This is book 3 of the Nantucket series.
Celeste Otis and Benjamin ‘Benji’ Winbury have planned an extravagant wedding in Benji’s family’s summer home in Nantucket. On the morning of the wedding, Celeste finds her maid of honour, Merritt Monaco, dead in the water.
The book tells the story of Celeste and Benji’s romance – they meet at the Bronx Zoo where Celeste is the assistant director when she has to do a meet the animals talk because one of her colleagues has taken ill. Benji is there with his girlfriend Jules and her daughter Miranda – and he instantly falls in love with Celeste.
Just before Benji asks Celeste to marry him, she meets his best friend Shooter. Shooter is very handsome and charming – and it is love at first sight for both of them. Celeste doesn’t want to hurt Benji and when he proposes to her, she says yes hoping she’ll get over her feelings for Shooter.
Merritt meets Benji’s father at Celeste and Benji’s engagement party. And despite the big age difference, Tag and Merritt start seeing each other…
The Nantucket police start to investigate Merritt’s death and quickly come to realise it’s murder even though it looks like an accident. The murderer is one of the guests of the wedding party, but who?
I really enjoyed this book – I had watched the series on Netflix around Christmas and did realise that Celeste had a different name in the series – and I couldn’t remember it for the life of me. Half way through the book, it came to me: Amelia Sachs. Another character, Featherleigh Dale, had also been renamed for the TV series, and Tag and Greer gained another son in the show which changes the motive of the murderer… (I did enjoy the series as well).
Read for the ShelfReflection Reading Challenge 2025
Prompt 20: A book set in New England
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
