Review of Iced Under

Iced Under

A Maine Clambake Mystery, Book # 5

Barbara Ross

5 Stars

Synopsis:

The snow is deep in Maine’s Busman’s Harbor and the mighty rivers are covered in ice. Snowden Family Clambake Company proprietor Julia Snowden and her mother, Jacqueline, are hunkered down for the winter when a mysterious package arrives—heating up February with an unexpected case of murder . . .

Inside the mystery package is an enormous black diamond necklace that once belonged to Julia’s great-grandmother and disappeared in the 1920s. Who could have sent it—and why? Julia’s search for clues takes her on a perilous journey through her mother’s troubled family history, from a squabble over the family fortune in “frozen water” to the recent unexplained death of Jacqueline’s long-lost cousin Hugh—who’d been missing and presumed drowned for more than forty years. To protect her mother’s inheritance, Julia must fend off a small army of feuding relatives, solve the mystery surrounding Hugh’s demise, and get back home before the next blizzard buries them all . . . (Goodreads)

Review:

Julia is a smart woman who is not afraid to dive right into any mystery that presents itself. The mystery that she is presented with in this installment is who sent her mother a family heirloom necklace and where has the necklace been for such a long time.  And also where has her cousin, Hugh, been for the last forty years and who killed him?

The characters are well developed and well rounded.  We got to spend time with familiar favorites and  we met new characters that I hope will be included in future books.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book, I felt like I was right there, watching the action and listening in on conversations.  She is also very talented in creating suspense with just the written word.  This was a book that I could not solve the mysteries because of the many twists and turns and a few red herrings that were thrown in.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery.  The whole series is great, so why not start reading it from the beginning?

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.  I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

https://www.amazon.com/Iced-Under-Maine-Clambake-Mystery-ebook/dp/B01DRXCGEE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1482858835&sr=1-1&keywords=iced+under