Death in the Off-Season

A Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery #1

by Francine Mathews

When Rusty Mason, scion of one of Nantucket's oldest and wealthiest families, is found dead in a flooded cranberry bog one foggy fall night, thirty-two-year-old detective Meredith Folger is faced with her first murder case. Rusty, it seems, had been absent from the country for over a decade - ever since he was indicted for securities fraud. No one expected him to show up that night. No one, that is, except his killer.

Peter Mason, the bog's owner, seems less than moved by his brother's brutal death. The two men, it turns out, had been nursing a decade-old grudge over a woman. Could Peter have killed Rusty, or was Rusty attacked by mistake in the fog - when the killer thought he was Peter?

As Merry wrestles with her attraction to Peter, she gradually wins the trust of the community and unravels a ten-year-old tangle of family betrayal, blackmail, and violence. It soon becomes apparent that any number of people had motives for killing Rusty. Could it be Lucy Jacoby, whose tortured past threatens her future with Peter Mason? Or Sky, the family lawyer, whose stellar career was built on a shady past? Or Mayling, his exotic wife, a clothing designer, one of whose distinctive buttons is found next to Rusty's body?

From the fog-shrouded lanes of Nantucket to the plush suburban lawns of Greenwich, Connecticut, Death in the Off-Season is a riveting, atmospheric mystery. Brainy, gutsy, and witty, yet vulnerable and determined to prove herself to the community and her own father - who just happens to be the chief of police - Merry Folger is an unforgettable new heroine. Death in the Off-Season is sure to make Francine Mathews one of the brightest, most-watched new stars on the mystery scene.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Contemporary

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, NY in 1963, the last of six girls. Her father was a retired general in the Air Force, her mother a beautiful woman who loved to dance. The family spent their summers on Cape Cod, where two of the Barron girls now live with their families; Francine's passion for Nantucket and the New England shoreline dates from her earliest memories. She grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, a two hundred year-old Catholic school for girls that shares a wall with Georgetown University. Her father died of a heart attack during her freshman year.

In 1981, she started college at Princeton – one of the most formative experiences of her life. There she fenced for the club varsity team and learned to write news stories for The Daily Princetonian – a hobby that led to two part-time jobs as a journalist for The Miami Herald and The San Jose Mercury News. Francine majored in European History, studying Napoleonic France, and won an Arthur W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities in her senior year. But the course she remembers most vividly from her time at Princeton is "The Literature of Fact," taught by John McPhee, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and staff writer for The New Yorker. John influenced Francine's writing more than even she knows and certainly more than she is able to say.

Francine spent three years at Stanford pursuing a doctorate in history; she failed to write her dissertation (on the Brazilian Bar Association under authoritarianism; can you blame her?) and left with a Masters. She applied to the CIA, spent a year temping in Northern Virginia while the FBI asked inconvenient questions of everyone she had ever known, passed a polygraph test on her twenty-sixth birthday, and was immediately thrown into the Career Trainee program: Boot Camp for the Agency's Best and Brightest. Four years as an intelligence analyst at the CIA were profoundly fulfilling, the highlights being Francine's work on the Counter terrorism Center's investigation into the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and sleeping on a horsehair mattress in a Spectre-era casino in the middle of Bratislava.

Another peak moment was her chance to debrief ex-President George Bush in Houston in 1993. But what she remembers most about the place are the extraordinary intelligence and dedication of most of the staff – many of them women – many of whom cannot be named.

She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Fifteen books have followed, along with sundry children, dogs, and houses. When she's not writing, she likes to ski, garden, needlepoint, and buy art.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are 5 books in the Merry Folger series. The first four were written in the mid 90's to late 90's. When the author was recently asked to write the 5th book, she went back and updated her first 4 books.

I enjoyed this first book in the Nantucket series. I found that the book pulled me in the more I read. Part of it was due I think to the author peeling back another layer regarding the characters. The mystery was very good. It started out with a body face down in a cranberry bog. It had me guessing who the murderer was.

The book revolved around the Mason family who are the wealthy family that have lived there for many generations having initially made their fortune in whale oil. The head of the family at that time knew when to get out of the business when kerosene started being used.

