Clammed Up

Financial whiz Julia Snowden returns to her Maine hometown to rescue the family’s clambake business. Although she has financial acumen, she lacks true knowledge of how a clam bake works. She learns the hard way when a murder and a wedding reception don’t mix. I wasn’t familiar with the inner workings of clam bakes, from menu to preparation, but I learned with Julia. I also enjoy Ross’s writing style. The combination of the storytelling plus the facts interwoven make this a good book choice.

In this first book in a foodie mystery series, Ross’s character, Julia Snowden, is lured home from a successful career in New York City to a small town in Maine to help save her family’s clambake business. Those books set in the summer season, including this one, feature the bake as an extra character in the background. Repeat readers know the menu by heart (fish chowder, lobster, steamers, corn on the cob, a roasted onion, baked potato, a boiled egg, and blueberry crumble). The mystery is clever, the protagonist appealing but not perfect, and the cast of small-town characters and… show more.