Iced Under is the fifth installment in the A Maine Clambake Mystery series featuring Julia Snowden and her families business, Snowden Family Clambake located in Busman's Harbor, Maine. It's mid February in Maine and most everyone has left town to avoid the weather including Julia's boyfriend and restaurant partner Chris, who is helping a friend bring a sailboat to Key West.
With her sister Livvie expecting her second baby in just days, Julia has her hands full keeping her niece Page occupied and trying to squelch her mother Jacqueline's anxiety over the birth of her second grandchild. When Jacqueline receives a mysterious package in the mail containing the "Black Widow", a valuable necklace that belonged in the family and has been missing since the 1920's, Julia finds herself traveling to Boston to try and locate the sender and learn more about her mother's estranged family.
Upon her arrival in Boston Julia soon discovers an entire branch of the Morrow family that she and Jacqueline were not even aware existed. The biggest surprise is the discovery that Jacqueline's cousin Hugh who had gone missing and declared dead decades ago had actually been living in Boston and days ago had passed away under suspicious circumstances. Determined to find the answer as to why Hugh had suddenly disappeared and who had kept the necklace hidden for so many years, Julia becomes embroiled in messy family dynamics.
A fast paced storyline with the introduction of new characters and the reappearance of familiar faces makes Iced Under hard to put down. With so many possibilities in the future for Julia and her family, I hope the author will continue writing this series for a long time. The author provides enough background about the characters that this installment can read as a standalone, but I suggest starting from the beginning of the series to fully understand the Snowden Family background.
With her sister Livvie expecting her second baby in just days, Julia has her hands full keeping her niece Page occupied and trying to squelch her mother Jacqueline's anxiety over the birth of her second grandchild. When Jacqueline receives a mysterious package in the mail containing the "Black Widow", a valuable necklace that belonged in the family and has been missing since the 1920's, Julia finds herself traveling to Boston to try and locate the sender and learn more about her mother's estranged family.
Upon her arrival in Boston Julia soon discovers an entire branch of the Morrow family that she and Jacqueline were not even aware existed. The biggest surprise is the discovery that Jacqueline's cousin Hugh who had gone missing and declared dead decades ago had actually been living in Boston and days ago had passed away under suspicious circumstances. Determined to find the answer as to why Hugh had suddenly disappeared and who had kept the necklace hidden for so many years, Julia becomes embroiled in messy family dynamics.
A fast paced storyline with the introduction of new characters and the reappearance of familiar faces makes Iced Under hard to put down. With so many possibilities in the future for Julia and her family, I hope the author will continue writing this series for a long time. The author provides enough background about the characters that this installment can read as a standalone, but I suggest starting from the beginning of the series to fully understand the Snowden Family background.
Iced Under by Barbara Ross is the fourth book in A Maine Clambake Mystery series. It is February in Busman's Harbor, Maine. Julia Snowden is on her way to her mother's house and stops to pick up the mail. There is a package for Jacqueline, Julia's mother. Upon opening it, they discover a beautiful necklace inside with a note that states "For Windsholme" (the old family summer home that recently suffered fire damage). The necklace is called the Black Widow (contains a rare black diamond) and has been missing for almost a hundred years. There is no return address on the package and, as far as Jacqueline knows, she has no other family. Julia starts delving into her family history (hoping to find family for her mother) which sends Julia on a journey to Boston. It turns out that Julia and Jacqueline do have family, but one member just passed away. Jacqueline is to receive a nice inheritance from this lost relative (Hugh) but others are not happy about this revelation. Julia gets to meet new relatives, find out one of them is deceased, her sister is about to have her baby, a big snow storm is about to descent upon the area, and then the police show up. It turns out that Hugh did not die of natural causes. The suspect list is limited to the people inside Hugh's home. Which one of them did in poor Hugh? Then an attempt is made on the matriarch's life just after she stated she was going to change her will! Julia needs to flee and then find the culprit before the killer strikes again. Will Julia be successful? Join Julia on her latest escapade in Iced Under.
Iced Under is my favorite book in the series. I enjoyed Julia's search into her family history and how the Black Widow disappeared in the 1920s. I wish the mystery behind the matriarch's attempted murder had been as puzzling (easily solved). Hugh's death is also easily figured out (one question will give you the answer). Iced Under is well-written and has a good pace. While Iced Under is the fifth book in the series, it can be read alone. The author provides the needed information on the characters and previous books for the reader to catch up. I liked that we get to know more about Julia's ancestors and her mother's history. I found the history of ice very interesting (did not realize that it was such a cut-throat business). I found Iced Under a nice change of pace from the other books in the series. It was nice to get away from the family business. I give Iced Under 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). I did feel that the ending was too abrupt. There needed to be a little more to the last chapter or an epilogue. I will be reading the next book in A Maine Clambake Mystery series.
Iced Under is my favorite book in the series. I enjoyed Julia's search into her family history and how the Black Widow disappeared in the 1920s. I wish the mystery behind the matriarch's attempted murder had been as puzzling (easily solved). Hugh's death is also easily figured out (one question will give you the answer). Iced Under is well-written and has a good pace. While Iced Under is the fifth book in the series, it can be read alone. The author provides the needed information on the characters and previous books for the reader to catch up. I liked that we get to know more about Julia's ancestors and her mother's history. I found the history of ice very interesting (did not realize that it was such a cut-throat business). I found Iced Under a nice change of pace from the other books in the series. It was nice to get away from the family business. I give Iced Under 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). I did feel that the ending was too abrupt. There needed to be a little more to the last chapter or an epilogue. I will be reading the next book in A Maine Clambake Mystery series.
