This is the second book in the Lobster Shack series by Shari Randall. I read the first book when it came out and was excited to read this book, which I thought was just as good, maybe even better.
My Goodreads review:
Against the Claw by Shari Randall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It was great returning to Mystic Bay to visit with Aunt Gully, Allie and Loren, who was home for the July 4th holiday to help at the Lazy Mermaid Shack. Loren had also taken back up with a guy named Patrick who ran the most popular bar/restaurant in town and who had a reputation of being a bad boy. Allie could never see what Loren saw in him, aside from his good looks.
While helping Bertha, known as Lobster Woman, Allie was on her lobstering boat when they pulled up a dead body. The young woman’s body remained unidentified for quite awhile, but in the meantime, the restaurant was hired to cater a party at a wealthy woman’s estate. Allie, Loren and Gully went over for it. Loren and Allie were to spend the night on the woman’s yacht along with a famous singer and her friend. When the body of Lorel’s ex-boyfriend Patrick was found in an inflatable boat that had been tied behind the yacht, Allie figured they were all suspects and was determined to find the real killer. With her friend Verity’s help sleuthing as well as the occasional help from her friend Bronwyn who was a police department intern, the case slowly came together.
Meanwhile, Allie was appearing in a show while her broken ankle was still healing and she had to make sure she got to rehearsals, worked at the restaurant and did some sleuthing. While the showdown wasn’t exactly with the main perp, it was still pretty awesome. Let’s just say it involved Bertha chucking a vacuum cleaner over a railing at someone. I really came to like Bertha in this book and now she’s another favorite character of mine, along with Aunt Gully, of course!
I didn’t guess the actual killer but it didn’t surprise me when I found out who did it. There were a lot of secrets being kept by different people and a few twists along the way that kept this plot moving along and so interesting that I had trouble putting the book down. I’m anxious to see what happens in the next book. Allie doesn’t have a guy interest but I think she could be interested in Hayden, her old classmate, if he showed any interest in her. It’ll also be interesting to see how soon her ankle becomes able to fully dance ballet again. Will she travel back and forth to Boston to dance an occasional show or will she decide that Mystic Bay is too much of a home for her to leave Aunt Gully and the Lazy Mermaid? I hope we don’t have to wait too long to find out!
Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery 