Bitter Fall

Summer's last breath meets autumn's first kill in Greenville, Maine.

"...high-speed and dripping with suspense." --Library Journal

On a moonless stretch of backcountry road, Detective Brock Justice stares down at a crime scene that refuses to play by the rules. A woman lies dead, the apparent victim of a lethal roadside crash--until a stab wound is found hidden beneath her clothing. Two causes of death. Zero easy answers.

Reunited with his partner, Detective Chloe Wright, Justice begins pulling at threads too many people want left alone. The victim had secrets--the kind worth killing for. And each suspect carries enough baggage to sink a body in Moosehead Lake. An ex-boyfriend with a violent past. A married fitness trainer with too much to lose. A combat veteran living off the grid, haunted by ghosts of his own.

As golden leaves turn blood-red against pewter skies, Justice is fighting more than just a killer. The fallout from testifying against a fellow trooper clings to him like a bad debt, and someone inside the department is making sure he pays for it.

Then a game warden's trail camera captures something deep in the woods. But it isn't just a clue--it's a warning.

Fans of Craig Johnson's Longmire and C.J. Box's Joe Pickett will find themselves right at home in this dark corner of Maine.

_________________________

Praise for the Detective Justice series:

"...reads like the real deal--a tale of trial and redemption..." --Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries

"Coffin's experience...lends the book's procedural elements a ring of truth, and he paints cops and suspects alike with a fine brush." --Publishers Weekly

"A superior, Connelly-esque procedural that ratchets up the tension page by page." --Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times bestselling author of Blind to Midnight

"Smooth as buttah in the telling, Coffin's layered characters almost leap off the page to sit in your lap." --Tracy Clark, award-winning author of the Cass Raines Chicago Mystery series and the Det. Harriet Foster series

"The pace is break-neck swift, the writing crisp, and the tension nearly unbearable..." --Baron Birtcher, award-winning and bestselling author of Knife River

"Brock Justice is a protagonist worth following." --Paul Doiron, author of Dead by Dawn

"...a sensational follow up..." --Chris Miller, Best Thriller Books

"One of the most mesmerizing crime fiction series starters I've read in years..." --LynDee Walker, bestselling author of the Faith McClellan series

"...gritty authenticity and razor-sharp detail." --Brian Shea, author of the Boston Crime Thriller series

"...a superb police procedural, gripping and tight." --Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of Crooks

"...a masterfully creative and riveting tale of suspense." --Raven Award winner Dru Ann Love, Dru's Book Musings

_________________________

What readers are saying:

★★★★★ "...brilliant..."
★★★★★ "...surprising twist..."
★★★★★ "...masterfully creative..."
★★★★★ "...fully immerses readers into this world."
★★★★★ "...thoughtfully developed police procedural."

Author: Bruce Robert Coffin
Publisher: Severn River Publishing
Published: 01/13/2026
Pages: 406
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.99h x 5.99w x 1.35d
ISBN: 9781648757303

About the Author
Bruce Robert Coffin is the award-winning author of the Detective Byron Mysteries, the Turner and Mosley Files, and the Detective Justice novels. Former detective sergeant with more than twenty-seven years in law enforcement, he is the winner of Killer Nashville's Silver Falchion Awards for Best Procedural, and Best Investigator, and the Maine Literary Award for Best Crime Fiction Novel. Bruce was also a finalist for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. His short fiction appears in a number of anthologies, including Best American Mystery Stories 2016. Bruce lives and writes in Maine.