Helpful Score: 3
One of a series of Martha's Vineyard mysteries. This one is a bit diferent because it involves locals, during the "off season" when tourists are few and far between. Again, interesting characters, and smart plot - and a surprise victim and criminal! Fun read!
Helpful Score: 1
Like any good cozy mystery, this novel has an engaging amateur detective and an attractive setting. Former Boston cop J.W. Jackson is trying to fit in on Cape Cod, but a local murder means someone wants his help to find the killer. The story is brisk and the characters are well fleshed out. Anyone with a fondness for culinary mysteries will like how the author weaves in descriptions of the main character's meals without stopping the plot completely for recipes. I really enjoyed the less than cliched outcome of the investigation made the novel more real.
Helpful Score: 1
Animal rights activists are squaring off against the hunters; environmentalists are at odds with land developers and J.W. Jackson leads the hunt for a murderer.
Craig writes in a homey way and the reader gets caught up in the life of his hero, JW.
J W Jackson and his wife Zee solving a mystery on Martha's Vineyard
This part of the series has a definitely interesting twist in the crime which author Craig springs on the reader. I enjoyed it.
Having said that, it's time Craig stopped repeating some of his fillers. For example, every time the local police chief lights up his pipe, J.W. really doesn't need to think about how much he enjoys the smell. And I keep wondering if Craig is continually pandering to beer distributors when he has J.W. mention how great a beer is, which he names, despite the fact I personally don't consider supper complete unless there is a good brew to go with it.
And speaking of meals, I wonder if Craig is really as knowledgeable about food and cooking as he portrays his alter ego character to be.
For example, and I hope this isn't a spoiler, Craig has J.W. washing one of his girlfriend's cast iron pans in dishwater. Anyone who knows anything about cast iron knows you never, never, never, never, EVER wash cast iron cookware. You wipe it out with a dishrag, or, if you really want it clean, use a rag and salt to scrape the pan or pot clean. Otherwise you destroy the 'seasoning' of the cast iron. If you aren't going to use the cast iron within a couple of days, you might rub a thin coat of vegetable oil on it.
Then he has J.W. making blueberry pancakes in mid-December. I admit he could have been using frozen blueberries, but that doesn't sound like something J.W. would do. Blueberries are not in season in mid-December. Florida, the nation's leading producer of this fruit doesn't harvest them until early Spring, and the blueberry industry in Florida was in its infancy in 1994 when this book was written. Plus, blueberries from South America are just starting to hit the grocery shelves in mid-January, but this is only a recent trend, as South American blueberries weren't marketed in the U.S. until the 21st Century.
And when a mob underling decides to work with the Feds and squeal on his boss, they don't give him time to go shopping, but put him in the Federal Witness Protection program ASAP. In real life, J.W.'s antagonist in this novel wouldn't have been around to be killed by the mob.
Having said that, it's time Craig stopped repeating some of his fillers. For example, every time the local police chief lights up his pipe, J.W. really doesn't need to think about how much he enjoys the smell. And I keep wondering if Craig is continually pandering to beer distributors when he has J.W. mention how great a beer is, which he names, despite the fact I personally don't consider supper complete unless there is a good brew to go with it.
And speaking of meals, I wonder if Craig is really as knowledgeable about food and cooking as he portrays his alter ego character to be.
For example, and I hope this isn't a spoiler, Craig has J.W. washing one of his girlfriend's cast iron pans in dishwater. Anyone who knows anything about cast iron knows you never, never, never, never, EVER wash cast iron cookware. You wipe it out with a dishrag, or, if you really want it clean, use a rag and salt to scrape the pan or pot clean. Otherwise you destroy the 'seasoning' of the cast iron. If you aren't going to use the cast iron within a couple of days, you might rub a thin coat of vegetable oil on it.
Then he has J.W. making blueberry pancakes in mid-December. I admit he could have been using frozen blueberries, but that doesn't sound like something J.W. would do. Blueberries are not in season in mid-December. Florida, the nation's leading producer of this fruit doesn't harvest them until early Spring, and the blueberry industry in Florida was in its infancy in 1994 when this book was written. Plus, blueberries from South America are just starting to hit the grocery shelves in mid-January, but this is only a recent trend, as South American blueberries weren't marketed in the U.S. until the 21st Century.
And when a mob underling decides to work with the Feds and squeal on his boss, they don't give him time to go shopping, but put him in the Federal Witness Protection program ASAP. In real life, J.W.'s antagonist in this novel wouldn't have been around to be killed by the mob.
