Hello. I’m in the window seat. Thanks. Sorry to make you get up.

My name? Wyatt Jayne. Well, actually, Susan Wyatt Jayne, but I dropped the Susan when I was in college. So boring.

Me? I’m on my way to Busman’s Harbor, Maine. A car service is picking me up when we get to Portland. It’s about an hour and fifteen up the coast, I’m told. Where are you headed?

Both, I guess you would say. The business part is so exciting. I’m an architect and I’ve been hired to redesign the interior of a vintage mega-yacht. Such a wonderful challenge. It was a warship purchased from the Canadian Navy after World War II by a Greek billionaire who spent hundreds of millions transforming it into a luxury yacht in the hopes of seducing Greta Garbo, the film star. That’s what it’s called, the Garbo.

Ha, ha. No it didn’t work. Garbo spent only one night onboard. But the yacht is beautifully fitted out and that’s my challenge, to retain its glamorous 1940s feel, yet make it a comfortable place for the current owner to live and work. We’ve been passing drawings back and forth for months and meeting via video chat and phone calls. That’s where the pleasure part of the trip comes in. The owner and I have fallen in love. I guess you would say he’s my boyfriend.

Only twice. Once in Portofino. That’s where I got hired. And once in Capri. That’s where it happened. You can’t imagine a more romantic place to fall in love. But now, with the refit, he’s renting a smaller yacht while the Garbo is worked on and is staying in Maine all summer, so we’ll have a chance to spend some quality time together. He never actually leaves his boat. I guess you could say he’s a recluse. But with the whole summer. . .I’m going to invite people aboard. Throw some small dinner parties. We’ll see how it goes. He’s really the most charming man you can imagine.

That sounds like fun. I hope you have a great vacation with your family. I do have one other small chore while I’m in Busman’s Harbor. My dear old friend Quentin has asked me to assess the possibility of rebuilding a mansion on a private island up there. The owner’s name is Jacqueline Snowden and her family runs a clambake on the island to make money. The mansion had some fire damage last year and the family is trying to decide what to do. It’s attributed to a famous architect, but no documentation, I’m afraid. But it will keep me busy while I’m there.

Thanks. It was great chatting with you, too. Safe travels. I can’t wait to get started on this adventure. What could possibly go wrong?

You can read more about Wyatt in Stowed Away, the sixth book in the “Maine Clambake” mystery series.

It’s June in Busman’s Harbor, Maine, and Julia Snowden and her family are working hard to get their authentic Maine clambake business ready for summer. Preparations must be put on hold, however, when a mysterious yacht drops anchor in the harbor—and delivers an unexpected dose of murder . . .

When Julia’s old prep school rival Wyatt Jayne invites her to dinner on board her billionaire fiancé’s decked-out yacht, Julia arrives to find a sumptuous table set for two—and the yachtsman dead in his chair. Suspicion quickly falls on Wyatt, and Julia’s quest to dredge up the truth leads her into the murky private world of a mega-rich recluse who may not have been all that he seemed . . .

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About the author
Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries: Clammed Up, Boiled Over, Musseled Out, Fogged Inn and Iced Under. Stowed Away, the sixth Maine Clambake Mystery was released yesterday. Her holiday novella featuring amateur sleuth Julia Snowden was published along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis in the collection Eggnog Murder. Barbara blogs with a wonderful group of Maine mystery authors at Maine Crime Writers and with a group of writers of New England-based cozy mysteries at Wicked Cozy Authors. In the summer, she writes on the big front porch of the former Seafarer Inn at the head of the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

All comments are welcomed.