The Chowder House Murder by Lee Hollis Series: Downeast Maine Mystery #1
Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Kensington on May 26, 2026
Format: Audiobook, eBook, Hardcover (352 pages) • Source: Hoopla, Library
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The first in a brand new, multi-generational cozy mystery series introduces three generations of strong, no-nonsense women who head the Holbrook family seafood dynasty in Downeast Maine…and a murder the Holbrook matriarch and her granddaughter must solve, even as it entangles them in a web of small-town secrets, and a Hatfields and McCoys-level chowder rivalry.
Ever since Halibut Cove’s popular eatery, The Chowder House, started serving matriarch Maggie Holbrook’s famous clam chowder it’s been in high demand. Cooked up at the restaurant by Maggie’s ambitious 19-year-old granddaughter, Audrey, the dish even has a regular nightly customer, retiree Chips Hogan. . . . Until one fateful Sunday night.
After serving Chips his chowder, Audrey rushes off to Maggie’s hilltop home for the weekly family dinner with the rest of the Holbrooks—her three uncles, and her mom, Jill. But before the meal’s end, Jill, a police chief, gets an alarming call. Chips has been found in the street—dead. Jill races out to investigate . . . and is shocked to learn Chips’ chowder was poisoned.
When a Chowder House server recalls seeing local diner cook Waldo Duggan in the alley that same evening, he becomes a suspect. And when it’s uncovered that Waldo bitterly believed the Holbrooks stole the lucrative chowder recipe from the Duggans in the 1930’s, he’s only further implicated . . .
Despite everything, Maggie can’t believe Waldo would murder anyone. For fair-minded Maggie, to keep an innocent man out of jail, and to ease Audrey’s guilt over serving the chowder, there’s no choice but to team-up to crime solve. Soon grandmother and granddaughter are immersed in a stew of rivalries, long held feuds, and looming threats. Because beneath the surface, even a pretty town has its ugly side . . .
I saw this book at the library and grabbed it on a whim – a cozy mystery centered around a chowder house set in Coastal Maine? Perfect for me. I almost returned it without reading it like I unfortunately do with a lot of library books, but I decided to just push myself to actually read it… and I’m really glad I did!
I think this is a promising start to a new cozy mystery series that I will definitely be continuing. I obviously loved the Maine and chowder restaurant. The mystery itself was interesting too! I didn’t put all the pieces together but did feel like I was coming to the same conclusions along with the characters. There was a fun multi-generational element here with the grandma, mom, and daughter, along with the sons of the grandma character (brothers or uncles for the other two obviously).
I found some repetition in spots that could’ve used more editing. For example, on one page it said something about Tom being handsome and charming, “not to mention a real looker,” as if that isn’t the same thing has handsome? And in one paragraph one of the villains says something like “you think you’re real smart, don’t you?” and two seconds later “you think you’re real clever, don’t you?” My other main issue with the book is that there were a ton of characters. I know this is meant to set up some red herrings while also laying groundwork for future characters in upcoming books, I’m sure, but it was too much for me to track.
Overall, as I mentioned, I will definitely continue in this series as they come out!
The Unknown by Riley Sager Genres: Adult, Mystery/Thriller
Published by Penguin Group on August 4, 2026
Also by this author: Lock Every Door, Middle of the Night
Format: Audio/Physical (368 pages) • Source: Book of the Month, Spotify Audiobooks
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The first edition of this stunning hardcover features designed endpapers, a foil-stamped case, hued edges, and a shimmery jacket!
In 1926, five women disappeared from a remote island in Vermont. Now, one hundred years later, it’s happening again.
Struggling actress Marin Keane is shocked when she lands a role in a major motion picture about the unsolved mystery of New Avalon, an island on sprawling Lake Faraday in Vermont. She’s even more surprised when she learns that the role requires a weeklong research trip to that very spot.
Because New Avalon isn’t your ordinary island. A century ago, it was a commune for spiritual mediums—until they all vanished in 1926. The only trace of them was five dresses hanging from the branches of an old oak tree in the middle of the island, one for each missing woman. Some locals say they simply left. Others think they were murdered. But the prevailing opinion, thanks to a diary left behind by one of the vanished, a young woman named Daisy Rue, is that a séance gone wrong conjured something supernatural that took them all one by one.
Not long after arriving, Marin and her castmates, including legendary actress Violet Wright and white-hot director Ronan Peters, begin to realize all is not right with New Avalon. They hear strange noises in the night and notice mysterious symbols left behind by the island's previous occupants. And after a sudden health emergency leaves Marin, Ronan, and the other actors stranded on the island, the disappearances begin again.
Is it the work of someone trying to derail the movie? Or is the island’s alleged supernatural past catching up with the present? As fear and suspicion mount, Marin turns to Daisy’s diary, hoping it holds the key to figuring out what really happened to the women of New Avalon—and how to keep the island’s terrible history from repeating itself.
I’m a newer Riley Sager reader, with mixed results. I first read LOCK EVERY DOOR and thought it was fine, not my favorite. I loved MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, which is an unpopular opinion apparently, and then DNFed WITH A VENGEANCE. This book was excellent and is up there on my list for sure.
This story follows Marin as she lands her first big acting role. She has to spend time on a creepy island where a bunch of women went missing in the 1920s in order to “get into character,” along with the rest of the cast and crew. Spooky things start happening and she’s wondering if history will repeat itself.
Riley Sager’s books always have that “will he or won’t he” make it paranormal, and the ride to figuring that out is so fun. Like I said, I haven’t actually read all of his books to know if any of them do veer into that territory but I know this is the case from the ones I’ve read, along with book reviews from friends.
This was a really good one; I wasn’t obsessed right away but my enjoyment and interest increased with each chapter. I finished almost the whole thing in a day. There’s something about the way it was written and the paranormal debate in my head that made it addicting after a while.
The characters aren’t really memorable so this is more 4.5 stars than 5; the ending was great and well-done but I think more connection to the main character would have given it more oomph for me.
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