Allie Larkin is a ballet dancer, but she has broken her ankle. While she heals, she travels home to help her Aunt Gully in Mystic Bay, CT -- a quaint, seaside New England town. Aunt Gully has just opened The Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack and she's competing in the annual Memorial Day Lobster Roll competition. As a newcomer to the Mystic Bay culinary scene, Aunt Gully being invited to participate in the competition is a big deal, and Allie is happy to help her. Strange things have been happening lately. Her aunt has been receiving threatening letters from a strange group, the Lobster Liberation Group. The notes, stuffed under the door of her lobster shack, state that if she doesn't close shop there will be dire consequences. Aunt Gilly shrugs off the warning, laughing about Lobster Libbers. Allie can't shake off her worry though. The letters have her extremely concerned. When four judges at the lobster roll contest are poisoned, Allie realizes that she was right to worry. One dead judge, three sick ones, Lobster Libbers, vandalism, threats and murder......where is it going to stop??

I really enjoyed this book! The story is full of light humor, quirky characters and fun....plus a bit of murder and mayhem as well. I had a terrible cold while I was reading this, and the humor made me feel better as I sat wrapped in a blanket, a space heater blowing on me, drinking hot tea and feeling very sorry for myself. It's hard to feel sorry for oneself while reading about the antics of Aunt Gully, the free spirit, who talks and sings to lobsters before she boils them. Not to mention Allie, the injured ballerina and her snarky, slightly uppity, sister Lorel. (Don't call her Lorelai....she hates that.)

I needed a pick-me-up....and this book was just the ticket for me! The cover art, as with most cozies, is fabulous!

The one thing that surprised me just a bit is the fact that Allie really never said anything about her ballet career....that she missed it, wanted to go back to it, her fans, etc...... But.....that would have muddied up the plot a bit if she had been whining about her ankle the whole time. Just felt that was one spot that was a bit lacking in her character development. A bit more about her past would have been interesting. I was perfectly content with finding out who poisoned the lobster roll judges.

When I finished this book I really wanted to take a trip up to Baltimore and have lobster and crab cakes at the Inner Harbor. Not really the same as a Mystic Bay-like place.....but awesome sea food! Not to mention a huge bookstore and a Hard Rock Cafe right there. Poe museum, aquarium and science center right there too. And the seafood has to be mentioned twice. :) Who's with me???!!!! Let's go! :) Mystic Harbor reminded me a bit of Nag's Head here in NC.....laid back beach town with lots of tourists and characters, snooty people in yachts and just a lovely place to be. :) That's as close to a New England town I can get to within driving distance of western NC.

My book reviews do tend to wool gather and digress into all sorts of subjects don't they! But.....it does mean that this book made me laugh and made me think of places I have been and equate to the location in the story. That's a success I think!!! :)

A great start to a new cozy series. I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Curses, Boiled Again! is the first book in the new Lobster Shack Mystery series. A second book, Against the Claw, will be out in July 2018.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St Martin's Press via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

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Nice little cozy. Possible characters, still need development. ( )

A fantastic debut from Shari Randall. Allie Larkin is injured as a ballerina and dimes back to help her Aunt Gully at the Lazy Mermaid Lobster shack. When all four judges were poised at a Lobster Roll contest sponsored by the Yum! Network (one dies), Allie helps unravel the whodunit with the help of her friends and family. The story is highly original, though as a frequent cozy reader I figured out the murderer fairly early. But it definitely wasn’t predictable. The best cozy I’ve read in awhile. Nice New England flavor with being overbearing about it. Delightful! ( )

Allie Larkin is a ballerina who injured her ankle and has gone back home to Mystic Bay to heal. She's also going to spend time helping her aunt with the Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack, along with her older sister Lorel. Her aunt has been asked to submit her lobster rolls in a contest being held to find the best one. But when the judges all keel over after eating the first contestant's entry, and one of them dies, Allie decides to see if she can ferret out a killer before the fallout puts her aunt out of business before she even really begins...

