Maine

Kemper Donovan: The Busy Body

by

This yummy book is centered on a ghostwriter (never named) who gets a dream assignment: she’s to collaborate with Dorothy Gibson, a Hilary Clinton-esque figure who has just lost a presidential election and has retreated to her home in Maine.  The ghostwriter informs the reader that meeting a subject has to involve some chemistry or it just won’t work, but she means to accept this assignment before she steps foot in the door, and the two women in fact hit it off.

This is a plot driven book that’s governed by character.  The author obviously has a love for golden age mysteries and makes frequent references to Poirot, Marple, and Inspector Alleyn, but it’s the budding friendship between the two women that powers the novel.  As the ghostwriter accompanies Dorothy around town, Dorothy is frequently met by voters/fans who don’t quite know how to react but want to make sure she knows they voted for her.  It’s poignant. The way Dorothy reacts is matter of fact and friendly, and you only see the cracks when she’s alone with the ghostwriter or her assistant. She also works nonstop, to the exhaustion of the writer, who cannot believe her energy. read more

Elizabeth Penney: Thread and Dead

by

There are all kinds of cozies involving small businesses, but this is the first series I’ve read where the small business in question sells vintage aprons and other types of vintage linens – sheets, dishtowels, etc.  As described by Penney, the shop sounds not only mouthwatering but fairly realistic.  Iris and her Grammie, who brought her up, run the apron store in Blueberry Cove, Maine (maybe it’s near the more famous Cabot Cove?) and she’s surrounded with a great mix of friends and a great setting. read more

Carol Goodman: The Sea of Lost Girls

by

Carol Goodman’s luscious prose doesn’t mask her storytelling drive, and it’s a haunting and unforgettable combination.  The Sea of Lost Girls is set at a girl’s boarding school in Maine, centering on the family of Tess, Harmon and Rudy.  Tess and Harmon both work at the school; Rudy is Tess’s son and Harmon’s stepson, as well as a student at the school. The book kicks off with him texting his mother in the middle of the night, and she rushes off to find out what’s wrong.

As a reader, I was instantly drawn into the dynamic between Tess and her son, who has had some troubles but whom she loves fiercely.  Her greatest goal is that of any mother’s: to protect him.  And, as it turns out, he needs it.  His girlfriend, Lila, whom he had been fighting with, turns up dead the next morning and suspicion falls on both Rudy and Harmon in turn. read more