I'm sad to find that this is the only book in this series as it would have been awesome to follow more of the town and the characters. Starts off strong as a great intro book to a new cozy mystery series.

A fun to read mystery filled with memorable, engaging characters and plenty of twists and turns. I fins myself becoming attached to some of them and looking forward to seeing how their story lays out.

Death and a Pot of Chowder is the first book in the first book in the Maine Murder Mystery series. I was excited to start reading this new series and I was definitely not disappointed. The plot is fast paced and the characters are very well developed. I find the small town setting in Maine very appealing.

Two sisters Anna and Izzie had no idea the other existed until their father passed away.. Izzie is staying at Anna's when her brother in law Carl is killed and Anna's husband Burt is arrested for his murder. Anna and Izzie are on a mission to prove Burts innocence. Anna and Izzie think they know who the killer is after Anna's son Jake tells them what he knows and they enlist their neighbor Rob, a former detective, for help.

I look forward to reading the next book.

A mystery with memorable characters and twists and turns. Characters that you will become attached to and want to see succeed.

Unfortunately I found this a bit slow and depressing. I won’t be sharing my review online. Thank you!

I simply adore this series! Yummy food, delightful characters, all mixed with a great mystery to solve. Great beginning to a promising new series!

This is the first book in the A Maine Murder Mystery Series. So glad I got in on the first book of this series. It has been added to my series to follow list. The characters are very interesting as is the life of the characters on Quarry Island. Many cozies are set in small towns, which is wonderful, but how great is it to have a cozy set on a tiny island in the North East USA. The main characters are Anna Winslow, her husband Burt, son Jake, Anna's mother and grandmother, and of course the other members of the close-knit community. In this first story, the murder is very close to home. Burt's brother Carl goes missing and is later found murdered. Without going too much into the story and giving away any more details, I will simply say this was a fun, quick read and I am looking forward to more from Ms. Kidd. Keep the Maine mysteries coming! I am giving this cozy a solid 4-star rating!

This was a little different than most for a first in series cozy. It really had a lot of going on and lots of family drama as the person who dies is part of the sleuths family.

Anna gets a letter about her father who never had anything to do with her and finds out that she has a sister that she never knew about. This excites Anna and she is excited to meet her sister. The only thing is that Izzie comes at the wrong time because while they are having dinner she gets a call that her brother-in-law Carl is missing. Burt, Anna's husband found his boat but he wasn't on it.

Izzie drives Anna home and stays with them to help out and it's not long till they find his body and found out that he was murdered. When it seems that Burt could be the main suspect in the murder Anna and Izzie both set out to try and figure out what happened. Because Izzie wasn't from Quarry Island and not known it was easier for her to ask the hard questions of the people that Anna thought of as friends.

I found this to be very dramatic for a cozy and so it's not your fun loving kind but that is okay as I still enjoyed it.

I really liked the characters and I think I will enjoy getting to know both Anna and Izzie as the series progresses. It has kind of a surprising whodunit even though I was kind of leaning that way, so I found the mystery to be very interesting.

Death and a Pot of Chowder

by Cornelia Kidd

I know very little about Maine—small, cold, and famous for lobsters. All of that information is verified in Death and a Pot of Chowder, but I absorbed so much more about Maine by reading this cozy mystery by Cornelia Kidd. The characters are very interesting, especially the likable main character Anna Winslow. Having lost her job when her stepfather died, she is a stay-at-home mom to fourteen year old Jake and wife to Burt, a lobsterman. She enjoys her quiet life until she finds herself thrown in the middle of a murder investigation to clear Burt of charges at the same time she discovers she has a half-sister Ozzie, a young, ambitious, and talented chef.

I enjoyed the community of Quarry Island and references to Anne of Green Gables. I can identify with Anna turning to chocolate in times of stress! As an educator, I appreciate that the students on the island are cocooned a little as they attend school there through junior high and only travel to the mainland for high school. In such a setting I can conceive of the freedoms Jake and his friend Matt enjoy to roam the island.

