Nantucket Island's Merry Folger Mystery Series: Francine Mathews Writes Another Page-Turner

There's a subtle knack in writing a mystery that's edgy with risk and danger, but also threaded with human loyalties and questions, even love. Done right, the blend creates a book that you can't put down. And that's just what Francine Mathews (aka Stephanie Barron) has pulled off in her sixth Merry Folger mystery, DEATH ON TUCKERNUCK. The book release is May 5, so this is an advance review -- think of what a great reward it will be, to pre-order a copy for yourself.

DEATH ON TUCKERNUCK spins two narratives of smart women called into situations demanding courage. Detective Merry Folger, about to get married, has a career that calls for courage and persistence, and expects to navigate hazards. The nastiness of her current superior is a surprise, though, and playing havoc with her efforts to make it to her own wedding rehearsal, or even the ceremony. The excuse dragging her repeatedly back on duty is an off-season and mostly unexpected hurricane striking Nantucket Island, with a desperate need for all hands involved.

Her boss is already snarling at the island's deficits as she reports in:

"NEMA will take care of setting up a shelter at the high school, and distributing relief supplies from the elementary school," she concluded hurriedly before he could launch into his favorite diatribe, "but they'll need police at both places, for security."

NEMA was the Nantucket Emergency Management Agency, an island-sized version of the federal one that coordinated disaster relief.

Potock sighed and glanced at his watch. "That meeting's now in fifteen minutes ... I'm designating you notetaker."

"Very well, sir." Merry felt a surge of relief. At least she'd know where the gaps and problems were, heading into the storm. ...

"And detective?" he finally said. "Wedding or no? If disaster hits, you're on call, just like the rest of us."

There's a parallel narrative, though, when Dionis Mather's father collapses in a heart attack, needing emergency surgery, but the Mathers (father and daughter) haven't yet completed the rescues they're pressured into on Tuckernuck, an adjacent barrier island. When Dionis takes off into the storm to complete the tasks, she's headed into a worse danger than a hurricane at sea: There's at least one psychotic murderer grounded on that island, as readers are well aware.

Mathews is a gifted storyteller, able to keep both storylines pumping with adrenaline and shreds of hope. A few moments of a third perspective, that of the criminals, are sometimes distracting, but never for long, and the action and stakes are so compelling that DEATH ON TUCKERNUCK is a striking page-turner.

Nice work by Soho Crime in boosting Mathews into continuing this series, which had taken a 19-year break between book four and book five (Death on Nantucket) while the author, a one-time CIA intelligence analyst, wrote two dozen other books. It's great to see Merry Folger in action, and Nantucket's complicated social structure, economy, and history provide a dandy frame for these suspenseful police procedurals.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.