Sea Smoke and Mirrors

Windjammer Mystery #7

by Jenifer LeClair

Homicide detective Brie Beaumont and Captain John DuLac go undercover to solve a complex and chilling murder case.

Lobstermen are dying on Starkhaven Island, well off the coast of Maine. Over a year and a half, four men have mysteriously disappeared from their boats. But when the Maine State Police try to investigate, the islanders, ruled by their fatalistic view of the sea, close ranks to stonewall the investigation. Brie, John, George, and retired detective Jack Le Beau are sent undercover to solve the case. With four victims, suspects and motives abound. The team must work their way into the fabric of the community and gain the trust of the islanders if they are to solve these disturbing murders. Will they succeed in their quest for the truth? Or will fate and the sea deal them the same dark hand.

Genres: Mystery

356 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2021

About the author

Jenifer LeClair is the author of the award-winning Windjammer Mystery Series set on the coast of Maine and featuring homicide detective Brie Beaumont as the series protagonist and detective. "Rigged for Murder" and "Danger Sector" are the first two books in LeClair's gripping mystery series and are set aboard a historic windjammer and on the islands and coastal areas of Maine, where she has sailed since 1994. LeClair brings a remarkable authenticity to the remote and beautiful setting of her action/adventure mystery novels and has won Independent Publisher Awards for Best Regional Fiction for both "Rigged for Murder" in 2009 and "Danger Sector" in 2011. "Rigged for Murder" also won the 2009 RebeccasReads Written Art Award for Best Mystery/Thriller, and "Danger Sector" was a finalist in the 2011 Midwest Book Awards. Jenifer LeClair lives in Minnesoata, but has adopted Maine as her second home and spends time there every year researching, travelling the highways and byways, doing photography, and sailing to various destinations in the Gulf of Maine and beyond. Her adventures aboard the Maine windjammers have taken her from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia to Gloucester, Massachusetts and Mystic, Connecticut and to dozens of islands and coastal villages in between. You can visit and write to author Jenifer LeClair on the web at www.windjammermysteries.com and watch for her new book, "Cold Coast," coming in July of 2013.

Reviews

[anna mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

This book is a great read for those wanting a true mystery without violence, blood, and foul language. The characters are so likeable, the scenery is beautiful, and the food is delicious.

I can't wait for more.

[Mary Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this one as tight as previous reads. Of course I missed being aboard the Windjammer. Though I did that John and George were included in the detective work. Sure hoping there might be a new one, but haven't seen anything lately to indicate there would be.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one of hers the best. I found the isolation and fear eating away at the fabric of this small island community. Different from the small town dynamics.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the Windjammer series and would highly recommend it to those that enjoy a good and entertaining mystery!

[Marilyn Henry]

Interesting, though not my favorite of this series.

[William Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Windjammer series is very enjoyable. The characters are likeable and relateable. This is a bit different from the prior books in the series as it takes place on a small island off the coast of Maine. While I've loved the books set on the small rental schooner Maine Wind, I really got the feel for this island--and the weather that enveloped it in the deep of winter.
As with the others in this series, the book is well-written and it's been enjoyable to watch the characters develop and fit together.
LeClair is now writing a new series, (based on a character in an earlier book in this series--which I wish to read), but I am hoping that she keeps this series moving as well.
Her earlier books had me looking up the Maine charter fleet in the dream of sailing aboard an old wooden vessel, but I'm afraid that I'm a bit too old and orthopedically challenged to have a successful vacation on a Maine sailing ship.
I've thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series.

[Jordyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was... okay. By the time I got halfway through, I really started to notice how the dialog sounded. None of the conversations sounded natural or organic. Everything was worded in a way that it sounded way too formal, like big, fancy words were used to try and make things sound smart, but it just took me out of the reading. I like the plot as it was, but there was just something about the book as a whole that almost felt like things didn't go together (not 'didn't make sense, because the book made sense, but literary aspects just didn't mix well). I'm glad I read it, but it's not a book I would pick up again.

[Mary Jo Wiseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book wasn't my most favorite of the Windjammer Mystery Series, I did enjoy the read. The author is very good at her craft -- a great storyteller. Her analytical, investigative cadence of her stories shined through once again. It was fun to see the main characters of this series taken somewhat out of character to team up to solve the mystery. Now I wonder -- will there be another book in this series?

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

A glimpse into the lives of isolated Islanders off the Maine Coast. Detailed and insightful. Plot twist. Definitely makes me want to read the other novels in this series.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't bad...wasn't great. It had lots of potential but could have been more fleshed out.