Lea Wait

Shadows of a Downeast Summer

Fifth in the Shadows Antique Mystery Series

Back to Mysteries for Adults

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Perseverance Press
John Daniel & Company
ISBN 9781564744975
Also available as e-book

The fifth in the Shadows Antique Print Mystery Series returns antique print dealer Maggie Summer to Weymouth, Maine, this time to stay with beau Will Brewer and his 91-year old Aunt Nettie. Maggie’s hoping for antique-filled days and romantic nights, but fate and Aunt Nettie have other plans. In the summer of 1890 two young Weymouth women posed for Winslow Homer in Prouts Neck, Maine. What happened that summer, the secrets the women kept, and the lies they told, changed their families forever. Now, over a hundred years later, Maggie finds herself the owner of the diary one of them kept – and the key to the murder of one of their descendants. Her Maine vacation becomes a desperate search to discover which family myths are based on reality before someone she cares about – or even Maggie herself – becomes the next victim.

Publishers Weekly: “Wait’s engaging fifth Antique Print Mystery takes antique print dealer Maggie Summer to fictional Waymouth, Maine … Wait does an excellent job depicting small town Maine and recreating 19th century journal entries.”

Historical Novel Review: “This skillfully drawn multi-period mystery blends present-day crime with scenes from 1890, a year when painter Winslow Homer was living and creating his masterworks along the picturesque Maine coast … the jealous rivalries present in both timelines demonstrate that human nature hasn’t changed much. Recommended.”

Author’s Note:

Shadows of a Down East Summer, fifth in the Shadows series, takes place in August, a few months after the events in Shadows at the Spring Show left Maggie unsure about adoption, and unsure about her future. A quiet vacation in Maine, a year after Shadows on the Coast of Maine, sounds like what she needs to feel refreshed and ready for her fall semester. This summer she'll be staying with Will at his Aunt Nettie's home in Waymouth – although in separate bedrooms!

I had great fun writing this book; it's my “something in the past that changed a family – perhaps a town – forever” book. Since it's a mystery, that something resulted in someone's being murdered today. Family myths, and how much they influence the families who believe in them, have always fascinated me. In Shadows of a Down East Summer I was able to play with that idea.

The Southgate Inn, scene of some of the 1890 action, is still on Prouts Neck, but has been modified considerably and reincarnated as the Black Point Inn. Its picture on this page was taken when Anna May and Jessie knew it. The Checkley Inn was even closer to Winslow Homer's home, and it was at the Checkley's beach where he saw the moonlit dancers who inspired his painting A Summer Night, which Anna May and Jessie posed for.

Note: The recipe for Aunt Nettie's Blueberry Cake with Lemon sauce is here.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

Do many families have legends, stories, and myths which are important to the family's image of itself?

How would destruction of those beliefs effect members of the family? Do you think those stories are more or less powerful to young people today than they were to their parents' generation?

Neither Anna May nor Jessie told what happened to them on Prouts Neck. They dealt with it in their own ways. Why? How often do you think that happened in the past? Which girl was most successful in hiding her secret? Today we are much more open about such circumstances … would girls in their situation today ever consider their solutions?

Do you think Anna May really loved Luke, or was she just jealous of Jessie?

What did you think of Maggie's reaction when Will said he might move to Maine to take care of Aunt Nettie? Was she being selfish or realistic?

On the other hand, Maggie has wanted to be a parent, and Will doesn't want to do that. Either caring for a child or for an elderly relative would make major changes in their lives – individually or together. What do their feelings about these issues have to say about Maggie and Will as individuals? About the future of their relationship?

What did you think of the Thompsons' house, and the relationships between Betsy Thompson, her husband, her step-son, and their summer guest, Kevin Bradman? Were all their various relationships realistic?

A number of critics have said that setting, or place, is actually a major character in Lea Wait's books. Is that true of Shadows of a Down East Summer? Could this book have been set in any place other than Maine? Did you learn anything new about Maine while reading it?


Southgate Inn, Circa 1890

Checkley Inn
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