Thank you, NetGalley, for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When two women are found dead on the coast of North Carolina with identical unidentified coins in their pockets, the town is left wondering if these deaths are truly accidental or connected murders. The town has a rich history focused on Blackbeard, including a Blackbeard Festival only a few weeks out, when two more coins are discovered and an expert is brought in to identify them. Are the coins part of Blackbeard’s lost treasure? Are the coins cursed as legend says? Is there a murderer on the loose waiting to strike again?

This books focuses on Eva, a historical expert, and the police chief, William, as they work together to figure out the mystery behind the deaths of Catherine, William’s late wife and Eva’s friend, and another local woman named Gabby. I enjoyed the depth of the history given about Blackbeard and felt I learned more history as well as enjoyed this thriller. I also enjoyed the emotional struggle William dealt with over the death of his wife and the town’s speculation on him. He was an easy character to love and sympathize with. Eva’s personality and respect for her friend also made her a character that was easy to cheer for and connect to. I never found myself bored reading this book and looked forward to picking it back up when I had a free minute. The pace wasn’t insanely fast, but it did hold my attention well and didn’t drag.

I would read another book by this author, and I would be happy to see this book have a sequel. All the way around, great job! It was a lovely read.9 s K McKenzie128 2

This was a thoroughly enjoyable mystery, set in NC’s Outer Banks. Police chief William and local historian Eva get pulled into mysterious deaths and gold coins, and the mystery soon involves the death a year earlier of William’s wife. The two must figure out how the coins and deaths are linked and who is responsible as they figure out how to move ahead from grieving. I loved the Outer Banks setting, and the mystery centered on Blackbeard’s treasure in a plausible way that didn’t distract from the story. There were a few minor elements that didn’t quite add up for me, but they weren’t central to the plot. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.9 s Valleri845 12

Many thanks to both Beaufort Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of The Seafarer's Secret, by Carol Ann Collins.

Expected Publication date: January 30, 2024

With the entire town whispering about Blackbeard, cursed coins, and lost treasure, it becomes hard to separate what is true and what is a myth. Sounds my kind of town! And even though The Seafarer's Secret differs from the type of books I usually gravitate towards, I really d it!

I loved reading about Blackbeard and I'm glad those parts were included in the book. (Not to worry. It was more of a sideline and didn't take away from the primary story at all.) The Seafarer's Secret has murder, unidentified coins, buried treasure, long-lost friends, and more! I recommend it.2023 crime fiction ...more7 s Christina166 61

I wanted to read The Seafarers’s Secret because of its interesting plot. I’ve never read a pirate novel and don’t know much about their history so I thought a current day detective that explores the past would be fun.

The book is about historian Eva Knightly who ends up trying to solve two murders that seem to be connected to Blackbeard’s lost treasure. Because I don’t know anything about pirating history, I don’t know what parts of the book are historically correct but I wasn’t interested enough to do the research to find out.

In between chapters there are snippets of a woman’s diary from the 1700’s. They are brief paragraphs that didn’t add up to a whole story so I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to glean from them and even though they were said to be from the 1700’s, it was written in current English so that didn’t make sense to me.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’ll only say that there is a twist at the end but I found it predictable and the fact that most of the events could be hidden without anyone knowing is too hard to believe.

Overall, it was a pleasant read and I enjoyed the quirky townspeople but I think someone who knows more about pirates would enjoy it more.

Many thanks to BookSirens and Carol Ann Collins for the free ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.booksirens5 s2 comments Laura Hundley825 35

The Seafarer’s Secret by Carol Ann Collins


Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Mystery: 5/5
Overall Enjoyment: 5/5


“ Secrets are revealed. Lies are exposed. And in order to have a future, William and Eva will have to delve into the past”


I wanted to read this book for a few reasons. First, I live in NC and have a house on the outer banks that I so much enjoy visiting. Second, the blurb sounded great and thirdly, the author. I absolutely was NOT disappointed.

A woman’s body is found and inside her pocket is a coin. Not just any coin though. One that was identical to the coin found in William Templeton’s dead wife’s body about a year ago. William is the police Chief for Eden NC and now wants to open up his wife’s death investigation that was deemed accidental when it happened a year ago. Eva Knightly is a historian who will help with the investigation due to the rarity of the coins found and of course the towns history is focused on Blackbeard and his discoveries. Now the two are focused on investigating the death of the two women and the coins that are showing up in various places. They find out that the coins are supposed to be cursed. Can the two find who the killer is before someone else is dead or is there something else more sinister happening?

The story goes into depth on the history of Black beard but not so much that you would get bored. I really enjoyed learning about the outer banks and the rich history with pirates. The police procdural aspect was well done and the characters were so well formed and developed. I truly found this book to be very informative and yet also a very well written mystery that you will wait patiently for the ending on. I promise you will want to know how it ends.


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Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.3 s Lisa Beth22 5

3 stars, a fair/good read. A small-town mystery revolving around the death of two women who were both found with a gold coin in their possession. The story that follows has pirate's treasure, murder mystery, and romance.

The romance between the main characters was a slow burn and very sweet; I think the word sweet could be used to describe the entire book, despite a recurring theme of the book being grief. I personally prefer a more dark and gritty book that comes across as very realistic, but this was a nice change of pace, and I took the book for what it was, which is fiction.

In my opinion, the references to Blackbeard gave the book a slightly more childish feel, but it doesn't distract from the story too much or take away from the enjoyment of the romance aspect.

If you slower paced, lighter stories, this book is a nice read.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.2023 didn-t-enjoy3 s Books nd Bruises131 5

This was a very enjoyable romantic mystery. I had fun but I also think it wasn’t anything special, and I want to state that that’s totally okay imo because of how many books a I read. I was left with a bit of a ‘why’ feeling to some plotpoints. But this is the perfect mystery read for someone who wants a break of heavy storylines. Lovely characters -I loved our foursome in the diner every morning- , and a cosy albeit sometimes a bit slow pace. Only thing I’m a bit upset about is that it takes half the book to pick up pace, we then get a hint and NO ONE in the book picks up on it, nor is any attention still given to it. Anyway, fun light read!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.2 s Hanyiezd87

Thanks to Netgalley and Beaufort Book Publishing for letting me read the ARC from this book. ??

I really the opening sentence of the chapter, "For anyone who ever dreamed about growing up to be a pirate, fighting a pirate, or falling in love with a pirate."

This story opens with the conflict over the discovery of a woman's body which was found in the cave when people were fishing.  Not only that, because a gold coin was found in the corpse of a woman named Gabby Clark. The same gold coin was found a year ago from the body of Catherine Harper – the wife of an Eden, police officer named William Templeton. 

Gabby is a cleaning service who s to clean an office and Doris's house. Gabby's death is still being investigated as to whether she was killed or drowned. Meanwhile Gabby really hates the sea, so it's impossible for her to swim.  Moreover, Gabby's relationship with her very toxic boyfriend named Hamilton. Hamilton is suspected of having a hand in Gabby's death, but he is out of town.

“I know what people say about her, and I saw how toxic her relationship with Hamilton was, but there was more to her than that. She was one of my best employees. Probably the best.” Doris said. 

Because the coincidence is the same as those gold coins. Gabby's death is also investigated by William.  And William is assisted by Eva who is a historian who works at the Historical Society. They investigated the gold coins, whether they belonged to Blackbeard's treasure or Devil's coin. 

So, each chapter must end with one or two sentences from The Journal of an Unknown Woman, Early 1700's.  So he talks about Mery and Blackbeard in the past, about Mery's married life and the birth of his son.


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