The Lost Letters from Martha’s Vineyard

Callahan’s (The Night She Won Miss America) latest is a dual-timeline historical mystery set in 1959 and in 2018, when a granddaughter uncovers her late grandmother’s secret life as an Oscar-nominated Hollywood actress. The novel begins with a dramatic chase scene in 1959 that will draw in listeners even before they learn about Kit’s present-day investigation into her grandmother’s past. Kit finds some souvenirs that lead her to Martha’s Vineyard, where her grandmother, Mercy, intended to stay for one summer to heal a broken heart but ended up entangled with a handsome man and, unfortunately for her, a wealthy and powerful founding family. Callahan uses remarkably descriptive language to paint the era and place of each of the novel’s timelines, while the mystery elements move the plot along. Lisa Flanagan narrates Mercy’s sections with incredible pacing, balancing the fast chatter of Hollywood with more dramatic pauses for suspense and tension throughout Mercy’s time on the Vineyard. Helen Laser narrates Kit’s sections, providing a youthful, deep, sarcastic, and witty tone that’s fitting for her character.