Murder at a Vineyard Mansion: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery [Paperback]

Philip R. Craig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2007

Fresh from his recent acclaim as a <I>Good Morning America</I> Bookclub choice, Philip R. Craig casts his observant eye on the fine line between tragedy and comedy on Martha's Vineyard. <P> Just look at the Vineyard's criminal du jour, "the Silencer." Loved by many and hated by some, the perp's on a campaign to destroy the audio systems in music-blasting party houses and open-windowed vehicles. Owners of said houses and vehicles feel both fear and hate, while some residents who seek silence silently cheer. <P> J. W. Jackson, former cop and now a part-time investigator, finds it difficult to get too excited about the Silencer's crimes. J.W.'s a classical music man himself, which may explain his reluctance to take the so-called crimes very seriously. <P> The fun stops, however, when someone is killed -- a night watchman is thrown over a cliff near an outrageously large new Chappaquiddick mansion. <P> Who killed Ollie Mattes? Was it the womanizer Harold Hobbes? Harold's mother, Vineyard aristocrat Maud Mayhew, begs J.W. to prove her son's innocence. Harold may have been guilty of vandalism at the mansion, but according to Maud, he's not a killer. <P> But if Harold didn't kill Ollie, who did? J.W. will soon find himself mired in an intrigue that links some of the Vineyard's most prominent families, families that have known, and sometimes hated, one another for generations. Who is telling the truth? Who will die next? <P> Meanwhile, at home, J.W.'s under pressure from Zee and the kids to acquire their first computer. Will J.W. ever enter the modern era? It's three against one, so how long can he hold out? <P> With his usual glorious mix of Vineyard ambience, romance, food, fishing, and first-rate suspense, Craig once again proves that his Martha's Vineyard mysteries are the perfect summer read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in early June, before the hordes of vacationers descend, Craig's 15th Martha's Vineyard mystery (after 2003's A Vineyard Killing) arrives just in time for the beach. The Vineyard crime scene is a tad slow: a jail prisoner escapes after supper but usually returns before breakfast because the food is so good, thanks to a local chef doing time, while the cops aren't trying too hard to catch "the Silencer," who's been "destroying the sound systems of some of the loudest cars on the island." Then the murders of a security man at a Chappaquiddick "castle" (depicted on the jacket and nicely portending disaster) and the scion of an aristocratic landowner raise the ante. Retired Boston policeman J.W. Jackson sets aside such favorite pastimes as fishing and cooking to investigate several old island families, interbred and linked in the most unpleasant ways, all with ample motives and opportunities for the killings. As ever, Craig depicts the island's residents with humor and affection. J.W. takes his usual pot shots at the author's pet peeves (like drivers who "have their windows down and the volume turned as high as it will go"), but faces a loaded shotgun with aplomb in the near-fatal finale.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Jefferson W. Jackson--J. W. to his friends--narrates this fourteenth Martha's Vineyard mystery in his usual sardonic and amiable voice. What makes this series so attractive is not only the sense of place but also J. W.'s real ties to his family. Sleuthing takes place while the kids are in school or when the beauteous and doe-eyed Zee can manage them. The deaths of two locals, unpleasant and unloved men, come the same summer an outlaw nicknamed the Silencer shoots out noisy car audio systems or the home stereos of people who boom their ugly music out their windows. In the course of his investigations, ex-cop J. W. finds even more blood ties among the old and monied families of the island. Along the way, he finally learns to use a computer (taught by his little children) and sees his daughter learn to skip stones and catch fish. A most pleasant trip down some unpleasant side roads. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416569510
• ISBN-13: 978-1416569510
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,778,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars J. W. Jackson is back in "Murder At A Vineyard Mansion", April 15, 2005

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Murder at a Vineyard Mansion: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

For many of us, bombarded daily by drive by stereo blasts and out of control partying neighbors, the latest Martha's Vineyard vigilante would be a hero. In a time when basic human consideration of others seems to have gone by the wayside, the individual dubbed "the Silencer" by many appeals to J. W. Jackson's sensibilities as the individual goes around the island permanently silencing those who play excessively loud music. Or at least, what passes for music these days. But when his young daughter, Diana, unwittingly witnesses a murder he isn't nearly as amused or complacent.

