Clammed Up by Barbara Ross

This mystery is Book 1 in “A Maine Clambake Mystery” series. Julia Snowden (main character) gave up her venture capital job to come back to her hometown and help her mother, sister, and brother-in-law with the family business. The family business is a Clambake company. I think the author did a good job of making the characters three dimensional and very real. You really got a sense of how important the success of the business was to the family. They are in a tough spot financially so when Ray Wilson is found murdered on an island the Snowden family owns and uses for clambakes, a speedy solution to the mystery is imperative. As much as I liked Julia, I was set to dislike her brother-in-law Sonny almost from the beginning. However, I was happy to see how the author developed that character. The mystery itself kept me interested. There were a lot of suspects with good motives for killing Ray. I liked how the puzzle pieces of the victim’s last evening came together from Julia’s conversations with the various suspects. I also liked the potential romance for Julia. Overall, I think the elements in this cozy mystery came together really well, the characters were interesting, and I look forward to the next book in this series.