Early October is "winding down" time in Busman's Harbor, Maine, but
there's nothing relaxing about it for Julia Snowden. Between busloads of
weekend leaf peepers at the Snowden Family Clambake and a gut renovation
of the old mansion on Morrow Island, she's keeping it all together with
a potentially volatile skeleton crew--until one of them turns up dead
under the firewood.
When the Russian demo team clearing out the mansion discovers a room
that's been sealed off for decades, Julia's baffled as to its purpose
and what secrets it might have held. Tensions are already simmering with
the crew, but when one of the workers is found murdered, things come to
a boil. With the discovery of another body--and a mysterious diary with
Cyrillic text in the hidden room--the pressure's on Julia to dig up a
real killer fast. But she'll have to sort through a pile of suspects,
including ex-spouses, a spurned lover, and a recently released prisoner,
to fish out one clammed-up killer.
Praise for Steamed Open
"Sure to appeal to readers who treasure the Maine coast, Ross's latest
continues the lives and minor dramas of her fictionalized version of
Boothbay Harbor with amiable characters."
--Kirkus Reviews