Author: Barbara Ross
Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496735713
Kensington Cozies
272 Pages
$8.99; $6.99 Amazon
June 27, 2023
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Julia and her mother, Jacqueline have come to the exclusive summer colony of Chipmunk Island to attend a memorial service for Jacqueline's old friend Ginny, who's been officially declared dead half a decade after she went out for her daily swim in the harbor and was never seen again. But something seems fishy at the service -- especially with the ladies of the Wednesday Club. As Julia and Jacqueline begin looking into Ginny's cold case, a present-day murder stirs the pot, and mother and daughter must dive into the deep end to get to the bottom of both mysteries...
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When Julia Snowden's mother, Jacqueline, asks her to accompany her to the memorial of an old friend, Julia agrees. The problem is, Julia never heard of Ginny, and wonders why her mother never mentioned her. But when they arrive on Chipmunk Island, home to generations of people who pass their homes down to their families, she notices the Wednesday Book Club Women -- a group of six women (now five with the passing of Ginny) aren't very welcoming to her, much less to her mother. But Jacqueline pauses enough to go through Ginny's home, where the memorial is being held, and sees things Julia doesn't.
Julia doesn't know whether questioning her mother will yield results or not, so she keeps quiet. When they return to the island, they discover the women moving Ginny's furniture about, looking for something. It's a will, and when it is eventually found, Jacqueline is surprised to find that she's been named executor. Yet all is not right. Kitty, Ginny's next-door neighbor, is curious as to if they've discovered anything. The rest of the women are keeping quiet. But the more they look, the more they find something isn't right, and Jacqueline wonders if Ginny didn't accidentally die, but was murdered.
Julia's curiosity sets her about looking for the truth. But it isn't going to be easy, with the women keeping close, and Julia discovering her ex-boyfriend Chris is working on the island. Have things truly been resolved between them? Will Julia find what she is looking for, or will a killer manage to not only get away with murder, but kill again?...
This is the eleventh book in the series and I have read them all. I have watched Julia return home after her father's death to help run the Snowden Family Clambake, and now to see a new chapter in her life begin. This story is one of the most interesting, with her mother having to make not only decisions for her friend Ginny, but personal ones as well that can change everything.
Julia is mostly centered on solving the mystery; her personal life needs to take a backseat to what is going on otherwise -- or does it? While we wonder about the truth of Ginny's life and death, and if it was indeed murder, clues are handed to us about a long-ago death and if that was not murder also, or if it was even relevant to Ginny's accidental death. Then another tragic event occurs, and the state police are brought in (our old friends Binder and Flynn) and will they listen to Julia's theories? Or will they dismiss it as just that?
When Julia and Jacqueline go to Portland to settle things in Ginny's condo, clues develop as to the woman's life. With Jacqueline's regrets about not seeing her more, she's been lost in her own thoughts, and Julia must put forth her best efforts to discover what is and is not the truth...
I loved this book, even more than the last. It was detailed and centered on the people on Chipmunk Island and their secrets. And secrets abound. And I do love a mystery-within-a-mystery, as it were. I love reading how the older mystery is solved as well as the newer one, and this book did not disappoint. It was absorbing, intelligent, as well as entertaining. I was sorry to see it end. But when the ending does come, it is unexpected and enlightening. And the epilogue left us with something to look forward to. Highly recommended.
I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Barbara Ross's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/barbara-ross/
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