Murder Most Maine

It's springtime on Cranberry Island―and love is in the air. It seems like every woman has the hots for buff trainer Dirk De Leon. He and his equally gorgeous business partner, Vanessa Black, are leading a weight-loss retreat at the Gray Whale Inn―forcing innkeeper Natalie Barnes to lighten up her butter-laden breakfast menu. The mood on the island darkens when two grisly discoveries are made. The first is a skeleton walled up at the island's lighthouse. The second is a corpse of the fresh variety―the handsome Dirk! Could the spirit that once embodied the skeletal remains―perhaps the lighthouse keeper who disappeared a century ago―be responsible for Dirk's death? The police pin the blame on Natalie's boyfriend who―to her show more dismay―had a long-ago fling with Vanessa. To find the true killer and ease her own aching heart, Natalie must untangle the knot of jealous girlfriends and spurned admirers that once surrounded the hunky trainer.
Natalie Barnes, an innkeeper on Cranberry Island, Maine, is happy to be hosting the "Lose-It-All Weight Loss" retreat at Gray Whale Inn. She hopes to lose some weight herself, as she has become romantically involved with her next-door neighbor, John Quinton.

Things begin to go slightly offsides when the retreat's trainer Dirk De Leon is murdered. To Natalie's complete dismay, the police discover he had been poisoned, so and they close the kitchen as they investigate the possibility of the poison coming from there. That is our first mystery; where did the poison originate? Our second mystery involves the nightly theft of sweets and their ingredients, again from the inn's kitchen. A third mystery is when a skeleton thought to be around 150 -years old is found during the renovation of the lighthouse.

Frankly, in spite of it being a mystery that sounded interesting, I grew quickly tired of the whole thing and stated skipping over a lot of the info about the food and the food preparation. Also, I figured out the motive for the murder early in the book, but I didn't figure out who the murderer was. I knew who the "sweet thief" was almost from the beginning. I'm giving the book 3-stars because 1. It's not the fault of the author or the book that I don't like cozy mysteries, 2. I needed the book to fill a challenge category of a book with a lighthouse on the cover...it does indeed have a lighthouse on the cover, so...mission accomplished. 3. The characters were a bit on the silly side in spite of the really truly dead body and the police investigation. Anyone that likes cozy mysteries will more than likely find it to be a really enjoyable book...so just take my opinion with a grain of salt, or sand in this case:) show less

I really enjoyed this book because of the mystery within the mystery as well as the history of the Underground Railroad that was included.

Natalie Barnes runs a B&B on Cranberry Island off the coast of Maine. In this installment her B&B is being taken over for a weight-loss retreat so Nat has been perfecting sugarless cocoa and egg white omelets just to name a few items on the menu. The buzz on the island is all about a skeleton found in a secret room in the lighthouse. Was it the long lost lighthouse keeper? When the attendees arrive on the island along with the leaders - a gorgeous Size 0 and the muscular fitness trainer, everyone seems excited about the hike taking them to the lighthouse, however, the trainer is a no show. But not for show more long. The group finds his body along the way and when it is determined that he was poisoned, Natalie has problems again because the B&B kitchen has to be shutdown until the poison/poisoner are found. Natalie takes the time to look into the story of the lost lighthouse keeper.

The two mysteries were cleverly interwoven and the characters are growing along with the series.
Looking forward to the next one. show less

Very enjoyable mystery. Many twists and turns. A clue-filled murder mystery at the Gray Whale Inn, with a secondary skeleton discovered in the lighthouse, that is a suspected murder victim from 150 years before.

Another good mystery series about a bed and breakfast, this one on the Maine coast. Likable characters, pleasing setting, and interesting action. Made me want to go to Maine. Look forward to reading others in this series, the Gray Whale Inn mysteries.

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