Maine, tourist-town, cozy-mystery, family-dynamics, law-enforcement, suspense, murder-investigation *****

It's a good thing that the primary target for murder got done in early because he was totally odious! The townsfolk are all hardworking people with a very short earning season who have just lost their beloved centenarian benefactor who bequeathed her seaside property to above rat. Being a small town, it's the state police who bring in detectives and forensics, but sifting through the evidence isn't as useful as it might be. Then there is the issue of line of inheritance to dig through! Julia is a local back from away and she is very good at digging into the past despite problems in her own life that threaten to derail family harmony and the business. Well crafted and with escalating suspense, plot twists and red herrings. A very good read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This was a really good book that I don"t really know where to start. At the beginning of the book The Jacquie II was headed out to sea with most of the towns people on board to scatter the ashes of a local lady who was loved by all, named Lou Herrickson. She owned a beautiful Victorian mansion overlooking Sea Glass Beach. She left everything to her great nephew, under the stipulation that he live there for a year before he could sell any of her belongings. He made a point of putting up a fence so that no one could get to the beach to go clamming or swimming the very same day as they had scattered her ashes. Of course in any good mystery he ended up DEAD!!! Now to figure out who did it. Was it the housekeeper, or one of the clammers, or the neighbor, or the one who last saw him alive or so she says. I am not going to spoil this for you, so you MUST read this book. I would give it a 10 if I could.

Loved this book! Reading about Julia and her family is like spending tinne with close friends. You pick up right where you left off and It's like no time has passed. Very complex mystery with some sad parts, but overall very entertaining. Can't wait to see what's next!

This series is one of my favorites, and this latest installment was so special. This story had a great mystery and the characters are beloved and dear friends. The story itself was so bittersweet and just a little heartbreaking, but that just made it all the more beautiful. This is completely and totally a book to read again and again.

Ross’s cozy series tackles a real life hot button topic in Maine – beach access to locals. Julia Snowden’s Family Clambake business is in trouble when a flatlander blocks access to the shoreline. Bartholomew Frick has spent a mint on his mansion and he doesn’t intend sharing his access to the water with anyone. Everyone in town is angry and it’s really no surprise when Frick turns up dead. The big problem is finding a culprit in a very long list of suspects. Ross understands Maine and Mainers very well, it’s what puts her cozy series head and shoulders over others who write about the Pine Tree State

A truly wonderful cozy mystery filled with an intelligent heroine in Julia Snowden, strong family ties, a beautiful Maine setting, and delicious clambake food but also dealing with the serious subjects of the hard life of Maine residents who need to work two or three jobs during the summer tourist season to be able to live out the winters and also bringing up the dire consequences Huntington's Disease which runs in Julia's boyfriend Chris' family and the dilemma of whether or not to get tested to find out if you have the dreaded gene.
Julia runs Snowden's Family Clambakes, her family's business in Busman's Harbor, Maine. Each day they run two cruises out to the island for lunch and dinner clambakes. Will Orsolini has been supplying most of their clams which he gets out at Herrickson's Point but when the beloved owner of the land, Lou Herrickson, dies and her nephew Bart Frick inherits the property, he closes it off to all the clammers and beachgoers who had been using the property for decades. After a noisy demonstration by the local residents, Bart is found murdered with a clam rake and several of Julia's friends are suspects so, once again, she becomes involved in trying to solve the crime. This is an exceptionally interesting story which is deeper and more complex than most cozy mysteries and I highly recommend it.