Title: Against the Claw
Author: Shari Randall
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 31, 2018
Page Count: 336
My rating: 3 1/2 stars
About the book:
Finger-licking delicious, Shari Randall’s Against the Claw is the second in the Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack series.
Welcome back to the seaside village of Mystic Bay, where someone’s been found sleeping with the fishes. . .
Ballerina Allie Larkin is still back home, healing up from a broken ankle and lending a hand at her aunt’s Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack. But now that the famed restaurant is branching out into the world of catering, Allie’s help is needed more than ever―even on the lobster boat. The last thing she expects to find once she’s out on the bay, however, is the dead body of a beautiful young woman.
When days pass and not even the police can ID the corpse, Allie takes it upon herself to learn the truth about what happened. Her investigation leads her all the way from the local piers to the secluded estates of Mystic Bay’s posh elite. But how can she crack this case when everyone seems dead-set on keeping their secrets beneath the surface?
Against the Claw by Shari Randall is the second book in the cozy A Lobster Shack Mystery series. The series is centered around dancer Allie Larkin who had to return home to Mystic Bay when she was injured and couldn’t dance so she took up working with her aunt at her Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack.
Working at the restaurant has been much more than just waiting on tables and serving up lobster to the customers for Allie. Aunt Gully has had her doing a bit of everything since she returned from helping with the lobster tasting to solving the murder that took place there.
Now Allie finds herself once again being asked to cover other jobs that come with running a lobster business when she’s sent out on the boat to check the lobster traps. Allie didn’t mind being out on the water until she pulls in a line and finds much more than lobster attached. Floating beneath the surface is the body of a young girl and once police are involved and not finding out what happened Allie once again goes about solving the mystery.
The Lobster Shack Mystery series is not one that is overly quirky so to me that is one element that keeps me from gushing completely about this series. The lack of that certain element often leaves the characters feeling a bit flat to me and wishing they would stand out a bit more. However, on the flip side I do quite enjoy the whole “lobster” setting of the books and find myself quite interested in the mystery side of things so despite the lack of my favorite dash of uniqueness to the characters I do still enjoy the books with each installment leaving me to rate at 3.5 stars.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Find this book online:
Goodreads / Amazon
About the author:
A native New Englander, Shari loves hanging out with the gang at the Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack in fictional Mystic Bay, Connecticut, where the lobster rolls are delicious, the company’s good, and murder’s always on the menu.
When she’s not committing murder (on the page, of course), Shari enjoys walking the beach near her house, traveling, reading, visiting her globe-trotting children, and dancing. She’s currently trying to talk her husband into a tango class.
Categories: Uncategorized
Thank you for your honest review!
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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Nice review Carrie. Poor lobster on the cover.😔
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Haha thanks, I swear I read somewhere about them coming up with a new more humane way of cooking lobster recently, can’t remember the details on it though since it’s not like I’m cooking lobsters anytime soon.
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I’ll have to look that up. Besides the price of them it’s the way they’re cooked that prevents me from eating them.
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The only time I’ve tried lobster has been on a cruise and I wasn’t that impressed to spend the big bucks and actually buy it elsewhere. Don’t think I could bring myself to do the cooking regardless though, I would end up putting a leash on it and calling it a pet.
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LoL!! Mystery about The food I love… The best! LOL!
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Hehe it did make me hungry with every mention of a lobster roll etc. 🙂
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A very exciting and cute read. Excellent I would say too for a. Summer read. Thanks you.
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Yes it did make for quite a nice sunny summer read. 🙂
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Great review! I definitely want to give this series a try 🙂
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Thanks! They have been pretty decent mysteries so far so hopefully you’ll like it! 🙂
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Once again, a thoughtful review, Carrie. The setting does sound fun!
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Thanks Jennifer! I’m all about anything near the ocean or heck I’d even take a lake. Being stuck right in the middle of the US is boring so I always find it fun to read about the coastal cities. 🙂
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That cover makes me cringe! Great Review!😍
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Haha thanks, I’m just thankful the cover doesn’t come with audio… eek.
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Nice review Carrie, I definitely have to get to this one to find out if Allie is going to stick around. I think she will. The only quirky one is Aunt Gully, I really like her character.
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Thanks Carla! I had the thought at the end of book 1 that I wondered how long a series would be if she was there temporarily to heal.
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Absolutely.
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