Blogs

Tim Cotton, the author behind Bangor, Maine’s popular, humorous Facebook page, has been a police officer for more than 30 years. The writer in him has always been drawn to the stories of the people he has met along the way. Dealing with the standard issue ne’er-do-wells as a patrol officer, homicide detective, polygraph examiner, and later as the lieutenant in charge of the criminal investigation division, certainly provides an interesting backdrop — but more often he writes about the regular folks he encounters, people who need his help, or those who just want to share a joke or even a sad story.

His first book, The Detective in the Dooryard, is made up of stories about the people, places and things of Maine. There are sad stories, big events and even the very mundane, all told from the perspective of a seasoned police office and in the wry voice of a lifelong Mainer. In one essay, he writes about his grandmother clipping Erma Bombeck columns from the Lewiston Sun Journal so that her grandson could enjoy humorous writing.

Many of the stories will leave you chuckling, some will invariably bring tears to your eyes, but all will leave you with a profound sense of hope and positivity. 

"When I stumbled across Tim Cotton’s writing, I assumed that he was a dedicated cop who wrote amusing stories on the side. Having read his book, however, I’m now beginning to think he is a dedicated writer who arrests ne’er-do-wells in his spare time. Whatever his true passion, this is a very funny book, and I hope he writes another one," says Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame.