Confession! I have not read all of the Nantucket books in this series. When I saw this was #4, I was worried that I would be lost. I'm not an animal; I believe reading a series in order. Upon some investigation I saw that I had read another in the series and realized that the Nantucket books can each stand alone. I forged ahead with this knowledge, and I am glad I did. Swan Song was a fun read from the first page to the last. It is full of mystery, romance, suspense, and a personal favorite trope: rich people behaving badly! Add in a quaint island like Nantucket and it is the perfect summer read.

When the story begins several characters are at a crossroads. Kacy, a NICU nurse in San Fransisco, is in an unhealthy relationship and decides she needs to take a leave of absence from her work and head home to Nantucket for the summer. Ed, Kacy's dad and the Nantucket police chief, has suffered a heart attack and is beginning his final summer as chief before he retires in the fall. CoCo is desperate for her screenplay to get picked up so she takes a chance and follows a seemingly perfect couple, The Richardsons, to Nantucket for the summer to work as their personal concierge in hopes she can talk the husband into green-lighting her play. All of these stories will collide when each become stuck in the web that The Richardsons' are spinning.

There are many characters to keep track of in this story. Some are characters in her other Nantucket stories; however, the reader doesn't need to have read the other books to enjoy this one. The title Swan Song eluded me until I did some research; now I think it is a very fitting title.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Netgalley for this super fun summer ARC.

Thank you to Little, Brown, and Co. for the ARC of Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand. I have been a big fan of her books and enjoyed this book immensely. It was great to see old and new characters in this fourth book of the Nantucket series. This will be a great beach read this summer.

A new couple arrives on my favorite island and interrupts the social season I’ve read about for the last 20 years. Yes, please.

Leslie and Bull Richardson are a new couple that have arrived in Nantucket for the summer season. Things aren’t always what they seem, and as some of our favorite residents attend parties and get to know them, we find more questions than answers. Then, a mysterious fire sets off the search for answers.

I really enjoyed Elin Hilderbrand’s latest- we get to catch up with some of our favorite characters and places while meeting some new ones like Coco, who arrives to be the personal concierge to the Richardson’s and has her own mysterious past, but she links up with Chief Kapanesh’s daughter which gives her a local taste of the Nantucket life.

There were a lot of characters to keep up with in this novel, and the setting goes back and forth from the end of the summer ( August) to each character’s POV leading up to August. At times, it feels like there are many people to keep up with. But I enjoyed all the POVs, and there isn’t one that I felt we could do without. So, it takes a little bit of mental agility to keep up with everyone, which makes this a little less of an easy beach reach. I also noticed that Nantucket seems to be becoming more diverse, which I appreciate. However, it is still very subtle ( I feel like I miss the descriptions until something else about a character is mentioned that makes me go back and look- re: Lamont. It wasn’t until Coco met his mother that I realized he was our island’s diversity. I noticed this in the last book, too).

Overall, this was a good reach. It's not as quick and easy due to so many characters, but it is typical Elin Hilderbrand- a good story on a gorgeous backdrop.

I loved everything about this book. It truly was a wonderful swan song. For me the tempo of the book was perfect and as I neared the end I both couldn’t stop reading and wanted to stop reading to slow down the finish. Just excellent.

The perfect last Nantucket story! So many Easter eggs for fans to find and appreciate! A compelling story that had me guessing throughout... And character development to sink your teeth into! Elin Hilderbrand always whisks readers away to Nantucket and makes us wish we could stay there forever... 5 Stars,

Swan song is so engaging saluting the lifestyles of the rich and famous and those who wish they were... The hidden lives of the characters are so appealing and mysterious... Elin Hilderbrand keeps you entertained and guessing throughout her novel until the final wan song of Nantucket.

