Cover Reveal–Sealed Off, Maine Clambake #8

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by Barb, happy to be back in Portland, Maine. (But maybe not so happy about our spring snowstorms.)

I’m excited to announce that the eighth Maine Clambake Mystery, Sealed Off will go on sale on December 31, 2019. Happy New Year!

Here’s the cover. The folks at Kensington have outdone themselves once again.

Sealed Off cover

Here’s the back cover blurb.

Early October is “winding down” time in Busman’s Harbor, Maine, but there’s nothing relaxing about it for Julia Snowden. Between busloads of weekend leaf peepers at the Snowden Family Clambake and a gut renovation of the old mansion on Morrow Island, she’s keeping it all together with a potentially volatile skeleton crew—until one of them turns up dead under the firewood.

When the Russian demo team clearing out the mansion discovers a room that’s been sealed off for decades, Julia’s baffled as to its purpose and what secrets it might have held. Tensions are already simmering with the crew, but when one of the workers is found murdered, things come to a boil. With the discovery of another body—and a mysterious diary with Cyrillic text in the hidden room—the pressure’s on Julia to dig up a real killer fast. But she’ll have to sort through a pile of suspects, including ex-spouses, a spurned lover, and a recently released prisoner, to fish out one clammed-up killer.

Readers: What do you think? Does the cover make you want to read the book? Let me know and one lucky commenter will win a Snowden Family Clambake tote bag and an Advance Reader Copy of Haunted House Murder.

As I mentioned in this post, my story “Hallowed Out” in Haunted House Murder begins before the events in Sealed Off and ends after them. But it can easily be read independently in any order.

Updated 4/15/19. The winner has been chosen and the prize is on its way !

Published by Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of twelve Maine Clambake Mystery novels and six novellas. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and have won the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Portland, Maine. Readers can visit her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

107 Thoughts

    1. Unusually, I didn’t tell Kensington what recipes I would feature, and they didn’t ask. But there are recipes none-the-less for lamb chops sous vide, East Coast cioppino, pot roast, brownies and halibut pizzaiola.

  2. I love that cover! And yes, it definitely makes me want to read the book. I’m not sure how you can stand waiting eight months for it to come out!

  3. Great cover! I always look forward to visiting with Julia Snowden and family. I can hardly wait to get my hands on this book!

  4. The cover not only makes me want to read the book – it makes me want to read it at the beach!

  5. I like the cover but I’d want to read it even if It had a plain white cover. It’s one of my favorite series.

  7. Simple cover that holds a great book for a great series. Thanks so much for sharing it.

  8. Love the cover! Makes me want to have dinner with them. I really enjoy this series and Julia’s family.

  9. This cover is fantastic! I’m so excited. I can’t wait to read this. The only negative is the books end each time. Wish they were 500 pages.

  10. I love the cover! Can’t wait to read the book! But it doesn’t come out for another 8 months! So unfair!

  11. LOVE the cover! I always look to see if a cover would draw me in – this one would although a knife sticking up from the bread cutting board would have been cool. Then I dissect it’s components to see what clues I can find about the book. Love the cozy picnic scene at the water’s edge, but it’s the little seal “sealed off” from the shore that draws my attention. Then, of course, it’s my love of lighthouses next. Yes this cover yells READ ME!

    Can’t wait to read “Sealed Off” Sounds like a totally amazing book and one I’m definitely going to enjoy reading.

    Thanks for the chance to win a Snowden Family Clambake tote bag AND an Advance Reader Copy of “Haunted House Murder”! Two great prizes that is going to make someone very happy. (Of course, I’d be ecstatic if I were fortunate enough to be selected).
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  12. This cover definitely makes me want to read the book! It’s so inviting! The only negative thing is that I have to wait until the end of the year to read the book. I guess I can make it though 🙂

  13. Hi. You had me at clambake #8. I love this series and am happy there is another adventure. The cover is also great. Thank You!

  14. What a great cover! I absolutely love this series and am excited to read the new stories! I think cover art gives each mystery series its own identity. I find, as a librarian, that people are more prone to read a book by identifying with a familiar cover. People will walk by the book, see the cover and say, “Oh, I didn’t know they had a new book out!” or “I forgot I was reading this series!” Amazing what branding can do!

    1. Andrea, I completely agree about the value of cover art. I have been so lucky to have the same artist for each of the Maine Clambake covers.

  16. Oh I can’t wait to read this!! And try the recipes!! Come on December 😁😁😁

  17. I think the cover is great! It’s colorful and eye catching. It makes me want to read the book.

  18. Love the cover. I just read the first book in the series so I have a little time to get caught up.

  19. Your cover makes me want to plop down in one of those Adirondack chairs, enjoy the meal and cocktails, and watch the seal. I can’t wait for the release of Sealed Off!

  20. I love the cover and this looks like another great read from you! I enjoy the series, love the location and I’m looking forward to when this comes out in December! Yay! ✍🏻📚❤️

  21. Wonderful cover! The Maine Clambake Mystery series is one of my absolute favorites. Looking forward to the novella and the book 📚!

  22. I love every cover in this wonderful series, Barb. But this is one with the seal is especially clever. Plus, it reminds me that it’s been way too long since I’ve been to Maine. I’m looking forward to reading Sealed Off!

  24. Love the cover, it makes me want to dig right into it. Thanks for this amazing giveaway.

  25. Love the cover but I can hardly wait to read it,looks like I will celebrate New year’s eve reading it.Always love a cover with a lighthouse a favorite thing f mine.

