5-STAR REVIEW: DEATH ON A WINTER STROLL by Francine Mathews

A Merry Folger Nantucket Mystery: Book 7
Publication Date: November 1, 2022

No-nonsense Nantucket detective Merry Folger grapples with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and two murders as the island is overtaken by Hollywood stars and DC suits.

Nantucket Police Chief Meredith Folger is acutely conscious of the stress COVID-19 has placed on the community she loves. Although the island has proved a refuge for many during the pandemic, the cost to Nantucket has been high. Merry hopes that the Christmas Stroll, one of Nantucket’s favorite traditions, in which Main Street is transformed into a winter wonderland, will lift the island’s spirits. But the arrival of a large-scale TV production, and the Secretary of State and her family, complicates matters significantly.

The TV shoot is plagued with problems from within, as a shady, power-hungry producer clashes with strong-willed actors. Across Nantucket, the Secretary’s troubled stepson keeps shaking off his security detail to visit a dilapidated house near conservation land, where an intriguing recluse guards secrets of her own. With all parties overly conscious of spending too much time in the public eye and secrets swirling around both camps, it is difficult to parse what behavior is suspicious or not—until the bodies turn up.

Now, it’s up to Merry and Detective Howie Seitz to find a connection between two seemingly unconnected murders and catch the killer. But when everyone has a motive, and half of the suspects are politicians and actors, how can Merry and Howie tell fact from fiction?

This latest installment in critically acclaimed author Francine Mathews’ Merry Folger series is an immersive escape to festive Nantucket, a poignant exploration of grief as a result of parental absence, and a delicious new mystery to keep you guessing.

Death on a Winter Stroll by Francine Matthews is a modern-day murder mystery at its very best. Set in incomparable Nantucket during the annual Christmas Stroll, the tale is replete with an ensemble of characters sculpted in indelible detail. This whodunit will keep the reader engrossed and, yes, guessing—definitely guessing—until the very end.  

Ansel McKay, troubled son of Ron McKay, husband of the Secretary of State, finds himself spending Christmas on Nantucket, a place filled with memories of his childhood and the mother he’s been told has been dead for years. Winter Candler, daughter of movie heartthrob Chris Candler, and with struggles of her own, also finds herself on Nantucket but with a film crew making a movie starring her father and the beautiful leading lady, Marni LeGuin. 

The stars, along with the film’s director, Carly Sonnenfeld, her husband, Vic, their staff, and film crew, stay at the luxurious compound, Ingrid’s Gift, owned by software billionaire Mike Struna. 

Soon, two seemingly unrelated murders take place on the island, both committed with a shotgun; the only thing it appears the murders have in common. As the story unfolds, it’s discovered by Nantucket’s Chief of Police, Merry Folger, and Detective Howie Seinz that each character has their own reasons for wanting one of the victims dead but the other? It makes no sense. 

Chief Folger and Detective Seinz doggedly sort through numerous suspicions, interviews, and accounts of those closest to the victims only to discover a clue provided by one of the murder victims themselves leads to the murderer’s identity. 

Ansel McKay and Winter Candler, while at the heart of the investigation, form a friendship that helps them cope with their struggles and leaves them with the hope and promise of better lives ahead. 

While encompassing the dizzying intricacy of a delightfully-told murder mystery, Death on a Winter Stroll treats the reader to the beauties of Nantucket, richly weaving them into the fabric of the story.

Told by a master storyteller at the height of her game, Death on a Winter Stroll is a delight to read not only for the beauty of its location but also for its flawless, steadily unfolding mystery, its ensemble of characters, and a satisfying ending, depicting redemption for those who seek it through inner strength and stubborn resiliency. 

Francine Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992 and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written thirty books, including six previous novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard Light, Death on Nantucket, and Death on Tuckernuck) as well as the nationally bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the pen name Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.