A jaded Bostonian criminal lawyer excapes his recent fame by holidaying in a seaside holiday village in gilded century-era series - Shipwreck Point Mysteries by Elise M. Stone

Titus Strong must be good in hiding his past as he is now a famous criminal lawyer married to the daughter of the senior partner of a big Bostonian law firm while he is in fact the son of a whore from the more seedier side of the city. One wonders how he managed to pull that off.

But Titus is a brilliant lawyer and now a household name as he got a big murderer acquitted. However he does not feel happy. It is not feeling good. He rather would fight for someone he is not certain of to be a murderer. And his marriage is as cold as a bowl of ice cubes. 

So Titus has packed himself off to the village of Whitby formerly known as Shipwreck Point off the coast of Boston a cosy scenic fishing village and artist colony that is swamped in the summer with tourists from nearby Boston who spend their days in the luxurious hotels and boardinghouses and walk, eat, drink, gamble and go to a brothel.

Not knowing what to do with his time Titus spends most evenings gambling and days walking or going fishing. And in the meantime getting to know the village and the people living there.

However it does not take long before he finds himself in the local courthouse defending the local madam who is accused of murder.

 

This is a series that you should read in chronological order as later books refer to the earlier episodes but more importantly the story has an important personal arc where we can follow the development of Titus, his job, his family and his secretary. But also of the people of Shipwreck Point.

The series has now five novels. Some of them are better than others mystery-wise. But I really like the setting. You can almost picture the village with it's lighthouse, fishing boats, glitzy hotels and beach. I guess it must be a bit like Dutch Scheveningen or English Blackpool was a century ago. That same goes for the characters of the novel: the lonely lawyer who find friends, the intelligent young woman who now her father is dead has to find employment and loves it, the suffragettes, the maffia types etcetera. It is that setting that makes the novels good reading.

The books are quite a quick read so will do fine for a lazy sunday.