Well, I really wanted to like this book because it had a different premise - Allie didn't run home penniless needing to start over because her relationship broke up, she actually has a job as a ballerina. But, unfortunately, it started to fall apart almost immediately.

Lorel is a harridan. (I was going to use the "B" word, but don't want to offend those who don't like cussing.) Verity was right when she called her cold. Lorel has all the warmth of a reptile, and no personality otherwise. It's never said whether Aunt Gully bought the Mermaid herself or if Lorel and Allie contributed, but if Lorel didn't invest any cash, then why does she care if people take time to grieve for the dead instead of pushing Gully to continue in a contest that might not continue anyway? I didn't get her interest in the restaurant unless she's actually paid into it (or maybe I just didn't read far enough, because her personality completely turned me off from the book). She's just not a likable person, and you need that.

Then, Allie is a dancer, but rarely spends any time practicing while she's healing. She does know that dancers practice every day, right? It's a job, and you have to do it if you want to stay on top of your game. She's also probably making a decent salary, so why would she spend her time working at the shack - on her injured foot instead of trying to heal? I once broke my foot, and I was laid up for weeks and not walking well enough in a boot for a long time. I certainly wouldn't be in a job that had me putting pressure on the foot - which I imagine this would do.

Since Allie also mentions that the house she grew up in is just a couple of blocks away, I wondered why she'd rather stay at her aunt's house (where there was no barre to practice) and share a room with Lorel instead of going back to her own home. That didn't make sense. Who would rather share a small room than have their own? Especially when the homes are that close? But even Aunt Gully is annoying. Who wants to be around someone who can't sing yet won't stop? No thanks. I like my eardrums.

At one point the book was getting past boring, so I gave up and went to the back to find out 'whodunit' and why. The ending. Ho hum. I've put it in a spoiler so as not to ruin it for anyone, but it just wasn't believable to me. Not at all. Please be aware that the spoiler does contain parts of the ending, including the murderer, so do not read it if you have not read the book!

This spoiler can be found here: https://joannesbooks.blogspot.com/2019/08/curses-boiled-again-lobster-shack.html

While I find it unfortunate, there just wasn't any real conflict, and I wasn't enthralled with this book, so won't be reading any more in the series. ( )

Allie Larkin, a ballet dancer who has broken her ankle, has returned to Mystic Bay, Connecticut to recover. Her Aunt Gully, recently widowed, has opened The Mermaid Lobster Shack. She was selected to participate in the Memorial Day Lobster Roll competition. When the judges are poisoned with the first contestant’s entry, Aunt Gully becomes a suspect as she was alone with the food. One of the judges dies so it becomes a murder investigation. Allie begins to investigate to not only help Aunt Gully, but to find out who was responsible for all the nefarious goings on in Mystic Bay.
As this is the first in a new series, we meet the main characters in Mystic Bay. Allie seems to be trying to keep busy while recuperating, however does not seem to worry as much about her ankle as you would expect a dedicated ballerina would. She is smart and persistent as well as being helpful and loyal. She is also well liked by those in the town. Aunt Gully is wonderful. She was funny, bright and the typical quirky matriarch in a small town. She wants to take care of everyone and always thinks the best of them all. It looks like Allie has a love interest that may blossom in the next book. Lorel, Allie’s sister is the brains and serious one in the family. She does whatever she can to promote Aunt Gully’s restaurant. The other characters in town are all introduced and I hope we get to know them more in future books. Overall, the quirkiness is there with all these characters. The setting is wonderful and I wanted to take a trip to the next Lobster Festival and enjoy the ambiance of this small seaside town. The plot moved smoothly and I read this one quite quickly. I enjoyed the story and the mystery. I did not figure out who the murderer was until just before the reveal as the story came together. I am looking forward to giving the next book in this series a try. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.
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