The other family is the Folger family who also have lived there for many generations. Merry Folger is the main character in the book. She is following her father and grandfather in a law enforcing career. Her father is chief of police as was his father before him. Merry has to fight to be the lead detective when the murder occurs. Her father wants to keep her safe. She is a likable character. She is intelligent and has good instincts.

The Nantucket location was atmospheric. I could just feel and see the fog rolling in. I almost could smell the smells that were described due to the weather, ocean and land. I am looking forward to reading the next book. This book had a very good mystery plus good character development. At times some books lean toward one of these over the other. This book had them both.

[Abbey · Rating 3 out of 5]

1994, #1 Merry Folger, third-generation police officer, Nantucket Island, New England. Cosy police procedural with an interesting case and a good plot, wonderful characters, will gladly try another.

Merry Folger works for her Dad, in the family business: she's a police detective, and he's the Chief of Police. Male detectives hate and/or envy her, even her Dad seems to think she can't do the job. Locals accept the family, the rich look down their noses at the locals, and the tourists don't seem to much care about the social strata on this small island. Merry is gorgeous and falls a bit for the Lead Suspect, brooding hunk old-monied Peter.

Sounds like a cutsey disaster, right? Sweet romantic fluff? Nope. Think Again.

Yes, Merry is beautiful but she's also smart and tough, with a realistic strength that comes from being part of a long established, well-respected, genuinely loving family. And the characters here are very well drawn, with good shadings and nice touches despite much of the writing seeming to be superficial at first look: Peter, whose black sheep no-good, high-flying big brother comes calling one night and dies in a cranberry bog on Peter's farm, and is found by the fragile Will, a young employee who has simply suffered far too much in his short life. Peter is fixated on his Lost Love who ran away with the brother years ago, and a reclusive schoolteacher is in love with him. There's more in this vein, but it's surprisingly woven in nicely and doesn't actually distract from the mystery plot:

Rusty the black sheep was once their powerful, wealthy and avaricious father's pride'n'joy - until he attempted "something" the family won't mention and got caught by Dad who not only disowned him but also turned him in to the goverment, so Rusty's been on the run for a decade. Killed immediately in the story, the plot centers on who and why, and Peter and his relations are not talking. We follow along with Merry as she works her way through what turns out to be a nicely twisted plot until the final denouement, as red herrings slide by and bits and pieces of clues surface and fade.

Over all this was well done, tidy, and interesting - I enjoyed it. And for a first novel (not just first-in-series) the flaws were minimal. But present, and that's why the comparatively low rating - for me - for a book I quite enjoyed. The ending was rushed, the "reveals" close to the end much too abrupt and portentous, without any real feeling for or about the current state of plot or character, got the feeling she knew she was coming to the end but still had a few "good bits" she simply HAD to put in! So she tumbled things down. Not bad, but not smooth - first-book-itis. The final "take-down' scene with the murderer is sketchy and too quick, not prepared for enough as well. We needed a bit more rounding out of that character and didn't get it. The feeling the murderer was only a chess piece was pretty clear, and that was disappointing, but not really bad.

And that's how I felt, ultimately, about this book: entertaining, pretty good, "not bad" for a first book, and will gladly read another in the series - I love what are for me "local" mysteries.

[NOTE: my indicator "cosy police procedural" means the lead is a working cop, but the slam/bam!!! quotient is low, as is the general blood'n'guts level. "Cosy" for me does not mean a book is sweet and "cuuu-yoote!!" in any way, it mainly means traditional format(s) of story and/or settings]

[Cathy Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Francine Mathews writes excellent historical thrillers (Jack 1939, Too Bad to Die) that I always look forward to reading, so when a trusted source told me that she'd also written a police procedural series set on Nantucket Island, I knew I had to read at least one. After turning the last page on Death in the Off-Season, I know I'll be reading the rest of the series.

What's to like? First off, there's the setting of Nantucket Island. Although I've always been curious about Nantucket, I'd never read a book set there, so I really enjoyed Mathews' descriptions of the landscape and the weather, as well as information on growing and harvesting cranberries. Since Merry Folger and her family have deep roots on the island, Mathews also includes a bit of Nantucket history and geneaology. None of this is done in a heavy-handed manner, and all of it combines to add a strong foundation as well as charm to the story.

