Starlight Cove (Cynthia Ellingsen) Books in Order

Starlight Cove is Cynthia Ellingsen’s series of northern Michigan mysteries, each built around a woman facing a personal upheaval and a piece of local history that will not stay buried. The town has the familiar comforts of a lakeside getaway, old businesses, longtime residents, and the sort of community where everyone knows a little about everyone else. It also has plenty of secrets.

Each book follows a different central character, so the series works as a set of connected standalones. The setting is the through line. Starlight Cove’s homes, shops, waterfront landmarks, and family stories give every mystery a sense of place, while familiar faces help tie the novels together.

The series begins with The Lighthouse Keeper. After public trouble damages her family’s reputation, Dawn Conners returns home and takes on the renovation of a neglected lighthouse. Her search for answers about an old shipwreck and her ancestor’s name pulls her into the town’s past, with help from a nautical researcher who may become more than an ally.

In The Winemaker’s Secret, Abby Harrington is drawn into a crisis at her family’s vineyard after a prized wine collection disappears. A sudden accident and threatening clues make the search personal, and the investigation reveals tensions that have been hiding within the family for years.

A Bittersweet Surprise shifts to Emma Laurent, whose late father’s candy shop, family obligations, and grief already leave her stretched thin. When strangers make an unusual offer for a painting in the shop, Emma starts asking questions that lead to an old mystery, unexpected connections, and a chance to reconsider what she wants from her life.

The fourth book, A Play for Revenge, follows Lily Kimura as she returns to Starlight Cove with her young daughter after a divorce. She is involved in reviving the town theater, which was damaged by a fire years earlier, but sinister messages and the theater’s unsettled history raise the stakes.

These are warm, character-focused mysteries rather than grim crime novels. Expect family secrets, local legends, gentle romance, and problems that unfold through relationships as much as clues. Start with The Lighthouse Keeper for the fullest introduction to the town, then continue in publication order for the best sense of Starlight Cove’s growing community.