Clammed Up

Holy placeporn, Batman This book is a serious mini trip to the coast of Maine, and it s the perfect read for when you re sitting in your back garden, unable to journey Mainewards The main character has a valid and well thought out motivation for investigating the murder it may well shut down her struggling family business And she works hard at keeping that business afloat, letting investigating take a back seat to Getting On With It My kind of protagonist The plot had it on point, but the writin [...]

I got the audio of this book free from the author This is my honest review.This new Maine Clambake Series starts off with a hanging body at a wedding Not a good thing for a wedding celebration or the Snowden Family Clambake Company Julia Snowden has left her high power job in New York to try and keep her family s floundering business from going under Everything has been invested to keep it going, including her Mom s house, their boat, and the island where they have their clambakes.I really enjoy [...]

I was hesitant to buy this one because I had bought a few new cozy series over the summer and I didn t enjoy them at all I put this on hold at the library and had to wait a few months for my turn to read it This one was a very pleasant surprise though and I am glad I did read it Set on the coast of Maine about a family that runs a clambake business, Clammed Up has an awesome small town ocean setting where the readers can really smell the salty, sea air with characters that are vivid and well wri [...]

This is the first book in the Maine Clambake Series It starts off with a wedding party heading off to Morrow Island for a wedding and when they arrive, they find a hanging body in the mansion Not a good way to begin a wedding celebration Julia Snowden, the main character, has left her high powered job in New York finance to try and keep her family s floundering business, The Snowden Family Clambake, from going under Everything has been invested to keep it going, including her Mom s house, their [...]

I m not quite sure, but from reading and watching detective stories view spoiler isn t a broken neck from the noose different from a broken neck from falling down off the railings hide spoiler Why would the cops not know that Or maybe I missed something I spent way too long on the book, much than a book of this type warranted, alternating between wondering at Julia s martyr complex and feeling nostalgic about beautiful Maine About Julia s martyr complex she left a successful career in NYC to co [...]

It takes a lot to keep me guessing about the killer motive until the end I met the author, Barbara Ross, at Malice Domestic 2013, and she gave me an ARC copy of her soon to be released September of this year cozy contemp mystery So here s my review PRE ORDER THIS BOOK If you love a great read, a great cozy with a gutsy but flawed heroine who learns about what really matters along with solving a murder, this book is for you I enjoyed the New England setting, the secondary characters were also we [...]

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Clams, Commitment and Crime A Heady Mix Julia Snowden had a good job with a venture capital firm in Manhattan, when her Sister Livvie called, begging her to return to her hometown of Busman s Harbor, Maine The Snowden Family Clambake, a business her late Father had started, was in serious financial trouble and Julia s family felt she was the one who could straighten things out and save, not only the business, but her Mother s home, but also, the beloved site of the clambakes, Morrow Island After [...]

Story 1 5 Characters 1 5 World building 3 5Romance 1 5Overall 1 5 As a book about managing a private island and a clamming business, I guess this book is alright, but as a mystery, this book is HORRIBLE, for the following reasons 1 The ending One vital aspect of a mystery is a LOGICAL ending, one in which an experienced or and an intelligent reader can deduce from the facts in the plot UNFORTUNATELY, this book uses one of those cheap formulas cozy mystery authors tend to use these days, a.k.a.A [...]

In Barbara Ross debut mystery she takes readers right to the heart of the Clambake in her new series Maine Clambake Mysteries Julia Snowden has left her venture capitalist job in NYC to help her family in Maine and their Clambake business at Morrow Island, which is suffering Iif she can t pull it out of the financial pit it is in, it will go under Julia spent her summers at Morrow Island with her sister, Livvie She s expecting a summer of fun with the Clambake activities but what she doesn t ban [...]

The end of this book was tragic because there were no pages However, I was quickly consoled by the collection of Maine recipes included after the story was complete Julia Snowden returns from NYC to coastal Maine to save the family s clambake business Unfortunately, the first event of the season results in the clambake being shut down by the police for a murder investigation The plot is fast paced, the whole book takes place in about a week, and I clenched my hands and worried right along with [...]

This book started slow for me, and I was certain it wouldn t be a 4 star read But it was well written and something kept me from just putting it down and walking away As I kept reading, the story built momentum, and I became engrossed, invested, with each chapter The story takes place in Maine and the characters adhere to the stoic typecast of most residents of Maine The result is not a light hearted, humorous book or setting The characters are likeable, but they aren t charming or witty or ch [...]

Wow, I ve had this book on my nook for about a year now, and I only just read it I must say it was amazing and I am sorry that I hadn t read it before Filled with wonderful twists and turns, great characters, and a wonderful setting, Clammed Up was a wonderful first book in this series that I hope to continue for awhile to come The characters were wonderful The reasons why the MC came back home were predictable but overall the MC was a delightful character Her sister, niece, and most of the othe [...]

Can one make clam chowder with lobster This started off slow to the point where I was regretting reading this But each chapter was short and long enough for me to continue reading I had to warm up to Julia and the tone of the narrative because it came across as flat But, as usual, once I got into the story and warmed to the characters, things picked up The killer came out of left field for me because I was so focused on the other characters Once it was revealed who dunnit, it made sense Nice way [...]

