DEATH AND A POT OF CHOWDER

By Cornelia Kidd

Anna Winslow, her husband, Burt, and their fourteen-year-old son, Jake, have lived on tiny Quarry Island, off the coast of Maine, their entire lives. As have Anna’s mother, grandmother, and all of Burt’s family, including his brother, Carl. Burt and Carl are lobstermen, like their father before them. Needless to say, on an island this small, if Anna and Burt aren’t related to another island resident, they know them very well. At least, that’s how it appears on the surface.

When Anna gets an unexpected letter, her whole life is turned upside down. The letter is from Izzie Jordan, a younger half-sister Anna never knew she had, who wants to meet her. Anna is excited, but on the same day she drives to pick her up, Carl’s lobster boat is found abandoned and adrift. Later that evening, his body is found, but the police determine right away that he didn’t die from drowning. He was shot.

There’s no doubt Carl was murdered, and suspicion falls on Carl’s most recent girlfriend, whom he dumped. Hint: Carl was one busy boy with a very complicated love life. It turns out that money went through Carl’s hands like water, and Burt recently cleaned out the family bank account to help. When witnesses report that they had a big fight the day Carl died, and Burt’s rifle is determined to be the murder weapon, Burt is put in jail. As her world is falling down around her—including a son who starts skipping school and fighting with his friend—Anna turns to her newly found sister for help. With surprising results.

“Death and a Pot of Chowder” is the first in the Maine Murder Mystery series written by Cornelia Kidd, the nom de plume of Maine author Lea Wait. I enjoyed the deft plotting and the cast of characters, especially Anna and Izzie, a formidable team I look forward to knowing better in future books.