The Chowder House Murder (Downeast Maine Mystery #1)

The Chowder House Murder (Downeast Maine Mystery #1) by Lee Hollis is out now, published May 26, 2026.

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The Chowder House Murder (Downeast Maine Mystery #1)

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The Chowder House Murder (Downeast Maine Mystery #1) Release Date: May 26, 2026

Published

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 Maineโ€ฆand 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 Coveโ€™s popular eatery, The Chowder House, started serving matriarch Maggie Holbrookโ€™s famous clam chowder itโ€™s been in high demand. Cooked up at the restaurant by Maggieโ€™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 Maggieโ€™s hilltop home for the weekly family dinner with the rest of the Holbrooksโ€”her three uncles, and her mom, Jill. But before the mealโ€™s end, Jill, a police chief, gets an alarming call. Chips has been found in the streetโ€”dead. Jill races out to investigate . . . and is shocked to learn Chipsโ€™ 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 itโ€™s uncovered that Waldo bitterly believed the Holbrooks stole the lucrative chowder recipe from the Duggans in the 1930โ€™s, heโ€™s only further implicated . . .

Despite everything, Maggie canโ€™t believe Waldo would murder anyone. For fair-minded Maggie, to keep an innocent man out of jail, and to ease Audreyโ€™s guilt over serving the chowder, thereโ€™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 . . .

๐Ÿ“š Ready to read? Secure your copy today and be among the first to enjoy this release.

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Lee Hollis

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