Investigating for the Nantucket police force is Detective Meredith Folger, who needs to have her A game lined up: Not only is Spencer Murphy a famous and powerful former war correspondent with a fortune amassed from his books -- but the death of his (unknown to many) adopted daughter as the July 4th weekend opens puts pressure on Merry to quickly get the facts, make a determination, charge someone or not, and have it all wrapped up politely before the weekend ends. At least, that's what her highly critical boss expects from her.
Merry's own past -- lightly and deftly sketched in by Mathews -- includes having to fight for her own upcoming wedding ceremony to be on her terms, not those of her powerful mother-in-law to be. The challenges of both work and home help her to tune in quickly to the Murphy family undercurrents. Loyalties cut both ways, Spencer Murphy is losing his own truths to dementia, and the family's youngest member on scene, young college grad Laney Murphy, seems the only person willing to be fully honest as Merry sorts through motive, means, and abundant opportunity.
This is a great traditional mystery, one of the most satisfying I've read this season. I recommend it highly, and will scramble to line up the earlier titles for my own summer reading pleasure: Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light.
Although the series is new to me, I'm already a fan of what Francine Mathews writes under her other nom de plume, Stephanie Barron. The author lives in Denver, CO, but clearly knows Nantucket well -- and is a former CIA intelligence analyst.
Newly released today, from Soho Crime. And I have a list of people for whom to buy copies already!
PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.
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