Vineyard Chill: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery

✍ Scribed by Craig, Philip R

• Publisher: Scribner
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 129 KB
• Series: Martha's Vineyard 19
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9781416535584

✦ Synopsis

From Publishers Weekly

Craig's final Martha's Vineyard mystery (after 2007's Vineyard Stalker), completed just before his death last spring, offers all the familiar pleasures his fans have come to relish—a swift-moving plot, appealing characters and beautifully described settings. In the dead of winter, retired Boston cop J.W. Jackson and his family are surprised by a visit from an old buddy of J.W.'s, Clay Stockton. Sailor, boat-builder, pilot and adventurer, Clay charms them all, but brings trouble in his wake. When two armed strangers later show up looking for Clay, J.W. steers them to the police for information while warning Clay, now employed by a local boat builder, to watch out. Meanwhile, the discovery of a bird's nest interwoven with the red hair of a young woman missing since the previous summer may implicate a bird-watcher devoted to J.W. in a crime. Three delicious recipes round out the volume. (June)
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From

Life on Martha’s Vineyard has settled into its comfortable off-season rhythms for J. W. Jackson and his family: school, work, and evenings around the fire. When J. W.’s old friend, Clay Stockton, comes to visit, the routine is initially altered but only slightly. Stockton, a globetrotting nomad forever beckoned by the allure of a new woman or an exciting job, becomes the focal point of the fireside chats. The unsavory aspects of Clay’s past surface when two L.A. hoods show up looking for a couple million dollars Clay may have stashed while working as a bagman for a marijuana dealer. In a parallel plot, the unsolved disappearance of a young waitress moves from the cold-case file to a search for a body when evidence turns up in a very unusual venue. This is likely the last Vineyard mystery—Craig died in May 2007—and it relies on the long-running series’ strong points: a literate, creative narrator; the appealing Martha’s Vineyard setting; razor-sharp plots; and a comforting backdrop of second-chance domestic bliss. Craig will be missed. --Wes Lukowsky