Something else to like about Death in the Off-Season is main character Meredith Abiah Folger. (How's that for a strong New England name?) She's smart, she's strong, and she certainly has good instincts. What holds her back is an overprotective father who also happens to be her boss. His desire to keep his daughter from harm not only makes Merry angry, it also causes her to hesitate, to doubt herself. Fortunately for her, Merry also has a wonderful grandfather who's loving, yet no-nonsense. He listens to her and gives her sound advice. (Now if he'd only set his son straight!) The only thing that appears to be wrong with Merry's grandfather is his tendency to turn their home into an episode of "Hoarders."

Mathews' cast of characters is a very strong one-- not only Merry's family, but several townspeople and friends as well. In fact one of the townspeople on Merry's list of suspects may turn out to be of romantic interest in future books.

Setting? Check! Characters? Check! So what about the story, the mystery, the whodunnit? I have one word for it: brilliant. The plot weaves people and secrets together in such a way that I never saw the identity of the killer coming. Plot? Check!

Now you understand why I want to read the rest of the books in this series, don't you?

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aya (yup), I found that I couldn’t help but like Merry Folger, a third generation police officer (detective) on the island of Nantucket, 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She has her hands full not only trying to prove herself to her father, the police chief, but also to coworkers, townspeople and, ultimately, herself.

When a dead body is found in a cranberry bog by a 15-year-old employee of Peter Mason, someone from Nantucket’s ‘old money’, Merry initially places him at the top of the list. But Peter isn’t there for long, because it turns out that a number of people would like to see Rusty Mason dead. Yes, you read it here; Peter is Rusty’s brother but hasn’t seen him in a very long time. And they left each other on bad terms.

This was a very good mystery. I enjoyed Merry’s quirky family, Peter (yes, Peter) and the small-town ambience.

As my GR friend Lynn said in her review, ”the books were originally written in the 1990s, but the author recently reworked them to fit them into the 21st century as well as to reflect what she describes as the evolution of her writing style” and it is true. I read the 2016 copy, and then went to my library and found the other books in this series. Following Death in the Off-Season, I immediately read Death in Rough Water and Death in a Mood Indigo. Except, these were older copies and, though the mysteries were very good, my advice would be to stay with the newer editions. There is definitely a difference between Merry and….

No, you will just have to read the first book.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few weeks ago, I came across a review of the new book in Francine Mathews’s “Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery” series—a series that somehow never crossed my path (How? It takes place in Nantucket! Really?!!)—and set about catching up. And what a way to begin! As someone who grew up in a beach resort town, a title like Death in the Off-Season certainly grabbed my attention, and I couldn’t wait to begin reading.

I was not disappointed. This first book in the series is well written, wonderfully atmospheric (lots of Nantucket fog and history), and full of rich charm and characterization. The names of the characters made me smile—a lot (Merry—Meredith—Folger is just the beginning; there is a Starbuck family, a Nathaniel Coffin, and a Buck Maplethorne as well)—and the story is nicely paced. My one quibble was Mathews’s transcription of one character’s speech patterns, which I can only describe as Down-East Vernacular; “Yah know he’ll look rathah bahd”, “tahrist”, and “summah people” are a few examples. Fortunately, this character doesn’t turn up too often. Oh, and his name? Clarence Strangerfield.

Side note: In her 2015 introduction to this book, Mathews explains that Death in the Off-Season was the first mystery novel she wrote—back in 1992—and that she had been asked to write a new installment. The publisher also planned to re-release those first four books from the 1990s, and Mathews decided to revise them so that the fifth book would pick up where the fourth had left off, rather than work a 20-year gap into the story—or, presumably, just continue her stories in the 1990s and early 2000s.

If there were a four-and-a-half-stars option, I would offer that rating. Death in the Off-Season is an engaging, fun, and perfect curl-up-and-read kind of book, but—amazing? Not quite—but close.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life)]

DNF @ 25%
2016; Soho Crime/Soho Press

I could not get into the novel even after trying the audiobook as well. It was slow and I just didn't care for Merry Folger.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

[Jo Anne Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good character development in the first book of series. Can’t wait to read the 2nd thru 4th books. (Not realizing this was a series I have already read the 5th book but I’m eager to read the middle of the series).

