Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand

 Swan Song is Elin H's last Nantucket novel (or as she said, at least for now). The title also refers to the end of Police Chief Ed Kapenash's long career as he heads for retirement. Ed is on his last few days as chief when a call comes in that a girl named Coco has vanished off the luxury yacht of some Nantucket newcomers, The Richardsons (Leslee and Bull). The story keeps flipping back and forth between the search for Coco and flashbacks to how she landed on Nantucket in the first place and her relationship with the Richardsons.

Coco had been a bartender on St John island when she first met the Richardsons. She discovered that Bull was tangentially involved in producing movies and Coco's dream was to become a screenwriter. So when they mentioned that they were looking for a "concierge" for their new mansion in Nantucket, Coco talked her way into the job. However, when she got to Nantucket, the house wasn't ready and she was stranded until Ed's daughter Kacy (returning home from a broken romance in San Francisco) took pity on her and invited her home until her new job started. Leslee is reminiscent of the boss in Devil Wears Prada, expecting Coco to be at her beck and call round the clock. She throws lavish parties and throws money around like there's no tomorrow. Coco is tempted to quit more than once but she still wants to get the screenplay she's written about growing up in Arkansas in front of Bull. At first, everyone wants to be on the guest list at the Richardsons. But the more the islanders get to know the Richardsons, the more reservations they begin to have about them. And then Coco disappears off their yacht--the same day as the Richardson mansion burns to the ground. 

I love all of the Nantucket books in this series--and am dying to actually visit Nantucket because of them. But this was not my favorite book in the series.Leslee was so self-centered and petty that you just wanted to clunk her upside the head. And when anyone tried to stand up to her (ie, calling her out when she kept cheating at pickleball), that person was cut from her party list. I did like the character of Coco, however, who was steadfast in pursuit of her dream. And I did like Lamont, an islander hired to take charge of the Robertsons' boats--who really needed the money for his mother's medical bills and had to put up with a lot from Leslee to keep getting paid.