The eighth Gray Whale Inn mystery is almost here!It’s summertime on Cranberry Island, and things are heating up for innkeeper Natalie Barnes. She may be hosting a yoga retreat, but things at the Gray Whale Inn are anything but Zen. Between juggling dietary restrictions and managing flaring tempers, Natalie’s about ready for a retreat of her own… far away from the inn’s fit but finicky guests. … finicky guests.
Unfortunately, there’s no reprieve on the island. The lobster co-op and pier are under threat once again, this time by a new arrival whose vision for Cranberry Island looks more like a spread in Coastal Living than a quaint Maine fishing village. When the instigator turns up dead next to the co-op and the police start fishing for suspects, Natalie’s dear friend Claudette is the one they haul up.
Will Natalie trap the killer in time? Or will she be next?
more
Claws for Alarm is another fabulous addition to the Gray Whale Inn Mystery series. In this latest visit to Cranberry Island, Natalie is hosting a yoga retreat at the inn. Francine Hodges, a new summer resident from Florida, is making a nuisance of herself, by pointing out all the things on the island that SHE feels are nuisances by not fitting the island’s “image.” (In other words, she wants to eliminate everything that attracts tourists to the island — not a popular idea, as you can imagine.)
When a murder occurs, the guests at the inn are suspects, along with some island residents. Natalie helps John, the island’s resident deputy (who is also her husband), with his investigation by questioning their guests and some of their neighbors. During her investigation, Natalie develops a solid case against more than one person. The evidence and motive for each person is plausible. Natalie and I weren’t sure who to trust, leading to a thrilling climax.
Claws for Alarm is a fun and quick read, with a great cover, a wonderful setting, engaging characters, and twisty mysteries to solve. I really enjoyed it, and I think you will too. Highly recommended!
(Note: I received a complimentary copy of Claws for Alarm in exchange for my honest review. All opinions shared are 100% my own.)
Originally published on my blog Jane Reads.
Cranberry Island’s newest resident, Francine Hodges, is making waves in her quest to convert the charming island village into her version of a perfectly manicured and picturesque New England town right out of the pages of Coastal Living, so it’s no surprise when she’s found with her head smashed in by a brick. Unfortunately, she’d been arguing recently with island resident, Claudette, who’s quickly charged with her murder. Natalie has her hands full trying to clear Claudette’s name, keeping her very needy yoga retreat guests happy and peaceful, and preventing her bff Charlene from permanently abandoning the island in her search for love. With multiple suspects, Karen MacInerney’s Claws for Alarm, the 8th entry in her Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series, kept this reader on the edge of her seat (well, sofa….) trying to guess whodunit and why! A+++
Liked the story as usual, nothing really stands out that I feel like mentioning except that many of the threads deal with relationship issues. Not my favorite topic in a mystery though I can see how living on an island definitely makes finding the right person harder.
From my review on goodreads: The newest installment of the Gray Whale Inn series did not disappoint! Cranberry Island is always hopping and it was fun to catch up with Natalie, her family and friends. Natalie has a full house hosting a yoga retreat but some of the guests have hangups with food and each other. One of the newest residents to the island is murdered and a long time resident has been arrested. It’s up to Natalie to figure out who the murderer is before someone else turns up dead! Always look forward to the recipes, mmm. Love the series and can’t wait to visit again.
RECIPES!! There are recipes at the end of the book! Yum ones!!
Amateur sleuth/cozy tend to be my mystery of choice. I have been a fan of Karen MacInerney for quite some time. I started with her Tales of an Urban Werewolf series and then found that she wrote amateur sleuth too. Really good ones!
I love the setting and the premise of this series. Natalie moved to the island of Cranberry to run an inn. Karen makes it real how Natalie can keep the place going, have the food ready, and still get involved in solving the mystery. Sometimes those things fall through the cracks in other books. I tend to stop reading those.
There’s a yoga retreat full of intriguing personalities, there’s a new-to-the-island woman who is making a complete nuisance of herself by trying to change all that is wonderful about Cranberry Island. There is a murder and there are plenty of fab suspects.
