Swan song / Elin Hilderbrand.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author brings her Nantucket novels to a brilliant finish: when rich strangers move to the island, social mayhem and a possible murder follow. Can Nantucket's best locals save the day, and their way of life?

Chief of Police Ed Kapenash is about to retire. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce. But when a 22-million-dollar summer home is purchased by the mysterious Richardsons--how did they make their money, exactly?--Ed, Sharon, and everyone in the community are swept up in high drama. The Richardsons throw lavish parties, flirt with multiple locals, flaunt their wealth with not one but two yachts, and raise impossible hopes of everyone they meet. When their house burns to the ground and their most essential employee goes missing, the entire island is up in arms. The last of Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling Nantucket novels, SWAN SONG is a propulsive medley of glittering gatherings, sun-soaked drama, wisdom and heart, featuring the return of some of her most beloved characters, including, most importantly, the beautiful and timeless island of Nantucket itself.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Booklist Review

Nantucket Police Chief Ed Kapenash is days away from retirement when he gets a call: a house has burned down and a woman is missing. The house belongs to Bull and Leslee Richardson and the woman is their concierge, Coco, who fell (jumped? was pushed?) off their boat. The story then flashes back to the beginning of the chief's last summer, when the Richardsons arrive on the island, throwing their money and favors around. The story also belongs to Coco, who's not quite a grifter, but has her own reasons for working for the Richardsons. As the story alternates between the chief's late-August investigation and the events of the summer, readers learn how Nantucket soured on the Richardsons. Hilderbrand has promised this is her last Nantucket novel and she ends the series with a bang. There are plenty of Easter eggs for longtime fans, but even those diving in to her exquisite writing for the first time are in for a treat: a story that feels like it's being told over cocktails at the Oystercatcher, perfectly paced for maximum drama with characters you can't get enough of. This is aspirational escapism at its finest. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hilderbrand's final Nantucket novel will draw old and new readers out of the woodwork.

Kirkus Book Review

A stranger comes to town, and a beloved storyteller plays this creative-writing standby for all it's worth. Hilderbrand fans, a vast and devoted legion, will remember Blond Sharon, the notorious island gossip. In what is purportedly the last of the Nantucket novels, Blond Sharon decides to pursue her lifelong dream of fiction writing. In the collective opinion of the island--aka the "cobblestone telegraph"--she's qualified. "Well, we think, she's certainly demonstrated her keen interest in other people's stories, the seedier and more salacious, the better." Blond Sharon's first assignment in her online creative writing class is to create a two-person character study, and Hilderbrand has her write up the two who arrive on the ferry in an opening scene of the book, using the same descriptors Hilderbrand has. Amusingly, the class is totally unimpressed. "'I found it predictable,' Willow said. 'Like maybe Sharon used ChatGPT with the prompt "Write a character study about two women getting off the ferry, one prep and one punk."'" Blond Sharon abandons these characters, but Hilderbrand thankfully does not. They are Kacy Kapenash, daughter of retiring police chief Ed Kapenash (the other swan song referred to by the title), and her new friend Coco Coyle, who has given up her bartending job in the Virgin Islands to become a "personal concierge" for the other strangers-who-have-come-to-town. These are the Richardsons, Bull and Leslee, a wild and wealthy couple who have purchased a $22 million beachfront property and plan to take Nantucket by storm. As the book opens, their house has burned down during an end-of-summer party on their yacht, and Coco is missing, feared both responsible for the fire and dead. Though it's the last weekend of his tenure, Chief Ed refuses to let the incoming chief, Zara Washington, take this one over. The investigation goes forward in parallel with a review of the summer's intrigues, love affairs, and festivities. Whatever else you can say about Leslee Richardson, she knows how to throw a party, and Hilderbrand is just the writer to design her invitations, menus, themes, playlists, and outfits. And that hot tub! Though Hilderbrand threatens to kill all our darlings with this last laugh, her acknowledgments say it's just "for now." Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.