The Harbormaster's Wife

by Woody Hanstein

When Matt Winslow sails into Prescott Harbor, new to Maine and down on his luck, the vacant post of harbormaster seems just the ticket – until he discovers the problems his predecessor left behind him, not least of which is his own unsolved murder. And then there is Amy, the former harbormaster’s young and beautiful wife. She’s about to become Matt’s problem, too.



After reading The Harbormaster’s Wife, you’ll never look at a Maine harbor the same way again. Woody Hanstein—and his hero Matt Winslow—strip away the tourist veneer to deftly and relentlessly expose the salty underbelly of the Maine coast. The story moves like a building sea, sweeping its cast of small-town characters before it. Quaint turns deadly as Winslow resolves to find out why Prescott, Maine, harbors so many secrets.

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Reviews

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a mystery fan but I know Woody Hanstein as we both live in Farmington Maine so I was interested in reading his book. Matt arrives in Prescott Maine escaping from an uncomfortable custody battle for his 17 year old daughter in Florida. He is short of funds and soon secures the job of harbormaster, as the former one was recently killed. The murder has not yet been solved. For the next week he chases down his new job chores while keeping both eyes on the unresolved murder case and hoping he does not get roped in to whatever the former harbormaster may have been eliminated for. Good character descriptions of the varied types you run into in small-ish Maine towns and their varied points of view and interests in the running of their town and harbor.

[Kendra Chubbuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this book at Fiction Book Store in Wiscasset. It's a new Maine author who lives in Georgetown.

I liked the book. It was quite interesting and a quick read. I'm sure there will be more books with stories about the harbormaster doing his job. Since I live on a remote Island in Maine, I did find it interesting while reading this book that there were a lot of murders! Wow! I did find that very shocking and a little hard to believe but I have to remember it's fiction. I could see one murder but gee a lot of islanders were killed during this book.

I also found it interesting that everyone involved all ended up on the same remote island.

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up for the local connection and didn’t have many expectations for it. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it! Extremely readable and a great twist. The writing was solid. I did have trouble keeping all the characters’ names straight but I got the important parts. Impressive debut!