The characters are not goody two-shoes, but most do have appeal as direct people who care about their neighbors. Anna is a strong woman, but also a woman who is willing to expand outside her current boundaries. She is open to new challenges and new relationships. I did wonder about her ties with her “stepfather” Seth. She was raised from birth as his child, but when she discovers that he is not her biological father, she never calls him “dad” again. Although I understand many children long for a relationship with their biological parents, it seems cold and out of character for her to emotionally discard him. As she was working for him as an office manager at the time of his death, I assume he did not respond by cutting ties with her. This is an interesting, but disappointing, twist to the story.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. # 1 in the Maine Murder Mystery Series.
2. Recipes are found in the back of the book.
3. As Izzie is interested in historical cookbooks, each chapter starts with a quote from a cookbook which also includes tips for managing a household.

Publication: June 12, 2018—Crooked Lane Books

Memorable Lines:

People joked that islanders had salt water in their veins. We were different, separate, and wary of off-islanders who commented on the beauty of the island, wondered at our isolation, and then left.

But first I was going to eat chocolate. If ever there was a day for chocolate, this was it.

I’d been like a mussel, glued to the rocks I’d always clung to. Now, everything had changed. I’d been tossed into the waves to survive. Would I find a new rock to cling to? Or be found by a laughing gull and dropped onto a ledge, smashed, and devoured.

Cornelia Kidd's first book in the Maine Murder Mystery series is Death and a Pot of Chowder. Anna lives with her teenage son and husband on Quarry Island. She discovers that the father she never knew has died, and she has a half-sister named Izzie. Anna heads out to pick up Izzie for a first time meeting and visit to Quarry Island. Anna's plans are turned upside down when her brother-in-law Carl goes missing and is later found murdered. Izzie and Anna decide to investigate after suspicion turns to Anna's husband. This was a nice start to a new series. Izzie is definitely my favorite character. The book was quite serious for a cozy mystery. My main issue was the actions of Anna's teenage son and her lack of reaction. I have a hard time with any teenager acting out so without the slightest reprimand. The mystery was strong enough for me to read a second book in the series.

This was a good mystery. While I loved the setting and the delicious recipes discussed, some of the characters were a little dry...not much personality. There was a good mystery to the story and you were left guessing until the end. Not sure if the characteristics were typical of people from that area of the country or just this author's style of writing. Because of that, I wasn't drawn in to the lives of the people or wanted to get to know them better. They were just kind of flat to me.

I would definitely read another book by this author, though, to see if I like it better than this one. It wasn't a bad book, it just didn't grab me and make me anxious to keep turning the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Death and a Pot of Chowder by Cornelia Kidd is the first A Maine Murder Mystery. Anna Winslow lives on Quarry Island in Maine with her husband, Burt and son, Jake. She is surprised when she receives a letter from Isabel “Izzie” Jordan stating that she is her half-sister and would like to meet. A couple of weeks later, Anna is in Portland to meet up with Izzie. They arrive at their lunch destination when Anna gets a call from Burt regarding his brother, Carl. Carl’s boat was found adrift and he is missing. Anna and Izzie rush to Quarry Island where the search is ongoing. Later that night, Carl’s body is discovered, but he did not die from drowning. Detective Jonas Preston of the Maine State Police is on the case and they soon learn that the evidence is mounting against Burt. Anna and Izzie band together to track down Carl’s killer.