The victim Diana saw, while on the family's sailboat, as something indistinguishable falling was Ollie Mattes who was acting as night watchman for a home under construction. Hated by its neighbors and the local homeowners association, Ron Pierson's extravagant future mansion sat at the top of the North Neck bluffs on one end of Chappaquidick. The multi story home had been the site of repeated vandalism, the most recent being the destruction of all the windows. Now it had become the site of murder as well as Ollie Mattes was bludgeoned and pitched over the edge to smash into the rocks along the shoreline below.

Before long, J.W. is once again dragged into investigating crime and murder on the Vineyard. With a cast of suspects an arm long and many of them interrelated by birth or marriage, J.W. works hard to uncover a killer who continues to lash out and kill for reasons eluding both the police and J. W.

This is the fifteenth in the series and as such, long time readers of this cozy series know exactly what to expect. J. W. will ask a lot of questions of everyone as he investigates, he will take small children to crime scenes, he will always find time to fish, and of course, tastefully romp with the delectable Zee. Overall, life is pretty good in J.W.'s world, frequent crime and murder not withstanding and the summer season with its horde of tourists isn't quite here yet. The children, Joshua, who is now in second grade and his young sister, Diana, will walk, talk, and think like miniature adults in a way that no remotely realistic children, short of being robotic empowered and non human, ever would. In the end, everything will be solved, the guilty will confess all before attempting to finish J.W. off, and life goes on in perfect familial harmony.

More simplistic than some earlier in the series, this novel continues the overall weaker style of the last half dozen or so (with the strong exception of "A Vineyard Killing") as the author doggedly continues to work a series that long ago ceased to be complicated, creative or remotely realistic in terms of character portrayals. When compared to the earlier ones in the series and with expectations for better books created by "A Vineyard Killing," it truly is a shame.

Book Facts:


Murder At A Vineyard Mansion (A Martha's Vineyard Mystery)
By Philip R. Craig
www.philiprcraig.com
Scribner
www.simonsays.com
2004
ISBN # 0-7432-4676-4
Hardback
256 Pages
$24.00 US
$35.00 Canada


Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sort of Light, Breezy - Never Really Came Together for Me, August 13, 2004

By 

George Buttner "Agent0042" (Dayton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder at a Vineyard Mansion: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I picked up "Murder at a Vineyard Mansion" hoping to expand the grouping of mystery series I've come to enjoy. While I generally prefer the somewhat less "hardcore" mysteries, I found this book a bit too peaceful and uninteresting.

There are two plots to this book - a murder mystery and a tale of a criminal called the Silencer who is somehow destroying sound systems across Martha's Vineyard. The Silencer plot seems at times to be more interesting than the murder mystery. The main action of the book throughout mostly focuses on the main character gallavanting throughout Martha's Vineyard and having numerous conversations with people hoping to piece together clues that will help him solve these two mysteries. Also closely connected are events involving a new computer that the main character's kids have been on his back to purchase.

I think the major problem with this mystery was that I never really developed any sort of attachment to the characters. The major protagonist, a retired cop named J.W., is a prime example. He's apparently retired, yet seems to get involved in these private investigations for no particular reason and sort of unofficially reports to the police department. He's an okay character, but I never really feel any sort of suspense or danger with him, or much interest in his doings. The mystery he's trying to solve seems wholely uninteresting, mainly involving a bunch of people who almost seem like they'd be better off dead. The mystery just sort of wraps up at the end, without a very interesting conclusion, leaving everything back to the status quo.

This was a mildly okay read, but I'm not really motivated to seek out any other books in this series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars twisted tale, April 21, 2007

By 

Paul Skinner (Manassas, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Murder at a Vineyard Mansion: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A man working at a mansion falls off a cliff, and then another man dies. People are related in twisted ways, making this story difficult to follow at times, but the identity of both the murderer and the "silencer" (a side story related to someone who doesn't like hiphop music) are easy to guess in this subpar entry in an excellent series.