Hidden Beneath by Barbara Ross takes us back to Busman’s Harbor, Maine. It is another busy season for the Snowden’s with the clambake business. Julia and her mother are glad to be living at Windsholme. It saves them having to return to Busman’s Harbor each evening. Jacqueline, Julia’s mother, finds herself the executor of a childhood friend’s estate. There is something suspicious about the woman’s death. Five years have passed since Ginny has died, but Jacqueline and Julia are hoping to find clues in Ginny’s residences. Another murder means the two women are getting close. There are several suspects, with most of them belong to the Wednesday Club. There is misdirection to keep the sleuths off the path of the guilty party. I had fun solving this whodunit. Barbara Ross crafted an intriguing whodunit. We get to catch up with all the regular characters plus see how Jacqueline and George’s romance is progressing. Julia runs into her ex-boyfriend Chris while on Chipmunk Island helping her mother with Ginny’s estate. Chris has made some decisions regarding his life. And finally, something I have been hoping would happen has finally happened (I do not want to spoil it for you). In addition, someone makes an offer for Windholme. Jacqueline has a big decision to make. Jacqueline’s decision will affect the whole family. Hidden Beneath is an easy-to-read story. I like the author’s friendly writing style. The characters are kind, realistic, and relatable. Hidden Beneath is the eleventh A Maine Clambake Mystery. It can be read as a standalone. However, I have enjoyed reading the series in order. It has allowed me to get to know the characters and their backstories. There are recipes at the end for some of the dishes described in the book. The voyage in Hidden Beneath is a bumpy one with a moving memorial, scrumptious clambakes, a previous suitor, a close clique, a surprising proposition, a helpful find, and an unexpected kiss. ( )

Julia accompanies her mother Jacqueline to a memorial service of her childhood friend, Ginny, who has been declared dead six years after going for a swim, never to return. Jacqueline is surprised to be named executor of Ginny's estate. There is a mystery surrounding Ginny's disappearance which they feel is connected to a present day murder. This was a fast paced book which had me on the edge of my seat and kept me reading far into the night. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for our giving me with this ARC to read and review. I can't wait to read the next book in this wonderful series! ( )

This may be one of my favorite books in the Maine Clambake Mystery series. Julia's mother Jacqueline is surprised when she's named executor of a childhood friend's estate, a friend whom she hadn't spoken to in years and who disappeared 5 years ago during her usual mid-morning swim from nearby Chipmunk Island. When Julia and Jacqueline discover a series of murals in the house they're organizing, Julia gets pulled into a cold case. It was refreshing to see Julia sleuthing outside Busman's harbor and with the support of her mother. While part of a series, you could read this as a standalone.

Thanks to Kensington Books for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley. ( )

Hidden Beneath is the eleventh book in the A Maine Clambake Mystery series by Barbara Ross.

This book is concerned with what turns out to be a cold-case murder. Most of the book will take place on a nearby island called Chipmunk Island.

Julia’s mother, Jacqueline, requests her to join her on a trip to Chipmunk Island for the memorial service for her childhood friend, Ginny. The memorial was headed by a group of ladies known as the Wednesday Club. Ginny disappeared five years ago while on her daily swim around Chipmunk Island. Ginny’s death was thought to be suicide. When Julia and Jacqueline return to the island a couple of weeks later, they find the Wednesday Club members feverously looking for Ginny’s will. They finally find the will, and Jacqueline is shocked to learn she has been named executor. Jacqueline is surprised as she hadn’t seen Ginny since her teen years when she visited Chipmunk Island during the summer.

Ginny also had a condo in Portland, Maine, which Jacqueline would have to clean. Ginny had faithfully kept journals since she was a teen. Jacqueline hoped they might explain what happened on her last day alive. Once back home, Jacqueline and Julia start reading through the diaries and soon think that the death of one of the Wednesday Club’s fathers might not have been an accidental death. So now Julia and Jacqueline will need to try and learn what happened that night when the father fell off his boat and drowned. Julia thinks if the father’s death was murder, then one of the Wednesday Club might have murdered Ginny.

This book is very well-written and plotted. Ms. Ross does an excellent job describing Cipmunk Island and its residents. The characters are well-developed and believable. The story moves at a good pace. There were enough red herring and twists and turns that I kept guessing until the end of the book to learn the killer's identity.

I’m looking forward to the next book in this excellent series. ( )

When Julia Snowden's mother, Jacqueline, asks her to accompany her to the memorial of an old friend, Julia agrees. The problem is, Julia never heard of Ginny, and wonders why her mother never mentioned her. But when they arrive on Chipmunk Island, home to generations of people who pass their homes down to their families, she notices the Wednesday Book Club Women -- a group of six women (now five with the passing of Ginny) aren't very welcoming to her, much less to her mother. But Jacqueline pauses enough to go through Ginny's home, where the memorial is being held, and sees things Julia doesn't.

Julia doesn't know whether questioning her mother will yield results or not, so she keeps quiet. When they return to the island, they discover the women moving Ginny's furniture about, looking for something. It's a will, and when it is eventually found, Jacqueline is surprised to find that she's been named executor. Yet all is not right. Kitty, Ginny's next-door neighbor, is curious as to if they've discovered anything. The rest of the women are keeping quiet. But the more they look, the more they find something isn't right, and Jacqueline wonders if Ginny didn't accidentally die, but was murdered.

Julia's curiosity sets her about looking for the truth. But it isn't going to be easy, with the women keeping close, and Julia discovering her ex-boyfriend Chris is working on the island. Have things truly been resolved between them? Will Julia find what she is looking for, or will a killer manage to not only get away with murder, but kill again?...

This is the eleventh book in the series and I have read them all. I have watched Julia return home after her father's death to help run the Snowden Family Clambake, and now to see a new chapter in her life begin. This story is one of the most interesting, with her mother having to make not only decisions for her friend Ginny, but personal ones as well that can change everything.

Julia is mostly centered on solving the mystery; her personal life needs to take a backseat to what is going on otherwise -- or does it? While we wonder about the truth of Ginny's life and death, and if it was indeed murder, clues are handed to us about a long-ago death and if that was not murder also, or if it was even relevant to Ginny's accidental death. Then another tragic event occurs, and the state police are brought in (our old friends Binder and Flynn) and will they listen to Julia's theories? Or will they dismiss it as just that?

When Julia and Jacqueline go to Portland to settle things in Ginny's condo, clues develop as to the woman's life. With Jacqueline's regrets about not seeing her more, she's been lost in her own thoughts, and Julia must put forth her best efforts to discover what is and is not the truth...

I loved this book, even more than the last. It was detailed and centered on the people on Chipmunk Island and their secrets. And secrets abound. And I do love a mystery-within-a-mystery, as it were. I love reading how the older mystery is solved as well as the newer one, and this book did not disappoint. It was absorbing, intelligent, as well as entertaining. I was sorry to see it end. But when the ending does come, it is unexpected and enlightening. And the epilogue left us with something to look forward to. Highly recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review. ( )