Vineyard Enigma : A Martha's Vineyard Mystery($7.99Value)

Description

Violent crime is a rarity on the tranquil shores of Martha's Vineyard, which is why ex-cop J.W. Jackson turned in his Boston badge to retire to the idyllic isle. And that's what makes a six-month-old murder so troubling to the perplexed locals. But Jackson's got troubles of his own -- including a loving wife, Zee, who's becoming curiously distant ... and the arrival of a mysterious visitor who's searching for a valuable set of stolen statues, and who's certain J.W.'s the man to hunt them down. It's an assignment that plunges the fisherman/chef-cum-private investigator into an unfamiliar milieu: the Vineyard's cutthroat world of art aficionados. And suddenly J.W. finds himself pitted against some of the island's most powerful and unscrupulous figures, uncovering lethal threads that may connect an unsolved mutilation/slaying with those who would stop at nothing -- including murder -- to add rare forbidden objects to their collections. “It wouldn’t be summer without a new Martha’s Vineyard Mystery.” - Boston Herald “Craig just keeps getting better.” - Chattanooga Times “Spending time with Craig on Martha’s Vineyard is the next best thing to vacationing on the island itself.” - Minneapolis Star Tribune “The Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries are a breath of fresh air, with a touch of murder most foul.” - Denver Rocky Mountain News “[J.W. Jackson’s] a marvelous extension of John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee and maybe even Don Quixote.” - Florida Times-Union “You can’t help loving easy-going J.W. and the island he calls home.” - Tulsa World “Like a pleasant holiday, visiting old friends...and enjoying a popular resort area.” - Los Angeles Daily News “Mr. Craig can mix a motivation and scramble a subplot with the best of them.” - Dallas Morning News “Jackson is smart and tough and believable.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer “Craig paints the island so vividly that readers can almost smell the sea breezes.” - Booklist Violent crime is a rarity on the tranquil shores of Martha's Vineyard, which is why ex-cop J.W. Jackson turned in his Boston badge to retire to the idyllic isle. And that's what makes a six-month-old murder so troubling to the perplexed locals. But Jackson's got troubles of his own -- including a loving wife, Zee, who's becoming curiously distant ... and the arrival of a mysterious visitor who's searching for a valuable set of stolen statues, and who's certain J.W.'s the man to hunt them down. It's an assignment that plunges the fisherman/chef-cum-private investigator into an unfamiliar milieu: the Vineyard's cutthroat world of art aficionados. And suddenly J.W. finds himself pitted against some of the island's most powerful and unscrupulous figures, uncovering lethal threads that may connect an unsolved mutilation/slaying with those who would stop at nothing -- including murder -- to add rare forbidden objects to their collections. Philip R. Craig grew up on a small cattle ranch near Durango, Colorado, before going off to college at Boston University, where he was an All-American fencer. He earned his M.F.A. at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. A recently retired professor of English at Wheelock College in Boston, he and his wife Shirley now live year-round on Martha's Vineyard.