Death and a Pot of Chowder is set on Quarry Island, Maine. The author provided detailed descriptions of the island and its history. Anna is thirty-two and has been married to Burt since she was eighteen years old. Burt is a fourth-generation lobsterman and expects his son to follow in his footsteps. Anna grew up on the same street. Her mother and grandmother still live in the house (close knit family). It is a place where people can leave their doors unlocked and children can roam freely (until someone murdered Carl). The author did a terrific job at setting the stage for A Maine Murder Mystery series. I like how the author brought the two sisters together and their plans for the future. I loved how Anne of Green Gables was woven into the story (one of my favorite books). I thought the mystery was simple. I easily identified the guilty party. Anna and Izzie work together to figure out Carl’s movement before he was killed. They question various people and get assistance from retired detective and neighbor, Rob Erickson. I could have done with less speculation and repetition. There needed to be more action which would have helped the pacing (which was slow at times). My rating for Death and a Pot of Chowder is 3.5 out of 5 stars. I found Jake to be extremely annoying. I realize his attitude and behavior are realistic for a fourteen-year-old, but I did get tired of his yelling and door slamming. Izzie’s love of cooking comes through as she describes how she likes to create dishes and execute them. There are various cookbooks mentioned and there are recipes included at the end of the book. There are many engaging cozy moments as the two sisters bond, explore the island, cook, and plan for the future. Death and a Pot of Chowder is nicely written, has good characters, rustic setting and plenty of food. Death and a Pot of Chowder captured my interest and I will be picking up the next A Maine Murder Mystery.

Anna Winslow has lived on Quarry Island, ME all her life. So has her husband, Burt. Burt and his brother Carl are fishermen, trapping lobster and netting fish for a living. It's dangerous work, but they are 4th generation lobstermen. It's in their blood. Anna loves the feeling of community and family on the small island. Island roots run deep. But then a letter Anna receives in the mail changes her whole life. She has a half-sister....one she never knew about. On the day she drives to Portland to meet her sister Izzie, her brother-in-law Carl drowns at sea. Turns out he was murdered. Izzie travels to Quarry Island to help the family cope, and ends up investigating Carl's death with Anna.

I loved this story! It's not just a cozy, but great women's fiction as well. Anna and Izzie have to learn how to become sisters amid the Winslow family grieving a murdered member. Turns out, the sisters make a great amateur sleuthing duo and help each other make some important life decisions as well. The background theme of life on a Maine island and the life of fishermen didn't overpower the mystery but added depth to it. The plot moved at a nice pace, with plenty of suspects and surprises. I wasn't quite sure how the story was going to end until I got there. All in all, a nice start for a new cozy series. I can't wait to find out what the second book in the Maine Murder Mystery series will bring! There are some yummy recipes included at the end of Death and Pot of Chowder, as well! I can't wait to try a couple of them!

Cornelia Kidd is a pseudonym for Maine author Lea Wait.

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I really enjoyed the first book in this brand new series! I love that it takes place in Maine. I have never been there but I love reading about it and hopefully will get to go someday and see some real Maine lighthouses. The author is also known as Lea Wait but I haven't read any of her other series yet but I know I really am liking this one so far.

Anna Winslow was happily living with her husband Burt and 14 year-old-son Jake. Out of the blue, she got a letter from Izzie Jordan who said she was her half-sister. Anna was delighted to have a sister so she brought her to stay with them at Quarry Island and they really hit it off. They got their first chance at really working together when Burt's brother Carl was found at sea but hadn't drowned, it was murder. Since Burt had motive, means and opportunity, he was arrested for the murder. Izzie and Anna were determined to get Burt out of jail. After that they'd talked about owning a restaurant together but I thought it was really awesome on Izzie's part to put Burt as a priority.

Izzy was really an amazing sister that anyone would be proud to have. She was generous and loyal, pitched right in when she started staying with Anna. I loved Mamie as well. She was everything you'd expect a sweet grandmother to be--she cooked, she fussed over people but she also listened.

There were a couple of side mysteries going on and I guessed one of them at least. I had the killer wrong but I wasn't too far off. It was fun seeing how Izzie, Anna and their friend Rob, a retired detective would handle the showdown. Everything wrapped up really well. There was one interesting clue that wasn't addressed, as in someone said oh yeah, that's why that was. I don't want to say what it was but it had to do with Burt's tablet. That clue told me part of what I guessed.

