Vineyard Enigma: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery

by Philip R. Craig

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060511885
• ISBN13: 9780060511883
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Life is Full of Distractions...

In the 14th book in Martha's Vineyard Mystery series, J.W. Jackson is content... he fishes for bluefish, rakes clams, and tends to his children and garden. Wife, Zee, is recovering nicely from the unfortunate business earlier that made her shoot two men, and life is idyllic in June on sunny Martha's Vineyard. All of this comes to a screeching halt the day that J.W. an exotic man named Mahsimba from Zimbabwe, who asks his assistance to find some missing art objects from his country. J.W. reluctantly agrees to help find two soapstone eagles that are considered national treasures, and becomes involved in tracking down an illegal art dealer on his beloved island. When Zee becomes infatuated with Mahsimba and begins to act strangely, J.W. struggles to keep his focus on the case and not on the wandering eyes of his wife. Several dead bodies surface, and J.W. races to find the answers to the case before he is the next victim in the search for the illustrious missing eagles. This has always been a great series, and did enjoy the latest installment. As a few previous reviewers have stated, I was a little shocked by Zee's love-struck attitude in this book, and was surprised that J.W. was not more jealous. The portions with the kids are probably the only annoying portions of these books...I agree with a previous reviewer in the fact that kids aged 3 & 5 rarely go to school all day, and shouldn't be getting on and off the bus alone. I am eagerly awaiting the "aging" of the kids, as they are a distraction at best. Otherwise, I love the series, the wonderful characters, and the beautiful Martha's Vineyard setting. The first book in the series is called "A Beautiful Place to Die". Enjoy!

Martha's Vineyard Series

J.W. and Zee Jackson live on Martha's Vineyard with their 2 children. J.W. is an ex-cop from Boston. Now he fishes and goes quahogging. To go quahogging you rake quahogs, which are basically various sizes of hard shelled clams, from the sand and mud bottoms. He gets a call from a friend asking him to assist an African, Mahsimba, search for 2 ancient soapstone eagles allegedly stolen from African ruins. Zee is acting distant since she recently shot a man and is having trouble dealing with it. So J.W. agrees to help Mahsimba. He starts interviewing all the people on the island who have an interest in African art. Through the course of his investigation he realizes he has apparently stirred up someone. He and Mahsimba continue their investigation of the island art world in an attempt to find the soapstone eagles. This series is a fast read. I highly recommend this book and the complete series.One of the things I like is the authors description of his preparation of the various seafood that he has caught and then cooks. I am not a big seafood eater and so this gives me insight into a type of food I would otherwise not hear about. I also like his description of Martha's Vineyard. Matter of fact, I like it so much that when we were recently on a 9 day vacation in New England we went to Martha's Vineyard. We weren't able to stay long, but at least I got to see some of what he describes. Having read most of the series, I also like how he builds on the relationships of the characters. I feel like I'm hearing from relatives when I read this book as I feel like I know everyone.

Vintage Vineyard

J. W. Jackson enjoys his life on Martha's Vineyard. While his wife Zee works as a nurse, J. W. stays home and tends to the house and the children and spends a lot of time fishing for bluefish which he prepares in many gourmet dishes. Having been a Boston policeman, he accepts occasional investigative jobs such as the one in this book. He agrees to work for Abraham Mahsimba, a man from Zimbabwe who is seeking two soapstone eagles which were stolen from his country years agoand which he hopes to return to thier rightful place. He has reason to believe that an artifact dealer on the island may have sold the birds to a collector. J. W. doesn't bargain for the fact that people will be murdered because of the birds, nor does he expect his wife to be so attracted to Mahsimba. This is one of Craig's best in the series and is an interesting mystery set in beautiful Martha's Vineyard.

Great book set on Martha's Vineyard

J.W. and Zee Jackson live on Martha's Vineyard with their 2 children. J.W. is an ex-cop from Boston. Now he fishes and goes quahogging. He gets a call from a friend asking him to assist Mahsimba search for 2 ancient soapstone eagles allegedly stolen from African ruins. Zee is acting distant since she recently shot a man and is having trouble dealing with it. So J.W. agrees to help Mahsimba. He starts interviewing all the people on the island who have an interest in African art. Through the course of his investigation he realizes he has apparently stirred up someone. He and Mahsimba continue their investigation of the island art world in an attempt to find the soapstone eagles. J.W. is also trying to find out who killed Matthew Duarte and why. This series is a fast read. I highly recommend this book and the complete series.

exciting Martha?s Vineyard mystery

Former cop J.W. Jackson enjoys his current life on Martha's Vineyard not so much because of the laid back lifestyle, but because he loves his wife Zee and their two kids. Still while much of the residents fret over the unsolved headless horseman murder, J.W. worries that something is bothering his beloved as Zee is very distant from him and even their kids.While he ponders how to reach his spouse, J.W. meets Zimbabwean Abraham Mashima. The African searches for two stolen soapstone eagles carved eight hundred years ago in the Monomatopa Empire, but removed from his homeland during the tumultuous sixties. Abraham needs a professional to continue his search so J.W. agrees to help, but might have declined if he knew how Zee would react to his visitor. Still J.W. begins his inquiries only to find himself in peril from the dangerous denizen defending the arts.VINEYARD ENIGMA is an exciting Martha's Vineyard mystery that enables the audience to visit the town seen through the eyes of J.W. The three sub-plots tie together nicely with each allowing readers to better understand the hero. The investigation is fun to follow as J.W, spins plenty of his hometown philosophy on various subjects like marriage, children, headless corpses, and even the Red Sox overcoming the curse this season. This leaves the only question for private investigative fans outside of New York Yankee rooters is whether they relish New England style soliloquies.Harriet Klausner