I would call myself an ordinary woman. I’m part owner of a family business that puts on an authentic Maine clambake on a private island off the coast of Maine twice every day all summer long. I’m a widow with two wonderful daughters, a great son-in-law, and two beautiful grandchildren. A busy life, one in which I find happiness and purpose, but nothing extraordinary.

On the other hand, my daughter Julia is prone to extraordinary events, ones that, unfortunately, bring her in touch with the local and state police. Unlike me, as I’ve established above. But on the day I’m going to tell you about, that all changed.

Five years ago, my high school friend Ginny Merrill went for a swim in our harbor and never returned. It was a dangerous thing to do given the amount of boat traffic, but she’d done it every summer day of her life since she was a teenager, swimming from her home on Chipmunk Island to Dinkum’s Light and back. Even though we hadn’t been in touch in many years, her loss was devastating to me. I spent many days aiding in the search for her, and later for her body. She was never found.

This summer, Ginny was officially declared dead by the state of Maine and her friends on Chipmunk Island planned a memorial service for her. I was surprised when I got an invitation. I hadn’t seen any of them in more than forty years. But Ginny had been my best friend in high school, a lifesaver for me when I was a lonely boarding school student. I’d spent many nights at her parents’ summer house on Chipmunk Island. She and I shared our secrets. Not all of hers it turned out, but I learned that much later.

I asked Julia to accompany me to the memorial. The Snowden Family Clambake was up and running for the summer and her absence meant we had to find staff to fill her position as well as mine. But I didn’t feel I could face the memorial alone, especially bookended by the boat ride from our home on Morrow Island to Chipmunk and back. Julia agreed. She and her sister have been supportive of me since their father was diagnosed with cancer and died twelve long years ago. Though I don’t need their solicitude now, I appreciate it.

When we arrived on Chipmunk, I was astonished how clearly I remembered it. My feet carried me from the dock to Ginny’s house as surely as if I’d been there yesterday. It was as if the place had been preserved in amber. Everything was the same.

The memorial was informal, a few words and a picnic in the backyard at Ginny’s house. Her close summer friends on the island, the members of the Wednesday Club, spoke warmly of her, but their actions and conversations were strangely muted. I told myself they’d long ago dealt with their grief. Ginny had been someone they’d seen every day, until they didn’t. I hadn’t seen my friend in years, and I felt her loss acutely. But Julia felt the strangeness too. I could tell her antennae were up, twitching. Something was off.

As it turned out, Julia and I returned to Chipmunk Island many times this summer. Ginny and I weren’t finished talking to one another, across time and the barrier that is death. She still had more secrets to reveal.

Hidden Beneath, A Maine Clambake Mystery Book #11
Genre: Cozy
Release: June 2023
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Serving up mouthwatering shellfish, the Snowden Family Clambake has become a beloved institution in Busman’s Harbor, Maine. But when new clues rise to the surface five years after the disappearance of Julia Snowden’ s mother’s friend, the family business shifts to sleuthing . . .

Julia and her mother, Jacqueline, have come to the exclusive summer colony of Chipmunk Island to attend a memorial service for Jacqueline’s old friend Ginny, who’s been officially declared dead half a decade after she went out for her daily swim in the harbor and was never seen again. But something seems fishy at the service—especially with the ladies of the Wednesday Club. As Julia and Jacqueline begin looking into Ginny’s cold case, a present-day murder stirs the pot, and mother and daughter must dive into the deep end to get to the bottom of both mysteries . . .

About the author
Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Barbara and her husband live in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at maineclambakemysteries.com.

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