character is a game warden, Mike Bowditch. Paul actually spent quite a bit of time with real Maine game wardens, so he could portray them realistically in his novels.

In Almost Midnight, Mike Bowditch gets involved in everything from chaos and murder in the local jail, to the shooting of a wolf. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but I can tell you it is so compelling that I just could not stop reading. I had planned to spend several days enjoying this novel but I read it in two evenings.

And now, unfortunately, I’ll have to wait another year for Paul’s next novel.