Book Review: Drawn and Buttered by Shari Randall (Lobster Shack Mysteries #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun characters; strong mystery

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

A giant lobster

Adds intrigue to a murder

Best in series yet

Allie is Drawn into Another Murder

Last year, we got the debut of the Shari Randall’s Lobster Shack Mysteries, which have proved to be lots of fun.  Drawn and Buttered is our third visit, and it’s the best one yet.

If you’ve missed this series, it stars ballet dancer Allie Larkin.  Yes, you read that right, the main character in a series set around a lobster shack is a dancer.  You see, Allie had an accident and broke her ankle so she can’t dance at the moment.  While she is home recovering, she is working at her Aunt Gully’s lobster shack in a small town in Connecticut.  Since she grew up in this town, she has friends there, and we get plenty of the small town cozy feeling I love so much in the cozies I read.

This book opens a couple of days before Halloween, and things have slowed down some at the Lazy Mermaid Lobster Shack.  The summer tourist families are long gone, but some tourists are still in the area looking at the fall colors.  However, there’s still plenty of excite going on, like the discovery of a giant lobster.  Quickly dubbed Lobzilla by the community, he’s almost big enough to beat the world record.  However, the morning after he’s found, he’s vanished.

If that were all Allie had on her mind, it would be one thing, but other odd things are happening in town, including a local witch who is doing everything possible to get Aunt Gully to join her coven.  Then, on Halloween night, Lobzilla shows up again, only he’s next to a dead body.  Can Allie figure out what is going on?

As you can probably guess, there is plenty of story to get through before the body is discovered.  However, the pace never lags.  We are meeting suspects and getting motives as well as being introduced to some sub-plots.  Even once the murder takes place, everything is balanced perfectly, and I never wanted to put the book down.  The climax is creative and everything is explained by the time we turn the final page.

I mentioned the sub-plot involving the witch on purpose.  When it was first introduced, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about it since it had the potential to turn the book dark.  I’m happy to say that it was there just enough to give the book a bit more Halloween flavor but it didn’t get too dark for me.  I think part of that is because the characters, especially Aunt Gully, treated it much as I would.  Or at least I how I hope I would if I were in that situation.

As the series has progressed, the characters have sharpened.  Aunt Gully is my favorite of the supporting characters since she is so much fun.  Allie, as our main character, is a wonderful narrator and great at piecing things together.  The cast includes her friends, who I love, and suspects that are strong enough to keep us guessing who the killer might be.

I really do feel this series has gotten stronger with each book, and Drawn and Buttered is the best one yet.  If you haven’t sampled this series, you are in for a treat.  Fans will snap this one up to find out what is going on with their favorite characters.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.