I like that Nat’s husband is a deputy and knows that Nat can be trusted to help in her way to investigate. He helps around the inn where he can and doesn’t get wrapped around the macho axle while doing so.
Off to see if my husband would like the crab-stuffed avocados for dinner one day soon…..recipe in the back of the book!!
I can definitely recommend this book, series and author.
Take a Break and read a beach book. I usually read two books at the same time, one that is informational/classic/ political etc. And one that is just pour fun. Love this series. Just a breath of Maine fresh air .
Claws for Alarm is 8th and latest installment in the Gray Whale Inn series, set on Cranberry Island, Maine. Usually I start a series at the beginning but I was offered a chance to read this book and after hearing so much about it I jumped on the chance. I am so glad that I did I fell in love with the Natalie and her Inn, the island was so well described that I felt like I was there. It sounds like a place I wish I could go visit. There were many twists and turns. This book was very enjoyable and kept you guessing until the end. I just ordered the rest of the set and am going to start from the beginning. I will definitely read more of Karen MacInerney’s books. I highly recommend this book and the series. I can’t wait for #9.
Gray Whale innkeeper Natalie Barnes is hosting a yoga retreat, but things are far from serene on Cranberry Island. Newcomer Francine Hodges is bent on changing things on the island as to attract a different sort of people. But the locals are not happy with her ideas, which causes things like food fights in the local grocery.
But one morning Natalie and her husband John receive word that Francine has been found dead near the pier. Someone bashed her head in, and the authorities focus their investigation on Natalie’s friend Claudette. It’s up to Natalie to prove Claudette’s innocence, and find the real killer.
A trip to Cranberry Island is always a delight, and this latest installment is no different from the others. Natalie and John are the perfect hosts for the inn, and their latest guests, the yoga retreat goers add color to the story.
I like Claudette, and the food fight sets the table for this perfect tale. The search for the killer takes the readers on a great ride, as does the description of island life.
If you haven’t started the Gray Whale Inn mysteries this is the perfect place to begin. Then you can go back and catch up on the other books set on the island. You won’t be sorry you did.
I need someone to book me a room at the Gray Whale for a stay that lasts a long time.
Claws For Alarm is the 8th book in The Gray Whale Inn Mysteries by Karen McInerney.
There is a newcomer on the island that is causing issues with everyone about how everything should look and run. A yoga retreat is running the Inn’s owner ragged. A murder of the newcomer and a retreat goer missing and then found injured. Can Natalie find the killer before she’s next?
I highly recommend this book to anyone that’s not started the series yet or who just found the series again. You will highly enjoy it
Natalie’s current guests at her bed and breakfast are on a yoga retreat, but any thoughts she’d had of peace and quiet have vanished. They are demanding different food and squabbling amongst themselves. However, the real drama is happening elsewhere on this island off the coast of Maine where newcomer Francine is making everyone’s life miserable in her efforts to remake the island into what she thinks is should be. After a particularly memorable fight with Claudette, Francine winds up dead. Natalie knows her friend couldn’t have done it. But who did?
I do need to get one issue out of the way first. There is a timing issue in the plot that keeps me from giving the version I read five stars. Once it is edited (and the author is working on the revisions), that won’t be an issue at all. And that’s great because this book is wonderful. I love the setting of the series, and always feel like I’ve gotten to relax when I am reading about it. Natalie and the usual cast are old friends, and I was glad to get updates on them. The new characters are just as strong and memorable. I thought I had the killer pegged early, but it turned out I was wrong, yet all the twists made sense at the end.
I love the characters and the charming island. Good mystery. I’ve read the whole series.
I just finished Claws for Alarm and it was a great addition to the Gray Whale Mystery series.
I love Cranberry Island, I love the characters, including Biscuit, Smudge, and the marauding goats, I love the Inn… I want to go there to visit or to live. There is a high mortality rate after Natalie moves to the island, but it sounds like such a wonderful place.
Once I start reading I can’t set my Kindle down. I read these books straight through. The story is engaging and there are plenty of twists and turns. I appreciate that the books aren’t smutty or filled with foul language.