This is a chatty murder mystery set in the present-day summer resort of Nantucket Island, which is off the NE coast of the US. Horst Refn, the head of the town's community summer theatre is killed in spectacular fashion, he's strangled and stuffed into a freezer. Nantucket's Chief of Police Henry Kennis has the job of finding who did it. The story is told like a "ride along" with Henry as he goes about checking the alibis of numerous suspects. It turns out that in his pre-Nantucket days, Refn was a serial con man, blackmailer, and money launderer who left behind a trail of vengeful victims. Since arriving on Nantucket he has made even more enemies, some of them among the rich summer residents of the community. Henry manages find the killer, after a few false starts caused by him believing some lies told to him. The conclusion is dramatic with Henry's survival being at risk.

Henry is likeable. He's an attractive protagonist and a good narrator. While he is a transplanted Californian and former Los Angeles policeman, he's not the dried out alcoholic that often is found in stories about big-city cops moving to small towns. Rather than rely on technical wizardry, his sleuthing is done through hard work and paying attention to the clues. He's got some good cops on his force too.

This book is one of a series of Chief Kennis novels and the only one of the five that I have read. It's easily read as a standalone; there's no complicated backstory about Henry that you need to remember although there's a cast of recurring characters. Nantucket plays a big role in the story too. It's the local colour of a resort town catering to rich people who keep to themselves, rarely mingling with "the locals". Of course its those locals who do the mundane chores like mowing the lawns, waiting on tables and driving taxis. Then there's the Bulgarian Brothers who become Henry's confidential informants!

A good entertaining book and recommended.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for providing a copy of the eBook. The views expressed are my own.

Nantucket Counterfeit is the fifth book in the Henry Kennis mystery series. Since this is the first book I’ve read, it took me awhile to figure out the characters and their relationships. But, once I did, I enjoyed the mystery, the dialogue, the interactions between the various characters and some of their backstories.

Henry Kennis, the chief of police in Nantucket is an interesting person. He prefers to solve crimes with an old fashioned, low-tech kind of approach. He talks to the various suspects and witnesses, he makes lists of the factors involved, he remains observant, and he tries to follow his instincts. When confronted with the death of the artistic director of the Nantucket Theater Lab, he has many suspects to choose from. As he investigates the crime, the reader is introduced to a myriad of characters – many of whom had plenty of reason to commit the murder.

Steven Axelrod has developed a fast-moving series that most mystery readers will find interesting. However, I think I would have enjoyed much more if I had read the previous books in the series first. There were references to people and past events that were difficult to reconcile or understand. Even so, the mystery itself was intricate enough to hold my attention and the ending was quite satisfying. All in all, I enjoyed meeting some of the residents of Nantucket and I would be more than interested in reading the earlier books in the series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

A multitude of suspects fills Nantucket Counterfeit, an enjoyable merging of a cozy setting with a police procedural.

Horst Refn is the Artistic Director of the Nantucket Theater Lab. He is a ladies man and a possible blackmailer. Worse, he is found face down in his basement’s chest freezer—frostbitten and dead by strangulation.

Nantucket’s police chief Henry Kennis has no shortage of suspects. Even his girlfriend, Jane Stiles, is identified as running away from the crime or could it be her lookalike, Marcia Stoddard. Both had motive and no alibi. Or it could be Donald Harcourt who found the body and verbally fought with the victim recently. Or even Joey Little who had texted Harcourt to meet him at the victim’s house. Refn was both screwing his wife and blackmailing him.

When the police chief discovers that the first play of the season, Who Dun It?, appears to be based on real people’s stories, he investigates and finds even more motives for murder.

Nantucket Counterfeit is a fun dive into the backbiting world of community theater. The characterizations are great. Despite many more suspects than the usual cozy, it was easy to keep them straight.

This is the fifth book in the Chief Kennis series but can easily be read as a stand-alone. Recommended to both cozy and police procedural fans, Nantucket Counterfeit gets 4 stars from me.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Henry likes living on Nantucket. It's quiet, there's not much crime, and everybody knows everybody else. Then there's a murder...

Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It will be published October 16th.

The first surprise is that the man who was killed was using a false name. Just who is he?

The more people he visits with, the more suspects spring up. It seems this fellow likes to sleep with wives and then blackmail the couple. The more Kennis finds out about him, the more apparent it becomes that he's a slimeball. Nobody feels bad that he's dead, but murder is still a crime.

