Monday, April 27, 2020

Death on Tuckernuck by Francine Mathews


First Line: He hadn't expected Ash that Saturday morning, hurrying down the weathered wooden pier in her rope soled wedges and skinny jeans, a slouchy silk sweater slipping down to reveal one perfect shoulder.

A Category 3 hurricane is bearing down on Nantucket Island. As caretakers of Tuckernuck, a private exclusive island off the western tip of Nantucket, Dionis Mather and her father Jerry have to make sure everything is battened down, but when Dionis gets word that a star NFL player's horses are unsecured, she's certain she can get them in their barn and still have plenty of time to get back to Nantucket before the hurricane hits.

Detective Merry Folger has more on her mind than a hurricane-- just a little something called her wedding-- and that jerk of a police chief is making her work practically right up until time for the ceremony. When the Coast Guard alerts Nantucket police of a luxury yacht grounded on the shoals off Tuckernuck's northern edge-- with two shooting victims in the main cabin-- Merry rushes to get to the crime scene before all the evidence is washed away. As she puts all the pieces together, she realizes that she might have to risk everything in order to bring a criminal to justice.

If you want to read books that make you feel as though you're experiencing life on Nantucket Island, you need to read Francine Mathew's Merry Folger series. It also goes without saying that, if you want to "experience" a hurricane without actually living through one, you need to read Death on Tuckernuck.

The mystery is a cracker. Readers have a little inside knowledge that characters like Dionis and Merry don't-- how many people were on board that yacht for instance-- but that's certainly not enough to put all the pieces together until Merry's hard work begins to pay off. (And that hard work of hers will pay off in unexpected ways.) The only real question is: Is the wedding still on despite a murder investigation and a hurricane?

That you will have to find out for yourself, and you are going to enjoy yourself while doing so. New to the series? I'll be honest with you. I've read only three books in this series, the first and the most recent two, and I haven't felt lost. But the setting is superb and the characters and stories so strong that you might just want to start with the first, Death in the Off-Season and enjoy the sea breeze along with a murder or two.


Death on Tuckernuck by Francine Mathews
eISBN: 9781616959944
Soho Press © 2020
eBook, 264 pages

Police Procedural, #6 Merry Folger mystery
Rating: A
Source: Net Galley

 

8 comments:

  1. I have no idea why the island is different to other parts of the US but the story sounds fascinating.

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    1. Oh, it's New England resourcefulness combined with beautiful landscapes, sometimes treacherous weather, and many enclaves (like Nantucket, Tuckernuck, Hyannis Port, and Martha's Vineyard) where the locals depend on the rich folks for their livelihoods. That kind of mix can lead to all sorts of things.

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  2. Thanks for the introduction to a new series, and I will look for the first one. :)

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    1. Great! The original four were written in the 1990s, but Mathews completely revamped them all when she decided to continue the series.

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  3. You had me at the setting, Cathy. And I do like a series with well-drawn, strong characters. I'm glad this is such a solid series.

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    1. So am I. Francine Mathews does not disappoint.

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  4. Love Nantucket. Bicycled there with a high schhool friend and stayed in a hostel, ate cans of soup. It was beautiful, but alas, we had no money. But the sights were gorgeous.

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