[Georgen Charnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mary Folger, detective with the Nantucket police force, is the worst detective of all time.

So, a guy is murdered in the wee hours of the morning, in the middle of nowhere, Nantucket. The first question anyone on Nantucket would ask is, how did he get to the island? And second, how did he get to the bog? (And it’s a cranberry bog, not a farm). There’s only two ways to get to the Island: air and boat. Neither one has scheduled arrivals in the middle of the night, which is when he was killed. So if he came in on a scheduled flight or boat, there’s a record. If he didn’t take a scheduled flight, he came in on a private boat or plane. If a plane, or a boat that came into the marina (and there is no Madaket harbor), there’s a record. However he came in, how did he get to the bog? Car? There’s no rental car service open 24/7 on Nantucket; you rent jeeps from the Fees. At the very end of the book, the murderer explains that he’d rented a car; why wouldn’t the police know this? The rental car owners would have reported the theft.

Second, you’d look at motive. It was a week before she started asking about the family’s money. And meanwhile, she started casting aspersions on basically random characters with no motive or opportunity. Just because someone basically unrelated to the case could sneak out, do the crime, and sneak back without being seen, doesn’t mean they’re suspects.

Also, no detective would tell someone’s employer that he was charged with murder in the past before taking his current job. What a bitch. And her constant emotional outbursts made her unlikeable. She makes a comment about how she’s not going to cut her wrists if she’s stressed to her father, when her mother committed suicide years before. A man involved in the case says sorry about your mother, and she snaps at him. Some professional.

And please, someone tell the narrator how to pronounce Nantucket place names. It’s ‘Sconset. Always. Never “sia-sconset.”

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot got too complicated at the end. There was no real good motive for Lucy to kill Peter, for her to string a wire across the path to knock Will off his bike (just to get back a letter he had?..). or for Lucy to kidnap Allison. So what if Lucy had an affair with the senior Mason or was involved in some financial shenanigans? There was not enough reason to commit a murder or the other crimes.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good story and I liked the setting on Nantucket - to where I plan to travel this summer.

Only 3 stars because I HATE female protagonists with serious responsible jobs who constantly doubt themselves and whose insecurities put their functioning at risk. After 40 years of working with serious and excellent female professionals - I have met nobody like this.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new author for me and an exciting new mystery series to explore. Nothing better than a satisfying mystery and a beautiful setting. Murder and mystery on Nantucket met all of these qualifications for a great read!

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I liked the characters and setting enough to read more in this series.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got introduced to the author via a blog posting on the Jungle Red Writers mystery blog. I was intrigued by what I read in both the interview with author Francine Mathews and with the basic plot explanation behind this series.

In a couple of weeks I acquired all five books in the series and started reading the first one last week.

I wound up enjoying this introduction to Nantucket police detective Merry Folger. For the Folger family, law enforcement is a family tradition. Merry works for her father, the current chief of police. Her grandfather was chief before him.

When a body turns up on the property of one of the island's most notable (and richest) family, Merry ends up with her first murder case. The cast of characters was nicely introduced. There was enough detail given but smartly left more to learn in the successive books in the series.

I think the one thing I kind of disliked was how the initial suspect in the murder ended up involved in the investigation. Now for the sake of the plot and how it developed, it made sense but there just seemed a bit too much in the way of "I'm going to do it my way, so you might as well let me help anyway" to the character of Peter Mason. That said, his back story was incredibly involving and assuming he's around during the rest of the series (I didn't look ahead at the stories in books 2-5), it will be interesting to see how things grow between he and Merry Folger.

Obviously, with the main character you want to like them. But I thought Merry was really cool. A mixture of professional competency mixed with self-doubt and a desire to live up to the expectations of her family make for a pretty decent character study aside from the main story.

All in all, a solid debut that not only kept my interest but also stokes that interest to read the rest of the series as well.

[Lynn Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars I think I have found a new series to glom! I saw this one mentioned on Lauren Willig's blog and it piqued my interest. The books were originally written in the 1990s, but the author recently reworked them to fit them into the 21st century as well as to reflect what she describes as the evolution of her writing style. I haven't read the original version of this book, so I'm not sure what I think of this.

