Town In a Lobster Stew by B.B. Haywood is the second book in the “Candy Holliday” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), February 2011
In the quaint seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy Holliday has a mostly idyllic life, tending to the Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father and occasionally stepping in to solve a murder or two.
Things start to boil over at the annual Lobster Stew Cook-Off when an award-winning recipe is stolen and a seven-time contest champion mysteriously disappears—leaving Candy no choice but to find out who in Cape Willington, Maine, would get steamed enough to break the law.
Candy’s convinced something fishy is going on, and her reporter instincts take over. But as she begins to put the missing pieces together she runs afoul of Wanda Boyle, the town busybody, who’s determined to stop her investigation. But nothing can stop Candy from discovering that dark secrets and unbridled ambition can boil over into murder.
When Candy’s friend seeks her help in finding the missing award-winning recipe hidden and stolen from her home, little did Candy know that her investigation would lead to murder, mayhem and betrayal. This was a good read, despite being a bit too descriptive for my taste. I thought I knew who the killer was, but the author caught me unawares. The tone of the story was pleasant, the dialogue entertaining and the local setting made me wish I lived in the town. I enjoyed my visit with Candy and her friends and I would love to see more of a relationship with Ben.
B.B. Haywood is the pseudonym for Robert and Beth Ann Feeman