  26. I’ve read them all and am always anxiously awaiting the next release. I love the title and the cover for book #8! Your stories are so intriguing!

  27. The cover is really nice. I’d definitely pick it up to read. this is one of my favorite series. Been waiting for this book since you released number 7. Thank you for your hard work in writing this series.

  28. Yes, the cover alone would totally make me want to read the book since I love all things Maine, but the fact that I have loved numbers 1-7 makes me want to even more so!! I can’t wait!!!

  30. I love every cover in this wonderful series, Barb. But this is one with the seal is especially clever. Plus, it reminds me that it’s been way too long since I’ve been to Maine. I’m looking forward to reading Sealed Off!

  33. Love the cover. The seal has such a lonely, wistful expression! Can’t wait to read the book.

    1. The seal is wistful, so amazing work by the cover artist. Seals and dogs are descended from a common ancestor and have many of the same expressions, especially around the eyes.

  34. Love the cover, such detail. Makes me want to be right there, until the murder of course! I always want to know what the food is on the cover and see if it matches the recipes in the book. And another anthology, yay! Looking forward to both releases.

    1. The food usually does match the recipes (in as much as I know them when they ask me for cover input). This time they didn’t ask, (and I didn’t volunteer) but it turned out great.

  35. Yes, the cover draws me in. When another chapter with Julia and family comes out I get my copy on the first day. I usually plan on waiting until I’m on a beach to read this installment. However the best made plans… If the book makes it to the second day before I have started it I have showed great restraint. Thank you for inviting us all into the Snowden family. I for one plan to stay a while.

  36. This sounds like a wonderfully intriguing book. I LOVE the cover! I like the book synopsis and I can’t wait to read it!

  37. Hi Barb,

    I think you need to invite your cover artist over and give her or him a great big feast! The cover is excellent! The little pun with the seal is wonderful (although I’ve never seen a solitary seal on an islet, there are generally about 50, all contending for the space in the sun) and, even though I’ve just finished breakfast, I could sit down and eat that meal right now.

    The only thing that makes me unhappy is having to wait until New Years Eve! That really is reader torture and is, I believe, prohibited under the Geneva Convention.

    For reasons that you don’t want to hear about in this blog today, I really needed something to brighten my day and get my mind off the real world. And in a lot of ways, Julia’s world is at least as real as mine, And boy would I like to be in it today.

    I have a friend who, like me, is a fan of Priscilla Royal’s medieval monastery mysteries. And she buys each one as soon as it’s released. But she won’t read one until the next one comes out. That way she knows that she always has one sitting waiting for her.

    I always thought that to do that was a teeny bit loopy, but today I get it. What I wouldn’t give to be able to dip my toes into a lovely Maine Clambake book today and leave the real world behind.

    Perhaps, when Sealed Away comes out at New Years, I’ll have the discipline to hold back and keep it in reserve as my friend does. No, that’s not going to happen. Unfortunately, it’s going to be devoured as soon as I have it. If you look up discipline or restraint in the dictionary, you will NOT find a picture of me..

    Anyway, Barb, congratulations on a first-rate cover. I can’t wait to read it. Literally.

  39. Not only do I want to read the book, I want to sit in a chair and take in the view! Congratulations, Barb!

  41. This cover is MY favorite so far and believe me, I’ve loved the others too! Being a New Englander my entire life and being at the coast every chance I can be, gives me so much pleasure when I see lighthouses and the beaches. I always notice the little lobster boat on each cover.

    I would be thrilled to be chosen for your giveaway book and tote. I take my totes and books with me to my frequent doctor and dental appointments and they certainly get noticed!!!! Waiting for the end of the year to get to read this book seems like an eternity but perhaps there will be an ARC giveaway before that ???

    I adore this series for everything in between these striking covers if I didn’t make that perfectly clear. Having been to clam bakes on Peaks Island in the past gives my mind some tasty memories to reflect on when I read your books about Snow’s and I love that so much! Thank you and wishing you lots of new readers and huge book sales!
    Cynthia

    ⚓️🛶⛴

  42. Love the new cover and the tote. Being married to a commercial lobsterman, we love anything lobster. Can’t wait to read them. Leaving KW soon looking forward to our vacation in Maine this fall.

    1. We’re back in Portland having loved our time in Key West. The book takes place in the fall, so it will remind you of your vacation.

  43. The cover’s very eye catching and it does look like Maine. I just wish I saw clams. I could go for some right about now. Maybe for supper.

  44. The cover makes me want to read the book! Love the seal on the rocks. 🙂 And a story with a secret room, swoon. Whenever I visit old mansions, I’m always hoping I find a hidden passage.

  45. I LOVE this series and can’t wait to read this! The cover is very good. I went to New England years ago as a little girl and would like to go back one day. I get to reading your books and some of the others set up there. I live in the hot south. South Carolina

    1. We hope you make it back to visit one day, Margaret. Although when it was snowing here on Monday and Tuesday, I’m thinking you were better off in SC.

  46. I adore this series ! I pre order every one as soon as I can. Thank you so much for a chance to win!

  48. Yes! It seems like I could step into the picture. Very inviting, thank you for the opportunity. The cover makes me want to read it, awesome seal on the rock. Donakutska7@gmail.com

  49. I love clever titles of books. The cover is also a factor but title and blurb are the most influential.

  50. I want to sit in one of those chairs and smell the ocean! The little seal on the rocks is just perfect. Of course the cover just screams “cozy” and makes me want to read the book.

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