Set in the fall just as the last tourists are leaving Nantucket, we see the island as a small town rather than vacation haven. Merry Folger, daughter and granddaughter of local law enforcement, is trying to make her own place as a detective in Nantucket. When Rusty Mason, son of a prominent local family, is found drowned in a cranberry bog, authorities quickly determine that he was murdered. Merry is determined to find the solution to her first big case, and along the way, she finds herself pulled into long-past Mason family drama that apparently wasn't quite done.

The bog's owner, Peter Mason, is Rusty's brother and he seems suspiciously less than mournful about his brother's demise. As Merry digs into the case, I found myself very curious about all the Mason family secrets. I also found myself growing to like Merry and Peter more and more as the book moved along. This mystery doesn't have 1 obvious solution, but rather a little universe of possible suspects, all of whom have compelling stories in their own way. I've never been to Nantucket so I can't speak to the authenticity of the setting, but I did find this quite an engaging read.

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in a mystery series. (Because, of course, why finish any of the many other series I've started? I am beginning to think I have commitment issues.)
This was a fun and good read, with interesting characters and a well-constructed plot. It helps if you've been to Nantucket, not because the mystery is lessened at all, but because it's fun to identify the various types of people and the landmarks that are mentioned throughout the book. The tension between the locals and the off-islanders is real and accurately portrayed with nuance and complexity.
The author also writes as Stephanie Barron with a Jane Austen mystery series, which I will have to re-start. But this contemporary mystery is intelligently written and the literary skill of the author adds to the enjoyment of the book itself.
Note: the first few books of the series came out many years ago, but the author has revised and updated them as part of re-launching the series and adding to it.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an exceptionally good first novel. Mathews evokes Nantucket and brings it to life, and her main characters deepen over the course of the book. Subsidiary characters remain one-note performances, however, and the pacing of the book is somehow off. You know that "Sundance" is going to be important early on, but it's not until too close to the end that you have even a chance to find our who that is and why it matters. I look forward to seeing how the author's craft improves over the rest of the series.

[Tim Nokken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Likely would give it 3.5. Not a great book, but a pleasant read.
Story begins when the body of a character's estranged brother is found in his cranberry bog. From there, it's unclear who the real target of murder was, and why the estranged brother even showed. It serves as an introduction to Meredith Folger, Nantucket police officer. Again, not bad, but the story seemed to introduce a lot of characters without clear ties and came to a conclusion quite quickly. An easy enjoyable, if not exciting, read.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over 20 years ago when the 1st edition was published; the author essentially rewrote this to bring it into the 21st century. I really enjoyed it, and didn't notice anything that may have dated the book.

Recommended!

[Joyce Burk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Merry Folger mystery book

Francine Mathews has a great talent for writing mysteries. I find her narrative style to be quite beautiful. Thus us Book 1 in her Nantucket Island series.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a fast book to read that I got done in one day! Enjoyed it-a dead body found in the cranberry bogs!

[Phxwrites · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Mathews’ novels in her Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery series. And it is quite a starter.

An arriving visitor to Nantucket is killed. But this is no ordinary visitor or indeed even a stranger to the island. He is related to the very well-heeled and extremely wealthy Mason family.
Meredith Folger is assigned to her first murder case. She is also well-connected to a multi-generation Nantucket family. And they are almost as well-known although far less wealthy than the Masons.

The mystery unfolds on multiple levels. And the reader goes back into the history of the island, the Masons, and the Folgers as the plot unfolds.

The plot is riveting and the characters so well drawn, it will not surprise ant reader that Mathews is a master of her craft. And as the author admits in her Introduction, this book, written in 1992, was almost a one-off, during the time Mathews worked for the CIA. The response prompted so much interest that she left the CIA and continued with her writing. Indeed Mathews is a gifted writer who untangles wonderful mysteries. While her other series focuses on Jane Austen as the heroine of a well-regarded mystery series, our modern heroine, Merry Folger, is intelligent and vulnerable. And these characteristics combine to make her believable as her insecurity with her first murder mystery is combined with her uncanny intuition and some very personal insights.

