Death and the Pot of Chowder

In Cornelia Kidd's Death and the Pot of Chowder, the first installment in the Maine Murder Cozy Mystery series, this debut would whip you a recipe of decadent foods and a twisted case of murder. For Anna Winslow, she was born and raised on Quarry Island, Maine, and had her husband Burt and teenage son to complete the perfect family life. But she never knew much about her biological father, until she received a letter from his attorney about his will and about her half-sister Izzy. Later she met her at the airport, though younger than her and half-Korean, she welcomed her into her family and learned about her culinary career and her dreams to open her own restaurant. Besides all this, her brother-in-law Carl had gone missing on his boat to go lobstering along the lake. When his boat turns up, he's presumed he had drowned, and later revealed to be murdered. This makes Anna question around her on the island about who wanted him dead, when the police had suspected Burt, and  then her son Jake acted weird with his best friend Matt. In order to clear her husband's name, she had developed a timeline with help from Izzie and dig dug down to learn the family secrets. Then she would realize who the killer is and how closer to her than she could ever think.


This was an enticing and compelling new cozy debut from Cornelia Kidd. We do get a sense of island life and learned a lot about Quarry Island, Maine. I did care for Anna, who married young and had Jake at a young age, and how she put her dreams on hold when she helped her step-father out in the office. I also liked how we had a diverse character such as Izzie to show her Asian delights and how she became welcomed to the Winslow household. I loved how she had dreams to make her new life on the island as her new home with Anna. I did became worried about Burt and Jake as the story unfolded and played out. I did like the breath-taking scenery of Maine for the location for this series. This would give you an appetite of new recipes to try and be hooked on a new cozy to read with non-stop action, drama, suspense and a scoop of mystery to finish it off.

Will you be ready to read Death and the Pot of Chowder today?