FOGGED INN is Book 4 in the Maine Clambake cozy
mystery
series by Barbara Ross. Unlike previous books in this
series, Julia Snowden's family does not play a major role
in this mystery. At this point in the series, Julia is
moving on with her life and putting down roots in her
small town, while still coming to terms with some aspects
of her life. Julia is a likable protagonist, and I enjoy
following her journey of self-discovery, along with the
entertaining mystery. There are several aspects of FOGGED
INN I find intriguing, and Barbara Ross keeps you
guessing right up to the very end. Everything you know or
think you know about the characters in FOGGED INN gets
blown to smithereens.
There is a car accident and a gathering of diner
customers on an eerily foggy night right before a murder
occurs. These incidents before the murder are recalled in
detail through intermittent flashbacks by the main
characters. Because Barbara Ross keeps going back to that
particular night and those events, it is obvious they are
somehow important, but it is up to the reader to decide
how everything is connected. I love this way of inventive
storytelling, and it added greatly to my overall enjoyment
of the mystery. The weather and unusual circumstances all
work together, creating the perfect atmosphere of
suspicion and fear that will draw you into the mystery
until you are completely entranced.
This is the most unusual and puzzling mystery in this
Maine Clambake series yet. Much of FOGGED INN has
amateur sleuth Julia investigating a decades-old arson
case and the people it affected. As Julia hunts for
clues, a feeling of paranoia and conspiracy casts a pall
over the investigation and the small town of Busman's
Harbor. Barbara Ross litters a few red herrings through
FOGGED INN to keep things interesting and making several
characters seem like viable suspects. By the end of the
story, readers are left wondering if the solution to the
mystery rests in the past or in the present.
FOGGED INN is about searching for the truth amid a
tangled web of secrets and lies. Barbara Ross presents a
likable but fallible amateur sleuth and suspects who are
sympathetic and shady at the same time. I love the
progress Julia and her boyfriend have made in their
relationship in FOGGED INN. The romantic and business
partnership Julia has with Chris helps anchor the story
and keep things from getting too dark. I look forward to
the next Maine Clambake mystery by Barbara Ross.
An autumn chill has settled over Busman's Harbor, Maine,
but
Julia Snowden is warming up the town by offering lobster
stew at the local diner. When her landlord discovers a dead
body in the walk-in refrigerator, Julia must figure out who
ordered up a side of murder.
Nothing's colder than a corpse--especially one stashed
inside a sub-zero fridge. The victim spent his last night
on
earth dining at the restaurant bar, so naturally Julia
finds
herself at the center of the ensuing investigation. Lost in
the November fog, however, is who'd want to kill the
unidentified stranger--and why.
It might have something to do with a suspicious group of
retirees and a decades-old tragedy to which they're all
connected. One thing's for sure: Julia's going to make
solving this mystery her early bird special…