Thickafog
By Caleb Mason (Publerati, 2025)
Thickafog is a murder mystery set on a Maine island inspired by Vinalhaven. As much as the novel is a whodunit, it’s also about the sense of community—the good, bad, and ugly of it all—that comes with island living.
The book is primarily told through the words and eyes of Jon Davis, an island carpenter with a good heart and a drinking problem. Davis’ 85-year-old high-spirited father, Bobby Davis, has come to live with Jon on remote Archer Island after being kicked out of an assisted living community in Florida for his unacceptable behavior.
Thus begins a tale over a year-plus span in which Bobby Davis makes his presence felt on the island, moving in with the elderly “Island Queen,” Ingrid, and making friends and enemies along the way.
But nine months after arriving, Bobby meets an untimely death. He’s found dead at the bottom of a cliff near Jon’s house, where he lived alone—at least until his father moved in. Who was the culprit?
Suspicions fall on Jon, who has an uneasy relationship with his father, not to mention a serious drinking problem. Then there’s Kevin, Ingrid’s drug-dealer son who thinks Bobby is after his mother’s money—which happens to be his inheritance. Or perhaps it’s one of many other characters that are introduced throughout.
Along the way through the 345-page book, author Caleb Mason introduces us to a crew of native islanders, transplants from the mainland, and summer folk, and the inevitable tensions that arise when such a variety of people are brought together.
Suspicions fall on Jon, who has an uneasy relationship with his father, not to mention a serious drinking problem.
Thickafog’s cast of characters includes Shane, a contractor from the mainland who’s building a home for a wealthy summer resident, deals drugs, and pisses off the locals by taking up four parking spots with his old RV in the town’s small parking lot. Ingrid’s daughter, Olivia, lives in Boston as an art restoration expert with her wife, and like her brother is suspicious of Bobby’s motives in courting her mother.
Linda works at the island school and strikes up a romance with Jon, but is leery of his drinking. Charlie is a teenager who’s been temporarily taken in by a lobsterman while the courts figure out what to do with him after his mom is arrested on drug charges.
Rohan is a Silicon Valley tech bigwig who digs into his deep pockets to help locals in need. And the list goes on.
The chapters bounce back and forth in time, from August 2022 when Bobby moves in with Jon through a surprise ending in December 2023.
Through it all, the constant presence of the island fog—“thickafog,” as the lobstermen say—plays a recurring role. The thick fog that rolls in and blankets the island, the fog in Jon’s brain from his drinking, the fog of dementia that the “Island Queen” suffers from.
The book also touches upon the hardworking and caring people of Archer Island, and neighboring Dunbar Island, where neighbors take care of neighbors, share meals, belly up to the bar together, and share and keep secrets as need be.
“The island is a self-contained community where everyone needs to help everyone get through the year,” Jon tells readers as he’s narrating the book. “Trumpers help Bidenites, and vice versa. Non-believers help Bible thumpers. Don’t get me wrong… we can hate each other on social media and when not in person, but once people get together in the flesh, they are much more decent than when online. The people who need help on the island can get it. There are plenty of fund-raising events—church suppers, yard sales, online groups. Some people clean up after finding God. Others clean up after they’ve lost everything and barely survive a drug overdose. It’s a mixed bag, but a small bag where everybody is seen.”
Caleb Mason, who lives on Vinalhaven, is the author of five previous books: one non-fiction about the Isle of Shoals off southern Maine and four fiction books written under the pen name Don Trowden.
Clarke Canfield is a former Portland Press Herald and Associated Press reporter and regular contributor to The Working Waterfront. He lives in South Portland.
