Friday, November 18, 2022

Francine Mathews--Strolling Home to Nantucket

DEBORAH CROMBIE:  As we're coming up to Thanksgiving next week, I'm more than ready for an atmospheric Christmas mystery. Francine Mathews has just the ticket with her new Merry Folger Nantucket novel, DEATH ON A WINTER STROLL. This series has long been one of my favorites, and I couldn't wait to dive--or jingle!--into this one. 



Here Francine gives us a little taste of a magical Nantucket Christmas.

Strolling Home to Nantucket

Francine Mathews


When you fly from Colorado to an island thirty miles off the Massachusetts Coast the first weekend in December, dusk comes early. By the time you’ve boarded the nine-seater Cessna at Logan and been assigned the copilot’s seat, the runway lights are a brilliant map branching under darkness. You stare through the cramped windscreen at the tail of the Lufthansa jet waiting for takeoff right in front of you, the Cessna no bigger in comparison than a fly on the flank of a rhino. You lift up over the shoreline of Boston and turn south with the storm front, stretching its fingers across Cape Cod.




     Half an hour later, as you squint to penetrate the blackness of the sky, which is indeterminate from the blackness of the sea, a faint glow helps you pinpoint the horizon. Another few minutes, and the glow becomes starbursts, a scattering of lights that signifies tiny settlement in the vastness of the Atlantic. A few minutes more, and the short runway in the middle of the moors is flung like a necklace before the Cessna’s windscreen. You pitch forward, judder to the ground, come with a whine to a halt.

You’ve landed on Nantucket, and it’s the most magical time of the year.




My series detective, Meredith Folger, would argue the point, of course. Born and raised on the island, she’s convinced that every Nantucket day is magical. But the first weekend in December has been particularly special for the past half-century, because that’s when Santa arrives. Rounding Brant Point on the deck of a Coast Guard cutter, he makes his way from Straight Wharf to the top of Main Street in a raucous parade. Over ten thousand people throng the center of town, dressed as lighted Christmas trees, sexy elves, reindeer. For countless visitors, it’s a smashing kickoff to the holidays. For the island’s retailers, it’s a welcome infusion of cash in the midst of off-season. For Nantucket police, it’s a sometimes-exasperating exercise in crowd control.



For the past two years, Stroll was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. For two years, Nantucket has isolated in place, its shops empty, restaurants closed, school kids sent home, and beaches deserted.




This year, Merry knows, the pent-up demand of delayed gratification for in-person partying will make Stroll a killer weekend. Her force will be stretched to the limit. Add a television crew producing a streaming series in the middle of Polpis, and the Secretary of State’s family holed up in an ancestral home in town, and the security demands are mind-boggling.



And that’s before the first body is found...




Have yourself a Merry little Christmas.



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’s 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.




Francine Mathews/Stephanie Barron 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 30 novels, including the critically acclaimed Nantucket Mystery series, the Jane Austen Mystery series, and a number of historical fiction and thriller novels. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

DEBS: Francine, thank you so much for the gorgeous photos and descriptions of Nantucket. I'd love to experience a Nantucket Christmas some day!

REDS and readers, where would you spend your dream Christmas?

59 comments:

  1. A Nantucket Christmas certainly does sound magical, Francine . . . congratulations on your newest book. I look forward to reading Merry latest adventure.

    Where would I spend my dream Christmas? Wherever my family happened to be . . . .

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  2. You are SO brilliant! Joan, I agree with you. But especially if everyone happened to be in Paris.
    ((And because we are talking about Nantucket, did you see that some guys robbed a bank Thursday on Martha's Vineyard? Um, like the adjacent Nantucket, it's...an ISLAND.
    And a propos of this whole thing, my husband and I met on Nantucket.
    SO: Stroll, bank robbery, ferries, Christmas, romantic encounter.
    Dearest Francine, we should talk about your next book! So lovely to see you!

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    1. Great idea, Hank. I would read that book!

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    2. Would love to hear the island Meet-Cute story about your husband, Hank!

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  3. Congrats on the new book! Sounds magical. Well, except for the dead body, of course.

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  4. That descriptiion of the Cessna flying into Nantucket just wowed me. And of course the mystery sounds terrific. One reason mysteries set in other places is the opportunity to "travel" vicariously (since you can't go everywhere, no matter how much you wish you could.

    As for where we are spending, we moved to Braga, Portugal last year, and Braga at Christmas is just beautiful. No snow, but lots of lights all around town, garlands over every street and a huge Christmas tree in the main plaza of the historic section.

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    1. A Portuguese Christmas does sound magical, Elizabeth. We often spent Christmas in Mexico when I was growing up and I loved it.

