The Detective in the Dooryard: Reflections of a Maine Cop

Tim Cotton has been a police officer for more than thirty 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.

The Detective in the Dooryard is composed 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. 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.

Tim Cotton is a detective lieutenant with the Bangor Police Department and commander of their criminal investigations division. A recipient of the Erma Bombeck Award for humor, his writing has been published in a number of newspapers, magazines, and websites—most recently CarTalk.com and the Bangor Daily News. The uniform company Blauer also posts a regular podcast narrated by Cotton. He lives in Bangor, Maine.