Swan Song was written to be the last of Elin’s Nantucket novels. This book did not disappoint one bit. Kacy has decided to go back to Nantucket after a failed relationship and a hardship situation at her work. Where else would one want to escape other than Nantucket for the summer with your family. Kacy meets Coco, on the same ferry boat over to Nantucket who happens to not know a soul on the island and a very special friendship starts right at this pivotal moment. There is a new rich young couple the Richardsons who have also arrived on Nantucket who have bought a giant new house, speed boat and a yacht who are the new talk of the town. Coco happens to have secured a job with the Richardsons as a personal assistant. All the major drama that seems to happen on the island this summer is surrounding the Richardsons. This book has some tie ins from some of Elin’s past Nantucket books but it’s definitely not a must that you read those first before you can enjoy this amazing end of the Nantucket novels by the beach this summer.

If you know me at all, you know Elin Hilderbrand is at the top of my favorite author list. I have eaten up every one of her books, and Nantucket is at the top of my future travel plans list. Swan Song is no exception to her already amazing booklist, and fans aren’t going to be disappointed by her “final” (for now, I hope) Nantucket novel.

Swan Song brings all of Hilderbrand’s Nantucket characters back together under the premise of an island mystery surrounding some newcomers, the Richardsons. I couldn’t get the through the pages fast enough. All of Hilderbrand’s amazing descriptions of island life are included (anyone else salivate over the way she describes food?) and the characters, even the new ones, were rich. Fans of Elin’s will adore this book, and I felt very satisfied with the way she has concluded her Nantucket stories, even though I shed a few tears.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you, Elin, for sharing your beautiful island with us all. I can’t wait to see what you do next!

I very much enjoy Elin's books, having read nothing but her entire booklist for an whole month last summer. The plots usually end in an HEA or a tear-jerking way, and I always know what to expect from her books. It's comforting and a good summer read!

With the Summer in Nantucket series, each book can be read in sequence OR as a standalone, and not a lot of time is spent with telling backstories, which I VERY much appreciate. Would recommend you add Swan Song to your beach bag for this summer's read!

Always a good quick read. This wasn’t my favorite of her Nantucket series but didn’t disappoint. It had all the quintessential characteristics that Elin is known for and felt like a proper send off. I am bummed there won’t be these regularly anymore.

Another fun summer read. A breathtaking story full of family, friends, the water, food, and fri2nship. A novel.to be savored slowly.

I look forward to the new Elin Hildebrand every spring and they never disappoint. Hildebrand is a must read author for me and has been for at least 15 years. Go read this one and then dive into the backlist for this summer! You won't regret it.

With a plot that bounces back and forth between the beginning of the summer and the night of the fire, readers will get sucked right into Hilderbrand's magic that only she can so brilliantly tell.

I enjoyed the mystery/suspense that was woven into this tale, along with the island drama, romance and of course town gossip. A great summer read.

Thank you, NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.

4.5⭐️I loved this story, I felt like it wasn’t the typical Nantucket story but still had the fun Easter eggs throughout it that made it feel familiar. I loved the mystery, the glitz and glam of the island, and each of the characters and their development through the story. Thank you Net Gally and Little Brown for the advanced copy of this book.

4.25 stars rounded down

This was a really easy read and entertaining. The plot was both usual but also had some fun parts that were not what I am used to.

We meet Coco and she’s honestly fairly uninteresting to me other than with her relationships w/Kacy and Lamont. In her own she doesn’t do a lot for me, which is surprising. The stories from her past seem compelling but they don’t really translate.

The Richardsons are exactly as you’d expect, as are most of the other characters. But all together it works as we sail along trying to find Coco.

I also took a bit off due to some mentions of folks losing time, not remembering events but we never learn why. It’s mentioned and then dropped. May have been nothing but it caught my interest.

Overall a good story that I enjoyed reading! Advance reader copy provided by NetGalley + Little, Brown & Company but all opinions are my own.

I love reading about summer on Nantucket! Elin Hilderbrand has a way of telling the perfect summer story. I really enjoy her books. This was a good one.

Swan Song is not only fourth in the Nantucket series by Elin Hilderbrand, but also it is her “swan song” to writing beach books, having completed 30 in total. The Chief of Police on Nantucket Island is Ed Kapenash who is on the brink of retirement in this June 11 offering. Having served 35 years, Ed can no longer take the stress, but his plans are put on hold when, with three days left to serve, he has a house fire and a missing person on his hands.

