Title:	Nogged Off
	Author:	Barbara Ross
	Published:	October 29, 2019, Kensington
	No. of Pages:	96
	Cover Price:	$2.99 Kindle

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Julia Snowden travels to her New York apartment a week before Christmas to get a few things before her subletter takes over, in Barbara Ross’ short novella in the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Nogged Off. Choosing to move from her apartment in New York, Julia has sublet it to a woman named Imogene, who attended an office party and poisoned her coworkers with her famous “Killer Eggnog.” Imogene insists she can’t go back to the office, and the sublease isn’t going to work out. Imogene is now homeless. Julia invites her to enjoy the holidays at her home in Busman's Harbor, Maine, and when the truck arrives with Imogene’s belongings, it includes a surprise – the dead body of Imogene’s boyfriend.

Although Imogene is very nice, albeit a bit weird, Julia doesn’t think she is a murderer. Since Julia has in the past been an amateur sleuth, she puts her sleuthing skills to work to solve the mystery of who killed Imogene’s boyfriend. Everything, it seems, that Imogene gets around goes awry, so it is a real challenge to solve the murder. As in the previous mysteries in this fun series, the suspense builds, and Julia puts herself and others in danger.

Anyone who is familiar with Barbara Ross and her Maine Clambake Series, knows that they are well-written, and suspenseful. Ross has a knack for developing her main characters into likeable and believable people like we are familiar with in real life. Ross’ novels are well-organized and she keeps readers interest throughout the entire novel. Since it is a cozy, Ross sticks to the rules – no graphic language, violence, or sex, so these novels are not only very run and readable, but also suitable for mystery readers of all ages. One bonus is that this cozy contains recipes – good ones that readers will be tempted to prepare. This one includes two Christmas cookie recipes that will be perfect to eat while reading the novel.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.