I think it's so cool that two sisters found each other and worked together to solve a murder. Now they want to be business partners and I can't wait to see what happens next!

This is a really fun read set right in Maine. Not just in Maine but right on the docks with all of the lobster boats. The setting is Quarry Island Maine and if you aren’t from the Island you are “from away” and are very unlikely to ever become what is referred to as a local. This is a story about everyday people, living close to one another, trying to make a living, and knowing each other’s business. Just like in every other small town.

One thing I absolutely love about this book is that each chapter begins with a paragraph of a helpful hint each from a truly existing book or letter or newspaper column although maybe from 100+ years ago. A hint for cooking or a hint to cure an illness, or curing a pig, or how to save meat through the hot summer, or how to set the table, or even to keep your husband happy. Well you get my drift. Do not skip a one of them; they are hilarious. Even more so since people thought they were all true at one time. They just add to the scene and sense of place she writes about so well.

Cornelia Kidd does such a great job at descriptive writing that you almost live on Quarry Island yourself or at least you sure want to. Her characters are down home and yet sophisticated in their own way all at the same time and her writing makes you a part of all of them. Don’t for a minute think you’ll figure the bad guy out at the beginning. There are plenty of twists and turns in this fun book.

This is Book 1 of a series titled “Maine Murder Mystery”. I may be assuming this is going to be a series but I am really hoping Book 2 will pop up soon.

***This book was provided to me free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

Kathy Allen
Bookaholic
http://www.ourtownbookreviews.com/

Hello, hello! It’s the last Wednesday in June, so it’s time for another book review. Around this time of year, I have a tendency to miss Maine. I decided to request book one in a new cozy series called Maine Murder Mysteries. It’s called Death and a Pot of Chowder by Cornelia Kidd and it came out earlier this month from Crooked Lane Books. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. With that out of the way, let’s get on with it!

Death and a Pot of Chowder is set on Quarry Island, a tight-knit community focused on family and lobstering. It focuses on Anna Winslow and her family. First, she receives a letter from a sister she didn’t know she had who wants to meet. If that wasn’t enough excitement, she brings Izzie (the sister) home with her only to discover that Anna’s brother-in-law, Carl, was murdered. Anna is a little resistant to getting mixed up in a murder investigation until charges are brought against her husband. Then, the fun really begins.

I knew nothing about this book going in, aside from the fact that it was set in Maine, so I had no expectations of it. That was a good thing, because I probably would have been sorely disappointed in it if I was expecting something. It was slow moving and just kind of drifted along like it wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. Which isn’t a bad thing. It gave us plenty of time to get to know the characters and become invested in their lives, though I’m definitely more interested in Izzie than Anna. I didn’t really empathize with Anna the way I was supposed. It was mostly because she focused on wanting to know the “dad” who abandoned her rather than being content with the “step-father” who raised her. I just don’t understand people who are so obsessed with a sperm donor (there’s more to it, but that’s basically what he was). Especially when a loving father figure is in the picture. But anyway, I really liked everyone else.

As far as the plot goes, it was one of those where I figured out what was going on pretty early. The fact that Anna didn’t figure it out earlier was written off as her being too close to everyone involved, but what was Izzie’s excuse? Was she just too focused on her own stuff to see the signs? Maybe. Or maybe I just automatically assume the worst about people. But just because I knew what was going on, didn’t mean that I was sure about the murderer. I wavered back and forth between two people until close to the end, so that was nice. It’s a pretty standard plot, though.

The writing was okay. Like I said, it was slow and drifting. It was also one of those stories that had to repeat all the clues at least three times, which was annoying. But the parts about Maine and island life were lovely, so I didn’t mind the rest so much.

Ultimately, Death and a Pot of Chowder was just okay. If a second one comes out, I’ll probably pick it up because I liked the characters and want to give them a second chance.