The house belongs to newcomers Bull and Leslee Richardson, a party loving couple, who are out on their sailboat when their house goes up in smoke. Their personal assistant Coco is missing and is considered a person of interest in the investigation.

The Richardsons had first been embraced by the social set on Nantucket until they went too far with their lavish parties. Leslee has the tendency to pay too much attention to other men, and she cheats at pickleball. They are also trying too hard to become members of the Field & Oar Club, and the more people get to know them, they are backing away from the couple. As things have soured with her usual guests, Leslee has taken to inviting anybody she meets to attend her latest party, which is being held on their yacht Hedonism. Coco tells a friend that the party list is nothing but strangers.

What has happened to Coco? Did she fall off the yacht or did someone push her? Why is she a suspect in the house fire? Will the Richardsons redeem themselves with the island crowd? How can Chief Kapenash solve this double case and manage his stress?

Elin Hilderbrand has said she might someday return to writing beach books but her future involves developing a half-dozen projects in Hollywood including the adaptation of her novel The Perfect Couple into a Netflix series starring Nicole Kidman and Liv Schreiber. She has been a resident of Nantucket for 30 years.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 5, 2024.

I would like to thank Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

This can't be the end. I love Nantucket so much, I refuse to accept that this is the end.

I am so thankful to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book as an arc and I enjoyed every single minute of it. One thing that Hilderbrand is know for is her beach reads and people are going to be in for a treat this summer.

The character development in this story is much like Hilderbrand others. She does it in the most perfect way. The way the story is presented, it makes you feel like you are in the story. I loved how characters from previous books were brought in. It was so delicious!

It was very well done, it took me longer to read because of the holidays and I was traveling but I can tell you the whole time I was away from this book, I was thinking about it. Currently in one of the worst book hangovers ever. The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because I figured out the ending pretty early on and as much as I was hoping I was wrong and was going to get a major plot twist at the end and it didn't happen.

Readers are in for SUCH a treat this June... Devoted Hilderbabes are going to obsess over all the Easter Eggs and nods to Elin's extraordinary career wrapped up in one heck of a mysterious beach book when her tour de force, SWAN SONG publishes June 11th.

I didn't think after reading THE WOMEN that I'd have another book leaving me with such a big book hangover anytime soon, but if there’s one thing that Elin and Kristin Hannah have deeply in common, it’s there character development- you find yourself so deeply invested in the lives of who you are reading about; and for Swan Song, Elin Hilderbrand has laid the groundwork for this novel for over a decade. Chief Ed Kapenash has been a focal point in many of her books {The Rumor, The Perfect Couple, etc} and in SWAN SONG it is time for the chief to retire, and he is at his retirement dinner with about 48 hours remaining on the clock when he gets the call that a young woman is missing from a boat, and the home of a newly notorious couple in the Nantucket society has burned to the ground… The Chief has been a personal favorite character of mine for so long, and this book gives him his due.

Told, brilliantly, between the beginning of the summer and back and forth the night of the fire, Elin lays out the plot and all of her red herrings; and the usual fun Elin novel unravels: the music, the food, the beaches- from the dancing at the Box to the dining at the Galley, she takes her readers on one final scenic tour of the island, 30 miles out to sea, that her fans have grown to know and love so dearly…

Swan Song
by Elin HInderbrand
Pub Date: June 11, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
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?
This was such a good book!
I am sad that this is the last book Hilderbrand will write ...but I highly recommend it for all. This could be read as a standalone.
If you have been reading her for a while, be ready for all the Easter Eggs. There was something so special about seeing all of the old characters back together along with our favorite Nantucket spots. Plus, our new main character Coco is connected to the Paradise series, so you get a glimpse of St. Johns as well. Without including any spoilers, this one is a bit more mystery than Elin’s previous books, but she still did a great job including the family drama, small town gossip and swoony love stories. A perfect beach read!