Julia has returned to her Maine town to try to save her family s clambake business However, when the best man at the wedding they are involved in dies, it might shut the business down for good.I found the first quarter a bit slow, but once the story really got going, it took off and didn t stop until it had reached the end Along the way, I cam to truly care for these characters The result was well worth reading.Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

Barb Ross launch of her new Maine Clambake series is spot on As the cover says, Murder is a hard shell to crack But she pulls it off with flying colors From Gus diner to the smell of salt air on the island, I knew I was in Maine Her characters from Julia and her family to police officer Jamie and hunky Chris intrigued me and made me want to keep hanging out with them even after the story ends And what an ending I was genuinely surprised Highly recommend this book and can t wait for the next one. [...]

One of the best cozies I ve ever read In fact, in many ways, it really doesn t qualify for my definition of cozy It s got far too much heft to it First of all, it s over 300 pages long I don t think I ve ever read a cozy that big Second, the characters are so well developed And, not just the main Maine ones Third, it s not completely light hearted There s a fair degree of angst.That being said, I really enjoyed this book I highly recommend it not just to fans of cozies but fans of mysteries too. [...]

This was a fun cozy mystery that left me guessing at who the killer was until the end Great story, but a little slow at the start.

Easy and fun to read first book in the series I can t wait for my next trip to the Snowden Family Clambake This was a good mystery with an ending I didn t see coming that was exciting as well.

Clammed Up, was anything but This story was jammed packed with mystery from the beginning to the end The Snowdon family run the clambake business in Maine from the beginning of spring to the end of the summer season, every year But since Julia s fathers death the clambake business has been losing money So her sister Livvie has called her in New York and begged her to come home and save the business As the the days go by the business is losing so much money that Julia books a Wedding hoping that [...]

Great debut book for this series Why did I wait so long to start it I loved the concept of the clambakes on the island with the old family mansion looming in the background I thought the story started out a bit slow, but it picked up halfway through and I was just amazed at the twists and turns that occurred While I slightly suspected the killer, I wasn t sure of the why until the end What an explosive scene literally I did think the very last page was a tiny bit cheesy with Julia and the person [...]

A good mystery with a nice plot that keeps you guessing Set in Maine with a nice feel for the country.

openbooksociety article clBrought to you by guest reviewer JoAnneJulia Snowden has returned from Manhattan to her home in Maine to help run the family s sea food business When her brother in law Sonny is preparing his homemade claminator for the local Founder s Day celebration, body parts are discovered falling out of the woodpile used to cook the food Once it is discovered who the dead person is, Julia finds that she is in the middle of a murder investigation, due to the fact that the suspected [...]

3.75 stars heavy pg13 very mild r lite God s name used as exclamation once twice mild cuss word d___ no details but it was implied that non married couple slept together very subtle hint that a male character might be interested in dating men then women a bachelor party with alcohol in a bar I haven t read a cozy mystery book in eons and this secular story was actually quite cute It was a bit slow going, especially the first half Of course the slowness could have very likely been due to my craz [...]

She hadn t seemed like a BridezillaJulia has come home to Busman s Harbor, Maine to help save her family s business Snowden Family Clambake Company ferries people to a private island owned by the family for authentic clambakes The first group of the season to the island is a wedding party that is missing its best man Julia and the bride unfortunately find the missing man hanging from the staircase of the old house on the island The investigation shuts down the family business and puts them at ri [...]

There s no business like a family owned business Just ask Julia Snowden, part owner of the Snowden Family Clambake business in Busman s Harbor, Maine In this first installment of Barbara Ross s Maine Clambake Mystery series, Julia has reluctantly left her high powered job in New York City to return home to Maine and put her financial expertise to work in the family business, which is in big financial trouble and facing bankruptcy, partially due to bad decisions and the quick temper of Julia s br [...]

I m very disappointed with this one In fact, I m a little angry Clammed Up had quite a few flaws self righteous mc, weak romance, weak mystery, etc but I could overlook that since this is the first in a series What really irked me was the reveal of the killer and their reasoning view spoiler As someone suffering anxiety, I m extremely sensitive to the representation of mental illness I m tired of mystery writers depicting all mentally ill people as lunatics who have lost their mind That s not ho [...]

A delightful debut that has me hungry for The story is set in a beautiful part of this country and every bit of it was clear in my mind s eye From the island to the ferry trip to the town of Busman s Harbor Sounds like a great place to vacation.Julia s homecoming being marred by murder is awful but this girl is up for the challenge She uses skills she has learned while away to whittle down the suspects and it isn t easy She makes mistakes She is scared and worried about losing her family busine [...]

Overall I liked this book I did NOT guess who murdered the victim, which is gratifying to me as a mystery reader I did not find the lead character, Julie Snowden, to be very sympathetic, nor were several of the other characters portrayed in as much depth as I d have liked in a book with 359 pages recipes.To be fair, there were many characters in this ensemble cast I did like that Julie was trying to solve the murder mystery, since her family business was on the brink and shut down until the crim [...]

Julia Snowden returns to her Maine hometown to help save the family clambake business The season is getting off to a good start when she books a wedding for one of her NYC acquaintances But when the best man is found hanging from staircase of the old family home, the clambake, not to mention the wedding is shutdown Julia can t afford to be closed down so she is determined to solve the murder and get the business back on track.It took me a bit to get into this book It may have just been me But on [...]