Death and Honesty (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Cynthia Riggs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 2009

Victoria Trumbull, the ninety-two-year-old poet/sleuth, discovers a neighbor’s body in the home of one of the three town assessors. The assessors have been skimming off tax money from wealthy landowners and stashing it in their own special retirement funds. Then the private pilot of the not-so-holy clergyman husband of one of these landowners is found dead, floating in his employer’s pond, his face gnawed by snapping turtles. Finally, searching for old documents in the attic of Town Hall, Victoria discovers a third body, that of the long-missing assessors clerk. In order to tie all the threads together and solve the murders, Cynthia again teams up with her old friend and rival, Emery Meyer, now working as the landowner’s chauffeur.

It’s another entertaining mystery, as only Riggs can spin it, infused with the flora and fauna of Martha’s Vineyard.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Victoria Trumbull, indomitable 92-year-old deputy police officer and poet, investigates smalltown skulduggery in Riggs's engaging eighth Martha's Vineyard mystery (after 2007's Shooting Star). Along with the dead body of widow Lucy Pease, Victoria finds property cards containing tax information in the home of one of the three town assessors, Ellen Meadows, who's off island. Knowing these cards should never have left the town hall, Ellen gets on the trail of a skimming scheme involving the assessors and their clerk, Oliver Ashpine. Meanwhile, Victoria learns that Ashpine is threatening to reveal the unsavory past of Delilah Sampson, a flamboyant TV star who owns an island property, if Delilah doesn't pay her outrageously high property tax. Getting an agricultural restriction by turning her property into a farm could be the solution to Delilah's problem. Once again, Riggs, a 13th-generation Vineyarder, depicts the flaws and foibles of her island characters with sympathy and humor. (May)
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From Booklist

It’s spring on Martha’s Vineyard when 92-year-old sleuth Victoria Trumbull becomes involved in her eighth charming mystery. Victoria has been appointed a special deputy by Sheriff Casey because she knows everyone in the island town of West Tisbury. When Victoria isn’t helping the sheriff, she reads and writes poetry and prepares a column for the local newspaper. Also a passionate gardener, she is busy transplanting the native plant lunaria (also known as honesty) in her garden. The mystery this time revolves around the three town tax assessors and the town clerk who have been running a skimming scam for years. Victoria also wonders about a televangelist and his estranged wife. And finally there’s a crowing rooster that is about to spark violence between its owner and disgruntled neighbors. What starts out as Victoria’s search for a missing assessor soon turns into series of interrelated murders. The entertaining story line may be unrealistic, but Riggs’ character development and her lovely descriptions will have readers longing for both a trip to Martha’s Vineyard and the next book in the series. --Judy Coon

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312567057
• ISBN-13: 978-0312567057
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,059 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riggs Books Are My Cup Of Tea, April 2, 2010

By 

Pawpaw Bruce (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Death and Honesty (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

If the first seven novels in this series were your cup of tea, you'll like what Victoria Trumbull brewed in her cook room with this one, too. People who live in small towns are fond of saying "but things like this never happen around here" when they hear of murder and other kinds of wrong doing. They usually react that way when the awful thing that triggered the comment just happened there in plain view. West Tisbury is just like small town USA everywhere in that regard. Thank goodness we have Victoria and Casey to keep the roads hot with the police Bronco and the bad guys and girls on the run. As usual, the catchy title is the name of a Vineyard plant or flower I never heard of.

I read every wonderful Philip Craig Vineyard mystery at least three times and now I find myself repeating that with Cynthia Riggs' excellent books. I never had the pleasure of coming into Vineyard Haven on the ferry but Riggs makes me believe I did.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super police procedural, May 2, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death and Honesty (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Nonagenarian Martha Vineyard deputy police officer Victoria Trumbull finds the corpse of widow Lucy Pease in the home of assessor Ellen Meadows, who is away. Victoria also finds property cards containing tax information that should never have been removed from city hall.

She makes a few inquiries and soon begins to find circumstantial evidence that the three town assessors and their clerk are pulling a scam to skim money from property tax payments by placing a "personal surcharge" on many owners. She also learns that the clerk Oliver Ashpine is planning to extort money through a usury property tax from TV star Delilah Sampson, who owns island property and has a scandalous past long buried. Two more corpses are found as Victoria with the help of Emery Meyer continues her investigation.

The latest Martha's Vineyard police procedural mystery (see SHOOTING STAR) is a strong entry that combines the solid investigative wok of ninety-two year old Victoria with a wonderful look at the islanders. Victoria is at her best as she begins to unravel a tax fraud that has led to murder. Series fans will enjoy DEATH AND HONESTY as the feisty heroine follows the clues while escorting the awed audience around Martha's Vineyard.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honesty is Invasive, June 24, 2009

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death and Honesty (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Kindle Edition)

Victoria Turnbull, the favorite 92 year-old sleuth teams up with Emery Meyer for a delightful turn at detecting in DEATH AND HONESTY by Cynthia Riggs.
Three bodies turn up when a property owner complains about her excessive tax bill and the property evaluators are caught with their fingers in the community's funds.
The sly dry wit of Victoria and her friend Howland will keep you turning the pages and coming back for more. A must read for any island mystery or cozy mystery fan.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.