Julia Snowden first appeared in Clammed Up and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Julia.

What is your name?
Julia Snowden.

How old are you?
32.

What is your profession?
During tourist season, I run my family’s business, the Snowden Family Clambake. If the off-season, I run a dinner restaurant with my boyfriend.

Do you have a significant other?
Yes. Chris was my not-well-kept secret crush when he was in high school and I was in middle school. Since I’ve been back in Busman’s Harbor we’ve gotten together, and I have to say, despite some bumps, it’s been pretty great.

What is his name and profession?
Chris Durand. During tourist season he works three jobs, landscaping, bouncer in Busman’s Harbor’s most touristy bar, and driving a cab he owns. In the winter we run the restaurant.

Any children?
No.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
Yes, my sister Livvie who’s married to Sonny who runs the clambake business with me. They have two kids. Page is ten years old and Jack is ten months old. One of the best things about coming back to Busman’s Harbor has been getting to be an involved aunt. My niece and nephew are great.

Who is your best friend?
My sister Livvie.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
The Maine Coon cat, Le Roi, rules Morrow Island where we hold our clambakes all summer long. He is a master at getting customers to sneak him bits of lobster and clam. In the winter he becomes an indoor cat. He’s living with my mom this winter.

What town do you live in?
Busman’s Harbor, Maine, a tourist town on the midcoast.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
Not even rent, quite. In order to persuade me to stay in town during the off-season and run the dinner restaurant in his space, Gus Farnham threw the studio apartment over his restaurant into the mix of inducements. It hadn’t been lived in since the 1960s, but now that it’s all set up, I love it.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
Sitting on our broken-down couch, looking out the big window over the working part of Busman’s Harbor. I love watching the boats coming from the marina, and the kids taking sailing lessons.

Favorite meal?
I’d be remiss not to say a real Maine Clambake. Come on our boat for a harbor tour. Once you get to our island we’ll feed you clam chowder, twin lobsters, steamers, corn on the cob, a potato, an onion and an egg, all cooked under a canvas tarp over rocks heated by a hardwood fire. Nothing is better in the world.

Favorite dessert?
The blueberry grunt we serve for dessert.

Favorite hobby?
Umm. I work so much during the tourist season, I can’t even think about a hobby. Something to work on this off-season?

Favorite vacation spot?
Busman’s Harbor, Maine, of course!

Favorite color?
The dark blue of a Maine ocean.

Favorite author?
Louise Penny.

Favorite sports team?
The Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots, like all good New Englanders.

Movies or Broadway?
Broadway. It’s one of the things I miss the most now that I don’t live in New York.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Running a dinner restaurant has turned me into a night person.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
Amateur. I’m not always right about stuff, but the detectives from the state police Major Crimes Unit, who investigate homicides in most of Maine, finally see that I have something to offer.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Usually, Lieutenant Jerry Binder and Sergeant Tom Flynn of the Major Crimes Unit, though sometimes we work together and sometimes not so much.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
During the season, I work in the morning in the clambake office in my mom’s house. Then I catch our tour boat to Morrow Island where we feed two hundred people lunch. We get a little break while the boat returns them to town when we eat our own meal and get ready for the next group. Then the dinner crowd arrives and we do it all over again. I take the boat back to town at night, totally exhausted. But I love sharing our island and traditions with our customers who are so appreciative.

Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a print copy of Steamed Open. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends December 22, 2018. Good luck everyone!

You can read about Julia in Steamed Open, the seventh book in the “Maine Clambake” mystery series.

It’s summertime in Busman’s Harbor, Maine, and the clamming is easy—or it was until a mysterious new neighbor blocks access to the beach, cutting off the Snowden Family Clambake’s supply. Julia Snowden is just one of many townspeople angered by Bartholomew Frick’s decision. But which one of them was angry enough to kill?

Beachcombers, lighthouse buffs, and clammers are outraged after Frick puts up a gate in front of his newly inherited mansion. When Julia urges him to reconsider, she’s the last to see him alive—except the person who stabs him in the neck with a clam rake. As she pores through a long list of suspects, Julia meets disgruntled employees, rival heirs, and a pair of tourists determined to visit every lighthouse in America. They all have secrets, and Julia will have to work fast to expose the guilty party—or see this season’s clam harvest dry up for good.

Purchase Link
# # # # # # # # # # #

About the author
Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries. The first book in the series, Clammed Up, was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel, the RT Book Reviews, Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Amateur Sleuth and was a finalist for the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Her holiday novella featuring amateur sleuth Julia Snowden was published along with stories by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis in the collection Yule Log Murder.  Barbara blogs with a wonderful group of Maine mystery authors at Maine Crime Writers and with a group of writers of New England-based cozy mysteries at Wicked Cozy Authors. Visit Barbara at maineclambakemysteries.com.

All comments are welcomed.