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Series · women's fiction

Nantucket

by Elin Hilderbrand

The Nantucket series by Elin Hilderbrand has 4 known books (4 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Summer Affair (2008).

Books
4 known books (4 novels)
Published
4
First published
2008
Status
completed
Shelved under
Literary Fiction
Last checked

Start here: A Summer Affair (2008) — then read straight through in publication order.

Book one

Cover of A Summer Affair

A Summer Affair (2008)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. A Summer Affair

    Novel

    A Summer Affair opens Elin Hilderbrand's Nantucket series, published in 2008, running 471 pages. It precedes The Castaways in the reading order. The series ran from 2008 to 2024 across 4 books.

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  2. The Castaways

    Novel

    The Castaways is the 2nd book in the Nantucket series, written by Elin Hilderbrand, published in 2009. It sits between A Summer Affair and The Perfect Couple in the reading order.

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  3. The Perfect Couple

    Novel

    The Perfect Couple is the 3rd book in the Nantucket series, written by Elin Hilderbrand, published in 2018 at 540 pages. In the reading order it comes after The Castaways and before Swan Song.

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  4. Swan Song

    Novel

    Swan Song, published in 2024 at 375 pages, follows The Perfect Couple as the fourth and, per Elin Hilderbrand's own account, final entry in the informally linked Nantucket series built around police chief Ed Kapenash's investigations. Billed as her last Nantucket-set novel as she shifts toward The Academy, it brings back characters from across Hilderbrand's earlier Nantucket books for a mansion fire and a missing concierge on the eve of Kapenash's retirement.

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About the Nantucket series

Four of Elin Hilderbrand's standalone-in-plot novels -- spanning sixteen years of her career -- are linked by the recurring figure of Ed Kapenash, Nantucket's police chief, who investigates a death or disappearance at the center of each book. A Summer Affair (2008) centers on a charity-gala affair that spins out of control; The Castaways (2009) follows a tight circle of island couples after one pair drowns in a sailing accident Kapenash can't quite close the book on; The Perfect Couple (2018) turns a Nantucket wedding into a death investigation and was adapted into the 2024 Netflix series of the same name; and Swan Song (2024) -- billed by Hilderbrand as her final Nantucket novel -- brings Kapenash back for one last case, a mansion fire and a missing concierge, on the eve of his retirement.

Unlike Winter Street or Paradise, these four books don't form one continuous plot -- each has its own self-contained mystery and cast -- but Kapenash's recurring presence, plus cameos and callbacks between them (Swan Song in particular gathers characters from across Hilderbrand's earlier Nantucket novels), gives them a shared thread that reading in order pays off, even though none of the four requires having read the others.

Frequently asked questions

What connects these four Nantucket books?

Police Chief Ed Kapenash investigates the central mystery in each of A Summer Affair, The Castaways, The Perfect Couple, and Swan Song -- Hilderbrand's most direct recurring character outside her numbered trilogies.

Do I need to read these in order?

No -- each has a self-contained plot and cast, though Swan Song (2024), which Hilderbrand has described as her farewell Nantucket novel, includes callbacks to characters from earlier books in this set and elsewhere in her Nantucket-set work.

Is The Perfect Couple the same as the Netflix show?

Yes -- Netflix adapted The Perfect Couple as a 2024 limited series starring Nicole Kidman.

How many books are in the Nantucket series?

4: A Summer Affair (2008), The Castaways (2009), The Perfect Couple (2018), and Swan Song (2024).

Reading order last verified .