The Inn at Holiday Bay: Clue in the Clam

A heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again. After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without. In book 15 in the series, it’s time for the annual clam bake weekend which promises to bring not only new guests to know and love but a mystery to solve and an important decision to make.

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5.0 out of 5 stars 
Bodies and Secrets Uncovered
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2021
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Clue in the Clam is the fifteenth book in Kathi Daley’s heartwarming The Inn at Holiday Bay series. The setting is charming, and the well-developed characters are three-dimensional, compassionate, and caring. The storyline is well plotted, and there are lots of twists and red herrings in the complex mysteries contained within this book. The storyline flows smoothly, and the book is a clean read with a perfect blend of mystery, heartache, joy, and caring with a touch of sweet romance. Every time I pick up one of Ms. Daley’s books, I know I’m in for a treat, and I’ve never been disappointed. I highly recommend this series to readers who enjoy well-crafted cozy mysteries.

After Abby Sullivan’s lost her husband and their infant son in a tragic accident, she moved to Holiday Bay, Maine, opened the Inn at Holiday Bay, made a new life for herself, and found a home and a family. Georgia Carter, who has also overcome obstacles in her life, is the inn’s talented cook/baker and manager, and she and her Newfoundland dog, Ramos, live with Abby, Rufus, a Maine Coon, and Molly, a terrier mix, in a cottage on the property. Georgia’s cable cooking show, Cooking with Georgia, is doing well. Jeremy Slater, who lives in the inn’s basement apartment with his young niece, Annabelle, is a valuable asset who helps with the inn’s day-to-day operations.

Holiday Bay is preparing for their annual Clam Bake week. Abby and Georgia decided to have the inn’s murder mystery dinner and clam bake on a private island owned by Belmont Salinger. After Georgia is contacted by a representative of the theater group about needing photographs of the island, Tanner agrees to use his boat to make a trip to the island. Georgia invites Abby and Colt to join them, and they make plans to go out to dinner afterward. Unfortunately, their plans change when Abby comes upon the body of a local town councilman, Oliver Halifax. As Police Chief Colt Wilder investigates, he and Abby uncover secrets harbored by several local residents.