Book ~ "Musseled Out" (2015) Barbara Ross

From Goodreads ~ The busy summer tourist season is winding down in Busman's Harbor, Maine, but Julia Snowden senses trouble simmering for the Snowden Family Clambake Company. Shifty David Thwing - the "Mussel King" of upscale seafood restaurants - is sniffing around town for a new location. But serving iffy clams turns out to be the least of his troubles.

When Thwing is found sleeping with the fishes beneath a local lobsterman's boat, the police quickly finger Julia's brother-in-law, Sonny, as the one who cooked up the crime. Sure, everyone knows Sonny despised the Mussel King ... but Julia believes he's innocent. Proving it won't be easy, though. It seems there's a lot more than murder on the menu, and Julia needs to act fast.

Summer’s winding down in Busman’s Harbor, Maine, and Julia is stressing about her future. Should she head back to her fast-paced New York career or stick around to keep helping her family’s clambake business? Her personal dilemma is soon overshadowed by the arrival of David Thwing, an arrogant entrepreneur known as the “Mussel King”, who announces plans to establish a competing clambake operation. Tensions mount quickly but the conflict takes a turn when Thwing is found murdered, tangled in ropes beneath a lobsterman’s boat. Suspicion falls on Julia’s brother-in-law, Sonny, whose disagreements with Thwing were no secret. 

Determined to clear her family’s name, Julia begins her own investigation. As she starts digging, she uncovers rivalries, secrets and hidden motives within the close-knit community. Along the way, Julia also has to face some tough personal choices about her future, her career and her relationship with her boyfriend, Chris, who isn't going to leave Busman’s Harbor.

This story was written in first person perspective in Julia's voice. It's a cozy mystery so there is no swearing, violence or adult activity (just brief references that it had happened). There was lots going on with rivalries between the different lobster communities, a secret that Chris has been keeping about his disappearances during the summer that they agreed not to discuss, a beloved senior collapsing and more. The whodunnit was a bit convoluted but I was okay with it. At the end of the book, there are recipes that were mentioned during the story like lobster, shrimp & fennel scampi and apple pie.

This is the third (of 12) in the Maine Clambake Mystery series. I read the first two recently and will keep moving through the series.