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  5. That does sound magical, Francine, and the story is a perfect setup. My little city of Amesbury is pretty magical at Christmas, too, also with a holiday parade and a huge lit tree in Market Square. But, as Joan says, I always want to be with family at Christmas.

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  6. Congrats on your new book. Perfect Christmas is with family.

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  7. FRANCINE: Nantucket does sound magical and the Christmas Stroll sounds like fun. We will have our Christmas parade tomorrow in downtown Ottawa for the first time since 2019. There's a bit of snow on the ground so we are looking somewhat wintry.

    I no longer have any family members left to celebrate Christmas. If I could, I would go on somewhere warm such as Australia or Bali!

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  8. Wow, wonderful descriptions--you've made us all yearn for Nantucket! Key West at Christmas is very festive and special, but I also loved every Christmas at our home in Connecticut. All the lights, sometimes snow, a group of brass horns playing us into Christmas Eve service at the Congregational church! But Hank, I'm in for Paris too if that's where we're all going:)

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    1. I feel like I've spent Christmas in Key West from reading your books, Lucy. You do such a great job of creating the atmosphere.

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  9. One of these days I want to visit Nantucket, especially after reading this description, Francine.

    Anywhere my family is, for Christmas. In the past that has been three cities in Ohio, two in Michigan, and one in Virginia. This year it will be Kenya!

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  10. Can't wait to read this, Francine! Your books are my favorite way to escape to Nantucket. Only place to spend Christmas is with family, wherever they might be.

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  11. I look forward to reading your Nantuckeet series. We've spent Christmas and New Year's Eve in New Orleans (pure magic and great weather), Houston (great weather and outdoor lights), and Chatham, on Cape Cod (it's dark by 3:30 but everything else is wonderful, including Santa's arrival by boat at the fish pier).

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    1. Margaret, three of my sisters live on the Cape, and I agree it’s a terrific place to spend the holidays!

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    2. Whoops. That should have been from ME.

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  12. Your latest has arrived right on time, just like that Cessna, Francine! Looking forward to a Christmas 'visit' to Nantucket. For just one year, I'd like to do Christmas somewhere warm--like Hawai'i with family.

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  13. Putting Death on a Winter Stroll on my Christmas Reads list!
    Having spent my whole life in the Midwest, I have had plenty of white Christmases and treacherous travel to be with family. My dream celebration would be with the whole family on a warm, sunny beach.

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    1. You don’t think you’d miss the winter charm?

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  14. That’s me Elisabeth testing. That cover takes my breath away! The beauty of snow at a distance. Concern this morning for ANN in the Buffalo snow. Take good care today.

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    1. The snow is going south of us. We got an inch last night and sunshine today. Thanks for asking. We are fine!

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    2. I live the cover art of this entire series, which is consciously chosen from island photographers—I’ve approved every single one. This cover image in particular was taken by renowned island photographer Cary Hazelgrove.

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    3. Francine, this cover is absolutely stunning.

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    4. Ann, glad to hear from you. And Francine, knowing about the other covers I’ll have to read the series! So often Jungle Reds finds new to me authors! Elisabeth

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  15. I look forward to each and every book you produce. I have been a fan of the Merry Folger series from the start, and can't wait to read this one. And may we hope for one more in your Jane Austen series? The Year Without a Summer was just brilliant, but so very sad.

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    1. JANE AND THE WINCHESTER SCHOOLBOY, the final book in the series, is due out next fall 2023.

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  16. What an evocative piece, Francine. And the photos are stunning! Rhys

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  17. Thought I had no breath left, but that landing on Nantucket! WOW. Reminded me of flying into Seattle in a flying “cigar tube” —every seat an aisle, every seat a window— and the thrill of skimming just above the ground as we flew all the way to the gate. And then WOW “before the first murder”. Francine Mathews, thank you. As soon as I hit publish, Ordering “Death on a Winter Stroll!” Elisabeth

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  18. My New England heart is thrilled to have a new Merry Folger Nantucket mystery on the tippy top of my TBR.

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  19. I have to answer my own question! I love London in the Christmas season but have never quite managed to stay over Christmas itself. I'd love to have a proper Christmas Day pub lunch, then listen to the King's speech afterwards.

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    1. That sounds absolutely divine. I have to think Christmas in the Cotswolds would be pretty special, too.

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  20. Christmas is almost a non-event in my house with just the two of us here, so my fantasy is a big gathering around a big table with lots of yummy food and good talk and kids being excited at the magic of it all. Failing that, reading about Christmas on Nantucket might do the trick!

