Safe Harbor: A Murder in Nantucket

by Brian McDonald

Elizabeth Lochtefeld was a glowing, charismatic woman who'd built a million-dollar fortune in New York City before retiring to the fashionable island of Nantucket. At age forty-four, she had everything in life except the one thing she wanted true love. When she met thirty-seven year-old Thomas E. Toolan III, a handsome Wall Street ace, she thought she finally found Mr. Right. She was dead wrong.

Behind Tom's Golden Boy façade was a man with a dark history of erratic behavior--a man given to violent mood swings, who'd lost his job after trying to steal an $80,000 Roman bust from a Park Avenue antiques show…and that was just the beginning of his vicious downward spiral. Two days after putting an end to the affair, Beth disappeared, never to be seen alive again….

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 30, 2006

About the author

Brian McDonald contributes frequently to New York City newspapers, including The New York Times. His first book, My Father's Gun, won critical raves and became the subject of a major History Channel documentary series. McDonald is also the author of Last Call at Elaine's, Indian Summer, and Safe Harbor: A Murder in Nantucket. He lives in Manhattan.

Reviews

[Koren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting True Crime book. The victim is a likable and interesting person. There is only one thing I didnt like about this book and that is the fact that it was written before the trial and verdict. I'm not sure why authors do that. Maybe to get the book out why the murder is still fresh in people's minds. I dont know. There is a lot of description and history about Nantucket in this book, which was interesting.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being roughly the same age as the murder victim, and familiar with Nantucket - although her path and mine never (directly) crossed - I found the book well-researched. Author stresses that the McMansion-strewn island of today does not represent Beth's Nantucket, which is an important point. Definitely recommended.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A much different true crime book than I would normally read. It has no trials, no views from police officers and no lawyers. At the time of writing Toolan was yet to be tried for this murder. There was a lot of history involved - both family history and geographical history. I do hope that Toolan was found guilty and sentenced to life for his selfish act of murder.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This woman who worked so hard all her life and had everything took a chance on love. Unfortunately, she picked the wrong guy and what transpired from there was riveting and I couldn't read it fast enough. It is a must read story that has all the elements. I recommend this book.

[Julie Cavasos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally got through this one. Kind of depressing. The only reason I finished it was because I started it. I hate putting a book down that I started.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. On the one hand, McDonald offers a compassionate, in-depth look at the victim and does a good job portraying the environment of Nantucket. On the other hand, since it was clearly written before any real legal developments occured in the case, this book is padded with extraneous information or with stories that are no more than rumors (especially regarding the killer). I know it'll never happen, but I would truly love if true crime authors would stop writing books until after at least the initial trial has concluded - in this instance, it a) makes this feel even more like a sheer cash grab that is taking advantage of a woman's tragic death and b) means that the book abruptly ends, without a resolution. Finally, as is often a problem with books from this publisher, this needed another proofread. There are a fair amount of typos and run-on sentences.

Thankfully, I picked this one up for next to nothing at a library book sale, and that's likely where I'll be passing it back to.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. I felt like I knew the people and family. I also like how it wasn't about the court case.

[Sherry Haning · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written partly sad story of a remarkable woman!

[Beryl A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Senseless Crime!

The author did an excellent job of letting the reader feel like they really knew the victim and the killer in depth! There was no big surprise, just the usual question of WHY, WHAT WAS TO BE GAINED, AND WHAT ABOUT COMMON SENSE? The murderer showed his true colors at several points during the various chapters and still she stayed. Some will say she was getting older and so therefore felt she should stay versus not getting another Chance at True Love. I disagree and I am sure you will too!

[Cecilia Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too Much Filler

Good writing. The story is mesmerizing, confusing (because, how could this happen to a girl like that?). Horrifying. Terrible.
My take on the writing is that it’s good, done by a pro, that’s not the problem. It’s that to extend the story into a book length piece he goes on and on about Beth’s business career. Not all that interesting.
But he has to, because the murder,the sick guy who committed it and the smart lady who died so quickly, all of that is such a short story.

[Shira Selkovits · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Even more interesting than the crime is learning about the history and culture of Nantucket. McDonald paints an exhaustive picture of both the victim, Beth Lochtefeld and accused murderer, Tom Toolan. Beth's upbringing, education, and career path are extensively explored and actually quite fascinating. Ultimately, I wish this book had been written after the trial instead of before. I now have to go and look up everything that happened!

[Brandy Adams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very interested in the stories of each of their lives and the murder but I felt like I could have read the first few & last few chapters only. So much of the book is filled with a list of facts & history that I didn't find relevant to why I picked up the book. Chapters like full history of Nantucket. History of other people who knew of the people this book was written about. History of NYC. I had a hard time staying plugged into the bulk of the book and didn't find it to be well written.

