It's the offseason in Busman's Harbor, and Julia Snowden is at a loose end with no business at the family clambake to tend. She's moved back home and her family is busy trying to find ways to keep her in town now that her relationship with Chris is over, and her sister thinks she has the perfect project for her. Suddenly Julia finds herself "supporting" Livvie's boss after her pottery store is vandalized and another tenant is found murdered in the basement. Of course, Zoey Butterfield doesn't seem like she's in any danger of collapse, but Julia figures out she can solve the mystery anyway....and maybe find a new romantic interest along the way? Enjoyable as always, and I can't wait for Julia to move into her new apartment in Windmere.

Thanks to Kensington Press for a digital ARC via NetGalley.

Muddled Through is the tenth A Maine Clambake Mystery. It can be read as a standalone since the necessary background information is provided. Barbara Ross has a casual writing style. It is friendly and engaging. It makes her stories easy to read. Julia Snowden is single after parting ways with Chris Durand. She has returned to her mother’s home since Gus needed Julia’s apartment for family. It is spring in Maine which means it is the muddy season. The mud and rain make it difficult to get around. You need to have sturdy wellies if you are going to be out and about. The town is in an uproar over the proposed pedestrian mall. Four blocks of Main Street would be blocked to road traffic on Friday and Saturday evening during July and August. Shops could set out their wares and restaurants could offer outdoor dining (a street festival vibe). Zoey Butterfield, a local potter and store owner, is in favor of the pedestrian mall. Phinney Hardison is not in favor of the mall or tourists. He still considers Zoey a flatlander. Phinney is found dead in Zoey’s basement which leads to a major investigation. Julia is a curious person by nature. She likes to know the answers, so it does not take much persuasion to convince her to look into the crime. Julia asks questions, looks up information online, and searches for clues. The mystery becomes interesting in the second half of the book. I enjoyed following Julia as she gathered intel. I love solving whodunits. I had an inkling as to why a certain person committed the crime, but I was not completely sure until Julia uncovered the final clue. The reveal is suspenseful and suits the series. Julia is still trying to get over Chris Durand. Zoey gives her some good advice. It looks like there is a potential love interest or two for Julia (when she is ready). I enjoy the author’s descriptions of Maine. It sounds like a beautiful area. I liked meeting Alice Rumsford (a local philanthropist). I hope we get to see more of her in the future. Muddled Through is a wicked fun time with messy mud, pulverized pottery, ardent debating, mall melee, a slain neighbor, key conundrum, a brilliant breakthrough, and a questioning Julia. ( )

Muddled Through is the tenth book in the A Maine Clambake Mystery series by Barbara Ross.

As Julia leaves her home one morning, she notices the flashing lights of police cars down the street. She soon realizes the police are in front of Lupine Design, a hand-made pottery shop, where her sister Livvie works at Lupine during the off-season of the family’s clambake business. Livvie and Julia enter the shop seeing most of the inventory has been knocked to the floor and is broken into pieces.

The pottery shop is owned by Zoey Butterfield, a vocal supporter of a proposal to block Main Street on weekends during peak tourist season. Phinney Hardison shares space with Zoey, where he sells antiques. The day after a town meeting to discuss the proposal and a heated discussion occurred between Zoey and Phinney, his body was found in the shared basement of Zoey and Phinney.

Zoey quickly becomes the police’s prime suspect, and Livvie asks Julia to try and clear Zoey’s name. Julia starts questioning Zoey and doubts Zoey’s innocence as she does not divulge much about her life. But as she looks into Phinney’s past, she will find a few suspects that must be investigated. Julia will get some valuable information for a local philanthropist, Alice Rumsford, a new character.

It’s always enjoyable to visit Busman’s Harbor and renew acquaintances with Julia, her family, and friends. The book is well-written and plotted. The characters are well-developed and believable, and engaging. Alice Rumsford is particularly enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing more of her in future books.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in this interesting series. ( )

Julia Snowden helps her family run the Snowden Family Clambake in later spring and summer, when it's warm enough to go out to Morrow Island, which they own. But during the winter and early spring, she's at a loss. Having recently broken up with her long-time boyfriend Chris and moved back home with her mother, she's lonely and wondering how to fill her days. One morning she sees police cars in front of Lupine Designs, where her sister Livvie works in the off-season, and hopes she's alright.

When she arrives, Livvie is fine, but someone has broken into the pottery shop and destroyed everything in view. When the owner, Zoey Butterfield, arrives, she has no idea who would vandalize her shop...unless it might be her neighbor Finney, who shares part of the building as an antique store and dislikes Zoey. But there's no proof, so Zoey is stumped. Later that evening Julia attends a town meeting where Zoey is in favor of a pedestrian mall on the weekends to bring in more business, but many of the townspeople are against it. This only agitates the problems between Zoey and her neighbors.

When, soon after, a body is found in Zoey's basement, the state police -- Lieutenant Binder and Sergeant Flynn -- think Zoey is a prime suspect, and Livvie asks for Julia's help in proving her innocence. But Julia will need more to go on, since she knows next-to-nothing about Zoey. Where is she from? Who are her people? What motives did she have? And more importantly, did she do it?

On top of this, everyone -- including Julia -- is wondering where her personal life is going now that Chris isn't in her life anymore. It's obvious there are some men interested in her, but will Julia go down that path, or put it on the back burner for now? And will she discover who the murderer might be before it's too late for another person?...

This is the tenth book in the series, and I have read them all, looking forward to each one with practical glee. Each book gets better than the former, and this one is no different. Julia is on her own this time out, without Chris in her life, and her family wants to help her -- even if she doesn't want it. When the murder occurs, it's only natural that Julia's innate curiosity -- and cleverness -- get her moving in on the investigation. By this time Binder and Flynn have given up telling her to leave it alone, knowing she isn't going to, but aren't giving her information without anything in return, either. A quid pro quo situation, if you will.

So we have Julia trying to find out more about the elusive Zoey Butterfield, who doesn't appear to be letting the murder bother her; staying calm and collected. Julia wonders why this is so, and starts digging into Zoey's past, with surprising results. She also does her best at quietly questioning people who might have known the deceased well, with more surprising results coming from that quarter, too.

But what starts out as a murder investigation becomes much more so, with threads scattered throughout the mystery, and each one leading to another until we have a tangle of them, all sizes and shapes, that need to be pulled out and woven into something resembling answers. Julia is an expert at this, and it's fun watching her put everything together in only the way she can.

I absolutely adore this series, and all the characters within. There are some surprising things around the corner for Julia, too; and I won't say any more about this except that I think it will be something worth waiting for in the next book. When the murderer is discovered, the motive is both rather twisted and sad, and is never worth the price that one has to pay. I eagerly look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review. ( )

Maine, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, felony vandalism, murder, murder-investigation, conflict, greed, family-business, family-dynamics, friendship, small-business, small-town, local-politics, tourist-town, cozy-mystery, divorce*****

Julia is part of the family who operate the Snowden Family Clambake on their private island on the coast of Maine. This winter she is rather at loose ends and is staying with her widowed mother. Her sister works down the block at a pottery store for a gifted potter. The store shares a basement with the shop next door. The initial alarming incidents are a contentious argument at a town hall meeting followed by the discovery of felony vandalism at the pottery store. Then comes the murder of the next-door shop owner. Let the sleuthing begin. I love this series, but the author slips items of past history into the tale so well that it could probably stand alone. The ongoing characters seem so real and engaging, and the new ones are clearly presented. I loved it!
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )