Muddled Through
When Julia spots police cars in front of Lupine Design, she races over. Her sister Livvie works there as a potter. Livvie is unharmed but surrounded by smashed-up pottery. The police find the owner Zoey Butterfield digging clay by a nearby bay, but she has no idea who would target her store. Zoey is a vocal advocate for turning four blocks of Main Street into a pedestrian mall on summer weekends. Other shop owners, including her next-door neighbor, are vehemently opposed. Could a small-town fight provoke such destruction? When a murder follows the break-in, it’s up to Julia to dig through the secrets and lies to uncover the truth.
The Details
Series: A Maine Clambake Mystery – Book #10
Author: Barbara Ross
Genre/Category: Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Business
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN: 1496735692
Page Count: 272
Rating: 
The Review
In the newest book of the “A Maine Clambake Mystery” series, Muddled Through, Julia finds herself watching over her sister Livvie. Livvie’s new job at Lupine Design with her new boss Zoey Butterfield has become dangerous. Not the job itself, but for some reason, someone has it in for Zoey and takes it out on her pottery. Life is never dull where Julia is concerned; a bit lonely for her and sometimes too busy. But otherwise, it’s never dangerous unless she sticks her nose into a murder investigation, which she does all too often.
Someone has destroyed Zoey’s pottery showroom, and whoever it is doesn’t stop at just smashing a few pieces of her work. As a backer of the pedestrian mall, Zoey has raised the ire of several locals who do not appreciate “outsiders” moving into town and trying to change things, anything! But this time, someone is killed due to Zoey’s so-called interference in the status quo, or so it seems. Of course, no one would believe that a simple pottery shop and a new resident would cause such a stir, but most didn’t count on the stubbornness and prejudice of the older people who didn’t want anything to ever change or new people to move into town. Or… was the motive for this murder really about something else? Julia isn’t sure, but she decides that she needs to find out.
The characters in this series are always interesting. The dynamic between Julia and her sister and the other characters always keeps readers asking questions. The addition of Zoey and her pottery shop, which is nicely described, adds to the overall feel of a tight-knit community that needs to be brought into the 21st century.
The suspects in Muddled Through are easy to spot. Unfortunately, I found the killer and the overall motive implausible. There are twists and turns and red herrings, but the evidence doesn’t fit correctly. Until the end, I was going back and forth on whether the killer and the person who smashed up Zoey’s pottery were the same individuals. I have to say that when the killer’s identity is revealed and the entire scenario unfurled, It did not work for me; it just seemed too far-fetched to be believable. However, that said, It was still an enjoyable read and kept me happily entertained.
The Author
Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries and the Jane Darrowfield Mysteries. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Barbara’s novellas are included in holiday anthologies from Kensington Publishing. Barbara’s first mystery novel, The Death of an Ambitious Woman, was published by Five Star/Gale/Cengage in August 2010. In her former life, Barbara was a co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of successful start-ups in educational technology. She and her husband live in Portland, Maine.
Other series by Barbara Ross readers will enjoy include “Jane Darrowfield Mysteries” starting with book number one, Jane Darrowfield Professional Busybody, or the “Holiday Short Story Compilation” that is put out every year, such as Halloween Party Murder.
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