This is a series to be savored. And for those of us familiar with Nantucket, usually not in the off-season, it brings back so many memories of summers gone by with the ferry ride that can be uncomfortable due to weather, the cranberry bogs, the foggy mornings, and the beautiful feel of this island that seems to possess its own mysterious qualities.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rusty Mason, ne’er-do-well and disinherited son of an historic and wealthy Nantucket family, is found dead in a cranberry bog on his brother’s farm. His death was murder and Detective Meredith Folger’s first murder case. Question 1 – was Rusty murdered for his sins or was the target actually Peter, his brother?

More people are attacked. More attempts at Peter or covering a trail? Suspense comes from unknown motives, collateral injuries, and mysterious pasts. Will Merry be able to solve the murder on her own?

Recommended as a good series with likeable characters, intricate plots, complex relationships, and details of life on an island. Death in the Off-Season should gather fans for Mathews and increase the tourist trade.

Readalikes:
Tawni O’Dell – Angels Burning; Louise Penny’s Armand Gamche series especially A Long Way Home; Philip R. Craig’s Martha’s Vineyard series; J.D. Robb’s Eve Dallas mysteries; Robert Dugoni – My Sister’s Grave; Lisa Gardner – Love You More; Susie Steiner – Missing, Presumed; Charlaine Harris – Grave Sight; David Baldacci – Memory Man; Tim Johnson – The Current.

Pace: Fast-paced
Characters: Strong women; likeable; haunted; intriguing secondary cast
Storyline: Intricately plotted
Writing style: Descriptive; engaging
Tone: Suspenseful; atmospheric; strong sense of place
Frame: Nantucket; 1992
Theme: Small town police

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept me fully engaged from the first page to the last! It is set on Nantucket. The protagonist is a police detective who is the daughter of the police chief and the granddaughter of the one before that. The murder involves a wealthy scion of the island, which ends up being a great device because it makes it possible to bring in all the things and complications that come with money, while still exploring the working class life of the detective as well. It is VERY well plotted, with one lead following naturally from another without ever feeling contrived.

I WON this book, along with the next four in the series, in a giveaway on the Jungle Red Writers blog. I was thrilled to begin with, but now I'm even more so because I know I can look forward to four more really good books!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author, who writes under a few different pseudonyms. She writes a good mystery and her characters are always well done. I also loved the setting of this series. (New England is on my bucket list so this was like a little bedside table vacation. Lol) I’ll definitely be reading more in this series! A fun mystery is a “palette cleanser” for me between harder reads, and a great escape when needed. But they’re hard to do well! I appreciate the authors who manage to strike the perfect balance between suspense, setting, story, and character development.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. The Nantucket characters & island history and culture are good. The mystery bits were very first novel to me. Too many red herrings, not enough hints dropped along the way, convoluted insider trading bits and the big reveal was way far-fetched and contrived. All of the characters are connected yet none of them know each other? Eh...

[Kathy Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder and mystery take place in Nantucket. A decent story but the female detective comes off a little too hard around the edges. Not sure how much I like her. Will try the next in the series and see.

[Richard Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written novel. I won't have been the first to report this, but I wanted it on the record.

I'm not surprised, but it's more remarkable than I expected. Apparently, Francine Matthews entered the writing world like Athena, fully formed from day one.

I've read (and really loved) her entire Jane Austen mystery series--written under a pseudonym, Stephanie Barron--but this novel was written before any of those, her first book, and though I thought there might be some sign in the text that she was a new author, I found nothing. No awkwardness; no hesitancy; no overblown language; no undercooked plot. On the contrary, it's mature and confident, with clear prose throughout and a deftly handled mystery. And it's a pleasure to read.

Nice. Right out of the gate.

I have usually overlooked this corner of the mystery world (when I'm not reading fantasy or something else, I mean), choosing mostly historical mysteries, especially Regency types, but I've meant to try these novels for some time. Obviously, it's not the same vibe as the Jane Austen books. Not the same rhythms or arcs. Not even the same voice. But, you know, it is the same, somehow.

I was predisposed to like the main character, because I have a sister Merry--so named and so spelled because of her twin sister, Sherry--and though Merry Folger is not much like my sister, I liked her. I appreciated her attitude and her mix of competence and vulnerability. Not a bumbler; not a super-sleuth. Her family and backstory are interesting, giving us something to care about, but they do not overwhelm the story. The other characters are well drawn, too, especially Peter Mason, whose brother dies on his property at the beginning of the novel, and Will, the boy who discovers the body.

