A photo I took while vacationing in Boothbay Harbor. This is the most photographed church.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5 out of 5

Smart, single, young, business, woman Elizabeth Pennington needs a break from her busy day to day life of running her business. She decides to attend the wedding of an acquaintance from high school, in Boothbay Harbor, back near her hometown. She decides to surprise her friend at the same time, who is working at Boothbay Inn, while she attends the wedding. Unfortunately, she gets the Inn’s mixed up where the wedding is being held and where her friend works, and there are a lot of things happening at the Boothbay Harbor Inn that Elizabeth gets caught up in. Little does she know, her quiet, relaxing weekend away from Connecticut will be anything but.

Lucretia Sterling is trying to restore the Boothbay Harbor Inn and bring it back to life, but her husband is strong arming her with the renovations and doesn’t want her to restore it the way she wants. He wants it his way. He has a lot of secrets and is a man who scares the people who work for him. The employees and the town folk love Lucretia, but not her husband Jonathan Sterling. He has a lot to prove to his family who cut him out of the family business back in England, and he does not want to see the Inn restored or equipped the way it was back when it was first opened. He wants to modernize it and make it more of an exclusive Inn.

This was my first read of Penny Goetjen, but I would love to go back and read the first book with Elizabeth, Murder on the Precipice. Her writing is suspenseful, intriguing, and edge of your seat. I loved how Elizabeth seemed to walk right into trouble at every turn and yet was able to walk away with minor injuries. She is drawn in by her inquisitive mind and the people who work at Boothbay Harbor Inn and in the town of Boothbay Harbor. There are a lot of questionable characters in this story and it had me wondering what each one was into and what they might do to Elizabeth.

I really enjoyed reading this book and loved the characters. I especially loved Elizabeth and her inquisitive mind. She is more like a detective than an interior decorator, even if she found herself in trouble, her inquisitive mind and her sense for adventure make her life interesting. I give this story a 4.5-star review and highly recommend it to readers who enjoy suspense, small town mysteries, and colorful characters.

My husband and I have vacationed in Boothbay Harbor as well as South Port a few times and reading this book brought me back to those vacations. They were relaxing and fun. We enjoyed some beautiful views and very friendly locals. Now I want to go back.