Overall, I’d give it a three out of five stars. If you’re into cozies and Maine, give it a shot. Otherwise, it’s not going to hurt if you skip over this one.

Anna Winslow and her husband Burt and their son Jake live on Maine’s Quarry Island, a tiny community where everyone knows everything about their neighbors. But things are not always as they seem. One day Anna receives a letter telling her that her long-lost father has died and she has a sister, Izzie Jordan, that she never met.

Burt and his brother, Carl, are lobstermen, just like their father and grandfather. Things are just fine with Anna, until she receives Izzie's letter. She goes to meet her sister on the mainland, and then gets a phone call that Carl's boat has been found without him on it. When Carl's body is found, and his death is termed a homicide, things turn upside down for Anna and her family. Anna and Izzie set out to find out whodunit, especially after Burt comes under suspicion, and is arrested for his brother's murder.

This had the clear markings of a cozy mystery, and at first I thought it was going to be less than what I'd hoped for...but the opposite turned out to be true. This book met, and exceeded, my expectations. Anna is a perfectly drawn character, and I cheered for her to get to the bottom of things and clear her husband's name.

The introduction of Izzie, who had never been to the island, was cleaver and a very useful tool for the writer. When Anna took Izzie on a tour of the island, it allowed the readers to go along and make what could have been boring pages of descriptions of residents and houses, into a perfect way to draw a map of the island.

The addition of Jake added great depth to this story. He reacted to his uncle's death, and the subsequent problems that it brings, were spot on, and made me to scream at him. When a character gets under my skin that way you know he is perfectly drawn. The relationship between Anna and Izzie was also intriguing, and perfectly written in-between the mystery passages.

The mystery part of this book was tightly written, and even though I thought I'd figured it out, there was a surprise at the end that made me go, "Well, I didn't see that coming."

This book, to use a phrase that is used a lot, is quite the page turner. I was always eager to see what would happen next, and how the characters would react.

Death and a Pot of Chowder is the first Maine Murder mystery by Cornelia Kidd. I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I don’t know what it is about the Maine air, but I’ve definitely found my second favorite culinary cozy mystery series after Barbara Ross’ superlative Maine Clambake books, also set in the same state. Death And A Pot Of Chowder is the first in Cornelia Kidd’s new Maine Murder mystery series and is a really terrific debut. Our heroine Anna Winslow is a thirty-three year-old housewife on Quarry Island, and at a bit of a loose end. After marrying her high school sweetheart and having a baby in rapid succession, she was employed as an office and account manager in her stepdad’s roofing company till it closed after his death just a few years ago. Her husband Burt is a lobsterman but she has higher hopes for her teenage son Jake, and dreams of saving enough money to send him to college. She lives just a short distance from the home where her mother and grandmother Mamie still reside, and knows everyone on the small island. Her life is tranquil, if somewhat confined.

So it comes as a deep shock when she receives a letter informing her that the father who ran out on her family when she was still in utero has passed, and that she has a half-sister in Connecticut who is eager to come north to meet her. Anna drives to Portland, feeling both nervous and excited to meet Izzie Jordan as well as to learn more from her about the man whom her mother had always refused to discuss. The sisters’ giddiness at finally connecting in person is abruptly ended by a phone call asking Anna to come home immediately. Her brother-in-law Carl has gone missing while out on his lobster boat, and to the people of Quarry Island, that usually means a fall overboard and worse.

Izzie immediately offers to help drive a shaken Anna home, and proves herself invaluable to the Winslow family over the course of the next few days, as Carl finally reappears. Or, at least, his corpse does. When Burt is arrested for his brother’s murder, Izzie and a distraught Anna join forces to clear Burt’s name, even as they try to make sense of Jake’s recent suspicious behavior and, even more thrillingly, start making plans for a future together as a family.