I learned a lot about Nantucket, and the setting was an interesting part of the novel. Not hard to teach me something new; I knew virtually nothing about it before. I did learn that I won't be buying a summer home there this life. And the conclusion is satisfying. I see some others predicted the outcome, but I didn't--at least not until I was supposed to.

Anyway, lots to like. I enjoyed it and recommended for general mystery readers, as well as fans of the author. :)

[Lali & Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have set myself the goal of clearing my shelves of all unread books--either by unhauling books that no longer interest me or reading the ones that do. Some of the books have been sitting unread for literally decades and I have found that many of these seem really dated so I approached Death in the Off-Season (published in 1994) with some trepidation. But I really enjoyed it! It is the first in a series featuring Merry Folger, a detective in the Nantucket police department who has recently been assigned her first homicide case. Since her father currently is the Chief of Police, a position previously held by her grandfather, Merry feels a lot of pressure to succeed. The victim is the disgraced son of one of the island's wealthiest families. He had been living in Brazil for a decade running from an indictment for insider trading. His body is found on his brother's farm, having been hit by a car and then drowned in a cranberry bog.

The tone is just right--not as light as a cozy but not oppressively dark either. Even the suspects are not evil, just flawed complicated people. The characters are interesting and seem realistic, many of them having faced challenges, such as the death of a parent or failed relationships, that make them very relatable. I was especially moved by Will, a 15 year old who has lost his father and is trying to find his way out of a dark place. The island is vividly described and is an integral part of the story. But my favorite aspect of the book was Merry. There was something about the way she approached the case that appealed to me more than almost any mystery protagonist I have read. Her approach was very rational and she didn't make the wild assumptions that often happen in mysteries. She tried to balance professionalism with compassion. So glad I have two more of these on my shelf and will be tracking down the others in the series.

[Lauryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book fills two very specific likes for me - a twisty, relatively fast murder mystery and the Nantucket setting. The descriptions remind me a little of Elin Hildebrand, but less a part of the story and since it’s a murder mystery, obviously a lot less sunny. Overall the plot was pretty good - I didn’t know whodunnit, which makes the twists better.

My main complaint is on the character development of the two leads —these people act like they’re elderly and their lives are all but over. They’re 32! I also am not buying that a super fit, 32 year old bachelor with a ton of money and a compound on Nantucket would just pine away for his college love and listen to classical music and play himself in chess all the time. I realize this was initially written 30 years ago, but cmon.

The female lead (the detective) is just as bad with her hopelessness and resignation that she’ll mope around and live with her dad and grandfather the rest of her life. BUT, she also manages to act like a petulant teenager with random outbursts and saying rude things without thinking. She also has zero confidence for someone who has been a cop for ten years ish? Even if you’ve never led a murder case, act like you have some idea what to do. The tension with her dad (also her boss) was not well-developed and just felt like a way to make her a wimp.

Anyway, after all that complaining about the characters I will read more in the series. I might have to quit though if these two Debbie Downers don’t cheer up.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book in the Merry Folger series, which I have enjoyed this past month, was first written in 1994 and revised in 2016 as the author published several more books in the series. The daughter of the Police Chief and the granddaughter of the retired Police Chief, Merry Folger is investigating her first murder in her police career. Murder is unusual on Nantucket; traffic tie-ups, public drinking, shoplifting, and loud parties are among the most common infractions. The murder involves a prestigious family from New York who have been visiting the island for generations with fractured relationships. Merry is nervous, second guessing her competence, and intimidated by what she perceives of the family's background.

The novel introduced some of the characters who appear in every novel, whose relationships have changed and deepened. Howie Sietz, a criminal justice student, is interning with Merry; Rafe DaSilva, a long-time family friend is the foreman for Peter Mason's farm; Tess Starbuck, widowed and trying a new business, and her son, Will, just emerging from paralyzing grief following his father's fishing. Merry's father and grandfather are at the center of her life, her touchstones, her supports.

The complex plot reveal the author's ability to weave a story, casting out all the lines and bringing them to closure at the end. This is a a shattered, shuttered family with years of hurt and anger; insider trading, blackmail, secrets, and a quest for revenge that seems not to have any brakes are just a few of what Merry uncovers.