Kennis centers on a suspect and then figures out he's been framed. When he goes to brace the real killer, he goes alone which was a big mistake. If he's not real careful, he could die before he solves this case...

law-enforcement, psychopath, actors, twisty, sly-humor

Maddeningly good, and Henry the police chief is wicked smart even if he has to revisit some things to get them right.
I can't think of it as a spoiler to tell that the true architect of the murder has mastered the art of misdirection.
The characters are incredibly well portrayed, and I fumbled along with Henry trying to settle on the real murderer despite all of the red herrings and plot twists. Excellent read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

With his dry wit and occasional tongue in cheek humor, Chief Kennis, the protagonist in Nantucket Counterfeit by Steven Axlerod takes us on his latest case of murder. This is the fifth in the series featuring Nantucket’s Chief of Police Henry Kennis and is filled with characters from the local theater company, wealthy Nantucket residents, and a few undocumented workers peppered throughout the mix. While it was my first book to read in the series, I did not feel it was necessary to read the previous ones to understand what was taking place. The murder was contained within the book and there were clues and red herrings sprinkled liberally throughout.

Following the path Chief Kennis takes is easy and completely believable, even when you both arrive at the wrong conclusion. The only thing that made me doubt the conclusion he first reached was how easy it was to get there, the clues were almost staring you in the face and as a seasoned reader of mystery novels the warning bells were ringing loud and clear that this was, indeed, too easy. Of course, like Chief Kennis, you realize there is a reason for why the clues are so obvious. They actually make for clever plotting that leaves you feeling as if you know the chief and the perpetrator even better than you thought you did. Armed with this knowledge, you readily make the u-turn necessary to insure the correct solution.

Pacing of the book was even and measured throughout the first 80% or so. Then, it really ramps up to the end with some unexpected twists and physical challenges. Just when you are beginning to fade from the rapid pace of the final chase, it’s over and you are returned to a kinder, gentler pace and closing activities on the part of the Chief and his family. The end gives you some sweet closure while leaving you wondering what the future holds for this family and the community the chief is sworn to protect.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased opinion. This review and these opinions are entirely my own.

It's the first book I read in this series and will surely read others.
I loved the plot, a classical whodunit, the cast of characters and the setting.
It was entertaining and fascinating, keeping me guessing till the end.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC

Who doesn’t love a classic Who Dun it? Set on Nantucket, this mystery has a little bit of everything: murder, false identity, hidden pasts and dramatic characters.
A bit complicated at times to follow all of the characters and “asides” but overall, if you love a mystery and the setting of Nantucket, you’ll enjoy this story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Life imitating art…imitating life
Chief Henry Kennis heads up the Nantucket Police Department after leaving the Los Angeles PD behind and heading East for a quieter life. But murder is everywhere and Nantucket is no exception.

Summer season has started and the Theater Lab is putting on a play that turns out to be written based on real-life events. When the head of the Theater Lab is found murdered, the show must go on. As the NPD investigates, it appears that the Play’s author may be the killer and the actors are acting out not only past, but future events. Are the characters in jeopardy? Can Kennis identify the murdered and stop them before they strike again?

This plot is a great who dun it and keeps you guessing for awhile. A good read, especially if you want to make Summer last a little longer now that Fall has arrived.

Nantucket Counterfeit, is a murder mystery where we follow Police Chief Henry Kennis in his fifth Nantucket murder investigation this time involving the local Community Theatre. Kennis, a former LAPD detective, is an intuitive investigator who has found his niche solving crimes in the darker side of the otherwise quiet surroundings of beautiful Nantucket Island. Nantucket Counterfeit is Steven Axelrod’s fifth installment in his Nantucket series of murder mystery novels.

Horst Refn the artistic director in the Nantucket Community Theatre is murdered and shoved into a freezer face first. It looks like quite a violent confrontation and many people dislike Refn enough to bring his life to such a violent end. Several of the suspects, however, are members of the rich elite of Nantucket and they are reluctant to tell Police Chief Kennis anything. It turns out that although victim was far from popular, he was in fact much worse than Kennis imagined.

The author Steven Axelrod is an entertaining writer and the book is very humorous. I particularly like the exchanges Chief Kennis has with his girlfriend. Many of the self-deprecating comments he makes are particularly funny.

The one complaint I have about the book is all the lengthy asides that are interjected for no reason. For example when Kennis discovers a clue about the murder he says: “It reminded me of the night I figured out Joe Arbogast was sleeping with my ex-wife.” He then goes on for 11 e-reader pages about Arbogast before he gets back to the point! There are many asides like this in the book. I find these very distracting and although they are often funny they are too frequent and for me they make the style cumbersome. Overall I would give it 3 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Henry Kennis, police chief on Nantucket, is known for his intelligence, his poem writing, and his ability to accurately read people, and the realistic situation on Nantucket between the ultra rich and the rest of the island. The local theatre director was murdered and the list of people who hated him is a mile long. Steven Axelrod accurately describes island places, the politics of the summer crowd, and writes wonderful characters and complex mysteries. I’ve loved each book, and each book becomes more interesting as characters grow and develop, and I’m always surprised as to the murderer. I highly recommend.