OXBOW ISLAND GANG: LEAP FROG by Rae Chalmers; Maine Authors Publishing, 2023; 194 pages, $15.95; ISBN 978-1-63381-354-0.

OXBOW ISLAND GANG: LEAP FROG

The Oxbow Island Gang is back in another exciting, suspenseful mystery set on an island in Casco Bay where kids and adults refreshingly get along (mostly), and nobody has a cell phone glued to their hand.

“Leap Frog” is the fourth volume in this delightful series for middle-grade readers. The author, Rae Chalmers, lives on a Maine island and is a talented, imaginative writer. The main characters are best pals, 12-year-old Bear (Berend) and 13-year-old Olivia, two precocious, good-hearted kids who solve mysteries involving people and nature out on Oxbow Island.

During the April school vacation, Bear and Olivia are puzzled by a mysterious car crash on the island and the discovery of dozens of dead and deformed frogs on a road. Always intrigued by nature and habitat, Bear and Olivia try to figure out what’s killing the frogs, why they are deformed, and how best to help the amphibians safely cross the road to their pond.

They solicit help from two elderly women, a retired professor, a father in a wheelchair, a hippie taxi driver, a savvy public works man, and a couple of their kid friends. The car-crash incident becomes clear, and so does a possible solution for frog-crossing safety. But a suspicious yellow jeep, rumors of weirdos up on Quill Hill, and the discovery of an ominous gated security compound nobody knows about spell trouble for everyone.

The smart and clever Olivia comes up with an ingenious plan to smoke out the owners of the compound, “Bug Out Farm,” a plan which provides answers to all the frog questions and so much more. Good thing the local policeman is standing by.

There will be just one more book in this charming series. “Summer Rats” is due out later in 2024.

DEATH OF A CLAM DIGGER

The clam seafood business in Bar Harbor can be a cutthroat competition with deadly consequences. And that is probably why humorist Dave Barry says: “The only kind of seafood I trust is the fish stick.”

DEATH OF A CLAM DIGGER by Lee Hollis; Kensington Publishing, 2023; 328 pages, $8.99; ISBN 978-1-4967-3651-2.

“Death of a Clam Digger” is the 16th volume in Lee Hollis’ “Haley Powell Mystery” series. All the books are set in Bar Harbor where Hollis has bumped off people associated with bacon, cupcakes, ice cream and chocolate, and now it’s that tasty bivalve mollusk, the clam (steamed or fried, who cares?).

This is another delightfully entertaining “cozy” mystery, with Hollis’ signature blend of suspense, clues, humor, colorful characters and wacky relationships. Haley Powell, local restaurant owner, newspaper columnist and amateur sleuth finds herself in the middle of a bitter rivalry between two local seafood businesses — one owned by her best friend Mona Barnes and her three sons, the other by a nasty, foul tyrant, Lonnie Leighton, and his three daughters.

This is a hated-filled feud with each owner vowing to destroy the other (and business really has nothing to do with it). Mud-wrestling, threats, disputes over clam flats, screaming and hollering, and suddenly somebody ends up dead. The cops say the cause of death is inconclusive, but accusations and suspicions indicate murder. Lots of folks quickly lose their memories, have no alibis, are lying about everything or are protecting someone. The only thing certain: Everyone has a powerful motive for murder.

Mixed-up romances, vindictive partners, jealousy and sexual tension, a curiously mysterious businesswoman from Boston, a false health diagnosis and two unexpected wills complicate Haley’s investigation, and the cops are no help. Then somebody pulls out a gun.

The moral:  When life gives you lemons, order the lobster.

Bill Bushnell lives and writes in Harpswell.