📖 Book Review ~ The Washashore by Marshall Highet and Bird Jones

Koehler Books
10 June 2025

Thanks to the authors for the copy of this book

Martha's Vineyard, 1929. 

Prohibition is in full swing, and Emily, a Midwest transplant, has never met her wealthy Aunt Isabel. That is until, after her mother's death, the courts declare Isabel her guardian. Their first meeting is a disaster. Emily's clumsy curtsy earns her only a frosty glare, and she quickly realizes she's in for a crash course in East Coast high society. But manners take a back seat to mystery when Isabel's dear friend, an accomplished sailor, vanishes at sea. Convinced it's murder, Isabel recruits her niece to catch the killer, pointing the finger at two dangerous a ruthless Mob boss and the fastest rumrunner in the harbor. While Emily crosses paths with gangsters on the island, she may just find home on its miles of coastline and among its quirky inhabitants - her stoic Aunt Isabel included.

📖My Review…

After the death of her mother, sixteen year old year old Emily Cartwright arrives at Martha’s Vineyard to live with her aunt Isabel. Her initial introduction to Hydrangea House is far from welcoming and living with her aunt is very different from her farm upbringing in Nebraska, but gradually Emily starts to settle into her new life and her relationship with her aunt becomes more congenial. When her aunt enlists Emily’s help in investigating the mysterious death of one of Isobel’s closest friends she is inadvertently drawn into a mystery which is as complicated as it is daunting. Set against the backdrop of the prohibition years we begin to learn more about those individuals know as rumrunners who were responsible for bringing in illicit liquor and of the organised crime gangs who were behind these illegal endeavours.

Emily is a feisty protagonist who is quick to involve herself in adventures and yet her willingness to cooperate with her aunt makes her an endearing character who you can’t help but admire. There is a good amount of intrigue and mystery which kept me guessing, and although I knew nothing of rumrunning or indeed much about Martha’s Vineyard, thanks to impeccable research and real sense of time and place I now feel I know more about both. The characters come alive, be it Bridget in her kitchen conjuring culinary delights, John Patrick teaching Emily to drive or Fiona instructing Emily on which dress to wear, there is something special about them all and collectively they give the book a cosy, warm glow.

The prohibition era is an important period in American history and the author explains this time well, including describing those who continued to flaunt the prohibition law. The Washashore is a well written coming-of-age murder/mystery, with an endearing heroine and a real sense of history. I enjoyed reading it.

About the Authors

In this author duo, Marshall Highet is the fiction-writing half, and Bird Jones is the researcher; together, they craft unusual stories that blend history and fiction. Marshall graduated from the BLSE and works as a copywriter, writer, and professor. Bird Jones is a professor emeritus at Elon University and has spent her professional life as a teacher, researcher, and ethnographer unearthing lost tales.

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