Lobster Fest is fast approaching and Iris Buckley is in the thick of things. She agrees to judge a lobster bib contest along with all the duties of operating her shop Ruffles and Bows. When a reclusive wealthy widow calls and asks her if she is interested in some vintage sheets and other antique fabrics, she speeds out to meet Mrs. Brady. The mansion in which Mrs. Brady lives is in dire need of repair and Iris can see why she might want to sell some of her belongings. To help pay the upkeep, Mrs. Brady has rented some rooms to an environmental groups lead by Dr. Lukas de Wilde. When one of his students winds up dead at the bottom of a cliff, Iris finds herself in the middle of academic rivalries and jealousies. Lots of intrigue and a fascinating backstory.

Another delightful cozy mystery set in the fictional town of Blueberry Cove, Maine with Iris, the Apron Shop proprietor. The writing & world-building are top-notch here; the reader is treated to loving scenery and food descriptions. You could almost smell the ocean breeze while reading.

A small quibble, for the first quarter of the book, I thought we were going to have a completely different mystery happening. Like most books, there's an primary plot and a secondary plot-except that in this book the secondary plot was introduced first, so it was kind of a shock when the body showed up and it was from the wrong plot. I even had to go back and re-read character introductions as I thought I didn't need to pay close attention to them when they came up in the story.

However, that issue aside, it was great catching up with Iris and her world again!

This was not the first book by this author but it felt like it. It was slow moving and upon reflection very little actually happened. It was a lot of people hanging out and talking. The characters weren't particularly engaging and I kept forget the lead character's name. The thing that bothered me the most was that the author did not know how to segue from one scene to another. You would be reading the middle of one scene and all of a sudden the next sentence the time and place and action has all change. It was very confusing and annoying.

Ruffles & Bows is a shop in Blueberry Cove Maine I would love to visit. Iris, Grammie and her friends are a wonderful cast of characters. Iris helps solve the murder of a young girl and helps an old friend of Grammies’ with her past. I really enjoyed the mystery and didn’t solve it until the end. Well developed characters, setting as well as over all well written. I will be going back and reading the other ones in this series.

I am so glad I found this series! I loved the detailed, but not overly detailed, descriptions of her linens and aprons, I enjoyed the cast of characters, and the mystery and clues were well done. And, a little romantic action, but without it taking over the book.

I really like the idea of an apron shop. My mother always wore one when she was cooking a big meal. She had several of them, so reading a cozy mystery written about them is fun.
Iris is getting ready for the lobster festival, and when she gets a phone call from someone looking to consign vintage linens, she couldn’t be happier.
Happiness doesn’t last long when the death of a young girl turns out to be murder.
I like this series and I am looking forward to reading more.

Maine, family-dynamics, friendship, small-business, small-town, murder, greed, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement

New people in town are staying in the family friend's inn but one is not unfamiliar, one gets murdered, and one is a real piece of work. Existing romances fit in to make the plot twists and misdirections less obvious during this festive time of lobster appreciation. It's a good cozy with a wide variety of characters and fun things to learn about. Another nice thing is that the reader is not left floundering if the first book has been missed. A really nice cozy! LOVED it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

Iris Buckley, owner of an apron shop in Maine, receives a call from Eleanor Brady, the wealthy recluse, asking her to go through old linens for resale. Iris is happy to assist as she’s always wanted to see the inside of her mansion. Once there she meets Lukas, a doctor of science who along with his students of aquaculture, are renting rooms for the summer. Iris finds wonderful linens as well as vintage Chanel clothes that have secrets hidden in their hems. When one of Lukas’s student is found dead, Iris and her boyfriend, Ian Stewart start to investigate the murder.
Interesting characters, good mystery, great second plot. The writing felt a little slow at times but other than that it was a good cozy.

Iris Buckley and Grammie are gearing up their shop for tourists to descend upon Blueberry Cove for their annual festival. When Iris heads to check out some vintage fabrics, she agrees to help the older woman sell some vintage Chanel clothing and discovers a true mystery in the trunk. This leads her on a trail to discovering the history of the woman’s Mother.
If there isn’t enough going on to keep Iris more than busy, she comes across the body of a young woman in town for the Summer to work on an aqua culture project. Now Iris and the gang need to solve a murder and a mystery while trying to stay one step ahead of the killer.

The second book in this series was a welcome read. The suspense around Eleanor’s Mother was almost more exciting than the whodunit itself. Now I’m hungry for lobster…perhaps I need to take trip to Maine soon.

This is an interesting, complex story with two separate mysteries for Iris to solve - one a murder mystery and the other one of genology. Iris and her grandmother run Ruffles and Bows, a shop featuring antique aprons and linens. She gets a call from her grandmother's friend Eleanor who wants to sell of some of her lovely antique linens. while Iris is meeting with Eleanor she also sees some of Eleanor's mothers beautiful couture clothing, which is a surprise since her mother began work as a nursemaid and later discover large gems hidden in those clothes so Eleanor asks Iris to investigate her mother's background. At the same time Iris and her boyfriend Ian are at a party introducing some Belgian academics who are staying with Eleanor while they investigate and study the seaweed farms cropping up in the area. When Iris goes rock climbing with Ian the next morning she finds the body of one of the seaweed students, Hailey and gets involved in investigating the murder as well. Iris has a lot of balls in the air but manages to get both situations solved with the help of her friends. This book has interesting, relatable characters, a beautiful Maine setting and a strong plot. I highly recommend it.