Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496717955
Kensington Publishing
234 Pages
$$6.59; $6.26 Amazon
December 31, 2019
⭐⭐⭐⭐
When the Russian demo team clearing out the mansion discovers a room that's been sealed off for decades, Julia's baffled as to its purpose and what secrets it might have held. Tensions are already simmering with the crew, but when one of the workers is found murdered, things come to a boil. With the discovery of another body - and a mysterious diary with Cyrillic text in the hidden room - the pressure's on Julia to dig up a real killer fast. But she'll have to sort through a pile of suspects, including ex-spouses, a spurned lover, and a recently released prisoner, to fish out one clammed-up killer.
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Julia Snowden runs the Snowden Family Clambake Company, along with other family members. It's October, and soon they'll be closing up for the winter. There's just a few excursions left to Morrow Island, where it's held and where her family's mansion lies, in the process of being restored by a Russian demolition team that was hired to do the job.
There's trouble brewing, however, between a longtime employee and a recent hire. Jason Caraway has been with them a long time and Julia hired her boyfriend Chris's brother Terry as a favor. Terry's an ex-con who recently got out of prison, and it's apparent there's a problem between them - the problem being another employee, Emmy Bailey, a single mother who needs the job. Just when Julia agrees to fire Terry, a body is found on the island and Terry has disappeared. Chris has asked Julia to prove his brother innocent, and Julia reluctantly agrees, even if others think he's guilty. But in doing so, will Julia be putting her own life in danger?
I have read every single book in this series and I have loved them all. Ms. Ross has a way of bringing you not only to Maine, but to Morrow Island, the surrounding areas, and the characters she writes about. While we may not like every person, we certainly get to know them.
Julia's elderly cousin Marguerite and her granddaughter Tallulah have come for a visit, with Marguerite's intention to see the mansion once more in her lifetime. There's also a secondary mystery that I really enjoyed: when the workers discover a sealed-up room in the mansion, it was left exactly the way it was originally when used by its last occupant in 1898. There are personal belongings, and a diary that proves to be a mystery in itself. Giving the diary to Marguerite, they're hoping she'll be able to shed light on who the woman was who wrote it.
While I enjoyed the mystery and trying to discover who killed the person and why, I enjoyed the mystery of the diary more. I'm a sucker for a mystery-within-a-mystery, especially when it concerns something that occurred at least a century or more before. This one, while not as involved as the main mystery (nor should it be) was still quite fun to watch them solve.
There are plenty of red herrings, and enough suspects to go around; and I found the reason for the murder believable enough to carry the story. As always, it was well-written with a decent plot, and easy enough to be read in one sitting. I look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.
https://www.amazon.com/Sealed-Off-Maine-Clambake-Mystery/dp/1496717953/ref=
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3146769773
More on Barbara Ross's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/barbara-ross/
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