Soho Crime“Death on Nantucket” by Francine Mathews Denver author Francine Mathews just might be the state’s most versatile novelist. She launched her career years ago with the four-book Merry Folger mystery series, set in Nantucket. Then she gave it up to write stand-alone and spy novels and the Jane Austen mystery series (under the name Stephanie Barron.) Now after a 19-year hiatus, Mathews returns with her fifth Merry Folger book.