Matinicus – An Island Mystery by Darcy Scott

If you have never been to Matinicus island, off the coast of Maine, this novel will take you there. And it’s quite a journey.

Matinicus – An Island Mystery by Darcy Scott, puts you on Matinicus in the 1820s and today. Murder and mayhem exist on the island both then and now.

Let’s start with then. A series of murders remains unsolved, in a tale that is both frightening and, at times, humerous. I always like to go back in history, and this part of the novel definitely takes you there on this remote island.

Interestingly, from the 1820s to today, the island didn’t change much. It remained – at least in this work of fiction – an isolated unwelcoming community of tough and often angry lobstermen.

Toss in a botanist, Dr. Gil Hodges, who lands on Matinicus to get away from a crazy girlfriend, only to find himself in the middle of a murderous island community, and you have an intriguing story.

Hodges finds a diary that helps him solve the 1820s murders, but he fails big time in solving the murders that occur while he is on the island.

Scott’s characters are strong and memorable, and I’m willing to bet you’ll never figure out who the murderers are. But yes, she’ll let you know in a brilliant twist at the end of the book.
Scott is a freelance writer and Marine industry publicist whose favorite cruising ground is the coast of Maine. She has published other novels in her Island mystery series. And I’m on the hunt for another one of those now.

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.