This was a really well-written murder mystery, exploring the dynamics of small-town life and criminality in a way that felt sharper-edged than your average cozy. I really, really loved the relationship between Anna and Izzie, as well as the way they dealt with the Quarry Islanders’ reactions to the most obvious difference between the sisters. I won’t spoilt it for you, but I do urge you to pick up the novel to find out for yourself, as it’s the kind of thing cozy mysteries typically don’t address. Death And A Pot Of Chowder, on the other hand, isn’t afraid to strike out in directions that the genre rarely explores.

It does, however, feature my favorite mainstay: a solid recipe section. There are seven recipes included, with informative headers as to the origins of many of the dishes, including this one (though I didn’t include the header here for space):

QUOTE
Mamie’s Quebecois Apple/Cranberry Pudding

Ingredients
5 medium-sized Granny Smith (or other tart) apples, sliced as you would for apple pie. You may peel or not peel; Mamie prefers them unpeeled
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter rectangular pan (approximately 7 x 12 inches.) Mix apple slices and cranberries, spread evenly in pan, and sprinkle with brown sugar. In medium-sized mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar, then add eggs. Mix well. Add flour and baking powder; mix thoroughly. Drop large spoonfuls of batter on top of apples. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle of pudding comes away clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Mamie prefers it warm, topped with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Yield: 6 servings
END QUOTE

I’ve been fascinated with this kind of dessert (also called a pandowdie or duff) since reading about them in Joan Aiken’s Nightbirds On Nantucket, another book set among the people who make their living off the seas of the North Atlantic. This was a good recipe for my first attempt at making a pudding like this, even if I felt, to the surprise of none of my regular readers, that it could have done better with a little less sugar. I served it with some homemade unsweetened whipped cream, and really loved the combination with the apple (peeled, as my lovely assistant Karin prefers,) cranberries and brown sugar. It’s not a difficult dish to put together at all, and is definitely the kind of thing I’ll make again in future, with maybe half a cup less sugar in total.

Next week, we travel west to wrap up a long running series with a savoury soup. Do join me!

In Cornelia Kidd's Death and the Pot of Chowder, the first installment in the Maine Murder Cozy Mystery series, this debut would whip you a recipe of decadent foods and a twisted case of murder. For Anna Winslow, she was born and raised on Quarry Island, Maine, and had her husband Burt and teenage son to complete the perfect family life. But she never knew much about her biological father, until she received a letter from his attorney about his will and about her half-sister Izzy. Later she met her at the airport, though younger than her and half-Korean, she welcomed her into her family and learned about her culinary career and her dreams to open her own restaurant. Besides all this, her brother-in-law Carl had gone missing on his boat to go lobstering along the lake. When his boat turns up, he's presumed he had drowned, and later revealed to be murdered. This makes Anna question around her on the island about who wanted him dead, when the police had suspected Burt, and then her son Jake acted weird with his best friend Matt. In order to clear her husband's name, she had developed a timeline with help from Izzie and dig dug down to learn the family secrets. Then she would realize who the killer is and how closer to her than she could ever think.

This book hooked me from the first chapter, and I couldn't put it down. I was enthralled by the descriptions of Quarry Island, Maine. The story begins when Anna receives a note from a half-sister she didn't know she had. Anna's father, whom she never met, had passed away, and when his will was read, Izzy, Anna's sister found out about her.

Izzy and Anna decide to meet for the first time in Portland, Maine, but Anna gets a call from home that changes everything. Anna's brother in law Carl's boat is found in the water, without him in it. Anna and Izzy head back to the Island to support Anna's husband Burt.

When Carl's body is found, the detectives determine that he didn't drown, but was murdered. Worst yet, Burt is arrested for the crime! Anna and Izzy start investigating the murder and who else in the tiny town could have motive and means.

I really enjoyed this book, as I said, I couldn't put it down. It was a great cozy mystery and a quick read. I look forward to other books by this author.