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  21. The new book sounds wonderful - and a virtual trip to Nantucket sounds divine- I love Nantucket… but best in summer. At Xmas I want to be where my grandkids are - so that’s at their house or mine… boring I know

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  22. If you didn't know Francine was a fantastic author, the first paragraph of this piece should convince you.

    Where would I like to go for a magical Christmas? I suppose back to my childhood in Bavaria, where we were stationed for four years. My mother decorated our apartment with German glass figurines, carved wooden angels and elves and trolls made from dried apples. We always went to the Cristkindlesmarkt in Nuremburg, where I would get a delicious chewy gingerbread cookie the size of my head. Our parents went to glamorous holiday parties at the officers' club, Dad in his dress uniform and Mom with her hair up in some fabulously stylish dress. Then the day after Christmas, we would go to Oberammergau for skiing.

    Would it be as magical if I went today? Maybe not. But I bet the gingerbread is still the best in the world.

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    1. That does sound wonderful, Julia. Rick's dad was an army doctor and they were stationed in Germany for couple of years when he was little. He still remembers those Christmases, too.

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  23. My dream Xmas would be dependent on if I wanted one of those family kind of holidays or just spend it somewhere where the cliche of all the Xmas trappings are on full display.

    If it was a family one, it would be great if it was the kind of extended family gathering my family used to have. Each branch of the family would come and it would be a packed house of music, games, tons of food and the littlest kids eagerly awaiting the passing out of the presents under the tree. When I was young, it was a huge deal. As I got older, it might not have been the wide-eyed wonderment because you do lose that kid like zest for the day a bit as you age. But it was still a day I looked forward to because my aunt would make the chicken dish I like so much and not only would I have...ahem...three helpings, I would then pack some away to take home as well. Those gatherings don't happen anymore, the last one was the year before my mom passed and family drama actually made the last two kind of tension-filled for some. Not me, I just ate all the tasty food and stayed out of it.

    If it was one of those cliched destination Xmas holidays, I figure Christmas in Ireland with the kind of sappiness of a Hallmark holiday movie would do the trick.

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  24. Congrats Francine! I'd spend Christmas anywhere my family is, but I also appreciate a snowy view--as long as I'm inside in front of a roaring fire.

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  25. Whoa! How did I miss this series. Looking forward to starting with book one and vicariously traveling to Nantucket. Congratulations on your latest, and on the perfect Christmas book.

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  26. I love this series! I am half way through this one and really enjoying it. I was lucky enough to go to a book signing two weeks ago and meet Francine. Very interesting to listen to her. !

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    1. Oh, thanks. I'm always ready to talk about writing and storytelling.

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  27. Francine, I have really enjoyed every one of these books. The community and individuals who make a living there year round, the economics of a fishing enterprise mixed with the tourist economy, the extreme weather you describe so well, the cleverness of your plots. I've been there a couple of times in summer, but the year round environment is not usually so vividly told.

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    1. I know the high season has deep appeal, but I confess I prefer the months when the island is empty to those when it sinks several inches into the Atlantic from the weight of all those visitors. Spring, fall, winter--all wonderful. And Christmas is its own kind of special.

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  28. Francine, I 've been waiting for another Merry Folger!! I love this series and am thrilled to add the latest book to my Kindle. The cover is gorgeous, the plot sounds great and I love your description of flying to the island.

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  29. Francine -- I can't wait to check out this series!
    Julia -- Those fantastic gingerbread Xmas cookies are called Lebkuchen, and you can find recipes online for them. There is also a version called Nurnberger. I have my grandmother's recipe (she was half German), and they are truly swoon-worthy. Trader Joe's sells a version that is much too sweet, but if you scrape off most of the sugar coating, the spice flavors come through. Your post brought back many memories for me... my grandmother's cookies and my mother talking about her time vacationing in Bavaria (she was with the State Dept. and spent six years stationed in Oslo). Thanks for bringing back some happy memories!

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  30. Sorry to be so late here today. A friend and I were just talking about wanting to read Death on a Winter Stroll. I haven't read the previous ones in the series, which is something I will need to do, but we decided we could read this one first. So, Francine, it is wonderful to see you and this book here today.

    Where would I spend my dream Christmas? I'm not sure the exact location, but it would be in a cabin that has lots of windows to the floor and beautifully built and furnished. It would be in the mountains, but not completely isolated, with a babbling brook and snow, both on the ground and coming down. There would be lots of Christmas decorations inside and out with a tall lighted tree and lots of wrapped presents under the tree. There would be a fire in the large fireplace and a delicious Christmas dinner waiting on the long farm table. When we first rise on Christmas morning, we will have cinnamon rolls and coffee and hot chocolate and watch the deer in the back coming in and out of the forest.

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    1. Kathy, this series is one of my very favorites and I highly recommend it.

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