[Peter Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an all-too-true story of Beth Lochtefeld – attractive, smart, caring, accomplished, and Tom Toolin – attractive, smart, charming, lying, cheating, stealing and murdering. I learned about Notre Dame, Marymount, DeMarco's on India Street in Nantucket, and male-female relationships. I knew the ending, but it was chilling all the way. The writing is good. The references to Nantucket are spot on. There are at least five editing errors where the wrong word is used, but it's still a fine book.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping! I knew Beth… but not well… met her around 1990 and lost touch. Did not even know this book existed- bought it used. So upsetting to think this happened! Just impossible to think! She should have defended herself- but too trusting. So sweet and soft spoken, kind and smart. Well written and excellent research by author… her poor family! RIP Beth

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sensitive portrait woman killed on Nantucket by a man she had recently started dating. It is an homage to her accomplishments in life and the story of her life. The Kindle edition had quite a few errors involving hyphenated words in the middle of lines throughout and rose quartz was stated as rose quarts.

[Regan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting and kind of disappointing. I anticipated a true crime where it led up to the killer being caught and how it was done other than a short chapter about it. It was more of a biography of the two main people.

[Tarra Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for true crimes lovers

A tragic story of one woman’s search for love and crossing paths with a monster. The author tells the story where you feel like you know Beth and her family at the end of the book.

[Elaine Crockett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought it was great. Accidentally gave it a one star the first time around. Don't know how that happened.

[Ellie Slager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book but I wished that there would be more about the murder but I would still recommend this book to somebody if they need a good read about crime!

[Olga Vannucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

She found the perfect man, did Beth,
Then he drank, stabbed her to death.

[Kathy O’Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not usually a true-crime reader, but this one kept me on the edge of my seat!

[Bernice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrible murder but author did great job with history of the victim & perpetrator & Nantucket

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very compassionate story of a wonderful woman killed by a total loser

[Renee Elder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and mildly suspenseful. Learned a lot about Nantucket.

[Stephan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome read. I really enjoyed this tale of murder, betrayal and family history. Can you trust an ex lover? No.

[Sally A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of Thomas Toolan III's murder of Elizabeth ("Beth") Lochtefeld in October of 2004. I was a little annoyed by the book's sloppy editing-- a few typos and repetition of information. I was also a little disappointed that the author's writing ended after Toolan was arrested. He offers no information on how Toolan was punished. Nevertheless, the book gave a detailed account of the incident, as well as a double biography-- of the killer and victim. Both people were New Yorkers.

The killer (Tom) had been an alcoholic since high school. He had had a few other relationships with women in which he was a jealous, abusive liar.

The victim (Beth) was, at 44 years old, still looking for a lifelong mate. It was unclear why she couldn't find a permanent significant other.

An acquaintance of Beth's had innocently set up Tom and Beth, even though she was aware of Tom's sordid past. Beth was so desperate for a man, she rationalized away his lies and abusive behavior for a few weeks. Finally, Beth told him she was breaking it off with him. He wouldn't accept that.

In the end, Tom flew to Nantucket, bought a fishing knife, and walked straight into Beth's rented cottage and killed her. Sadly, her aikido skills at the time were insufficient to fend him off and save herself.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a sad story. I really wanted Beth to get away and find happiness in this life. It seemed such a tragedy that she worked so hard and was such a success just to have Tom Toolan take advantage of her and then take away her life. What a sad excuse of a haman being he was.
I believe this is the first time I had read one of Brian McDonald's books, but I found it an easy read.

I enjoyed the book and the description of Nantucket took me there.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't tell what the point of the book was. It sounded like the author was smitten with the victim, but most of his information on her seemed to come from her memorial website. It seemed like most of the information on both the victim and murderer came from news stories, tabloids, and the memorial website. He had interviews with some of the friends and family of the two, but the book seemed to be a compilation of information gleaned from other written materials. Kind of a slow read.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I was all life long a big Nantucket fan, so when I found this book at our local library about a murder case that happened on Nantucket in 2004, I had to read it.
I read mixed reviews about the book, but really enjoy reading it (am on page 100 now).
It's fascinating (and that's more than I can say about lots of books that i started reading lately and then skipped after 100 + pages).

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frightening true crime story of a woman who had it all and then chose the wrong man. I really enjoyed reading about Beth's life growing up and learning more about Nantucket. The book concentrated more on that than the crime itself so that made it stand out for me. Most true crime books follow the same pattern and that gets old for me after awhile. This one didn't.