Shadows On A Morning In May In Maine is the eighth book in the An Antique Print Mystery series.

Maggie Summer has taken a sabbatical and has moved to Maine where she and Will Brewer are renovating a Victorian house into a mall where they and other antique dealers will be able to show their wares.

At the same time, Maggie learns that a young girl has been found for her to adopt. But the girl has had a troubled past and Maggie is not sure if the girl will accept her new home. On the first home visit Maggie and Brooke, they see some seal swimming in the harbor and Broke mentions that she loves seals as they remind her of her mother. Then a couple of seals are found shot near a dock and a local fisherman, Eric, is found shot on his boat nearby, Maggie wants a quick resolution to these matters before Brooke comes for another visit. The dead fisherman is also the boyfriend of Annie, who has recently started working for Maggie and Will and is supposedly one of the last people to see Eric alive. But Maggie doesn’t feel that Annie is capable of murder and sets off to learn more of what had happened the night he was killed.

Ms. Wait does an excellent job of telling a touching and heartwarming story. He young girl, Brooke, has been in several foster homes and as a consequence has a compelling issue with trust. Adding to this, the fact that Will really is not interested in being a father.

I am, normally, one that likes to be told a story, but with this book, I was more involved with the characters than I usually am. I found myself defending one character, then the other(Maggie and Will). But finally, Will confides in Maggie just why he has been opposing fatherhood. Hopefully, they will be able to work through what has been bothering the both of them.

Another wonderful and well told story from Ms. Wait.

Will be watching for the next book in the series to see what happens next. ( )