Maple syrup season is approaching, or maybe it’s already arrived based on the fluctuating temperatures we’ve experienced this winter. Sap will begin running, and many people will be tapping trees to produce business income or to share sweetness with family or friends. 

Maine author Claire Ackroyd recently published Murder in the Maple Woods and was a 2021 Maine Literary Awards finalist for crime fiction. Ackroyd described in detail family run sugar camp operations, the North Woods near the Canadian border, and fictitious Maine Organic Maple Producers certification inspections. The characters were realistic and dialogue believable. I found the book very interesting, even before one of the characters died. Was it murder? What was the motive? Who would do such a thing?

Without giving away the storyline, here are a few lines that provide a glimpse of Ackroyd’s splendid writing: 

Simone got up and started hunting through bags in the entryway for head nets and the old, long-sleeved white shirts that she favored over the vile spray for black-fly protection. She found a favorite, secured the wrists with elastic bands, and settled a head net over the collar. Serge was outside, sputtering as he tried to avoid inhaling the fog of insect repellent he had created. Simone accepted a battered cap whose brim he had wetted down with the stuff. A little extra defense won’t hurt, as long as it’s not all over my skin, she thought.

Bug protection in place, they started toward the LaPage camp. The roads were now dry and dusty, the maples in bright, young leaf, and everywhere the sounds and smells of early summer. Before they got out of the camp yard, Serge had an idea. He doubled back and ducked into the camp, reappearing seconds later with two mesh onion bags.

“Fiddleheads,” he said. “There are always good ones in that wet ground beyond their camp. Might as well get something good out of going there.” (p. 130)

The book is available through Maine Authors Publishing, Claire Ackroyd’s website, local bookstores, and libraries. 

Enjoy the mystery!

A Reader in Maine 

P.S. To see a real maple syrup operation, visit one of the many producers that open their doors during Maine Maple Sunday Weekend, March 25-26, 2023.