Off Season [Hardcover]

Philip R. Craig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 1994

Food connoisseur and amateur sleuth J. W. Johnson and his fiance+a7e expect a peaceful winter on Martha's Vineyard, until tempers flare between local hunters and animal-rights activists. By the author of A Beautiful Place to Die.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As fisherman/sleuth J. W. Jackson gets increasingly adept in the kitchen, this Martha's Vineyard series brings Martha Stewart to mind, but the fun remains as Jackson proves he can still finger a murderer as deftly as he opens oysters. At issue here is 50 acres of land, coveted by hunters and animal-rights activists. Although the loud-mouthed leaders of both groups seem destined for homicide, the man who dies is an eccentric recluse with few enemies, a surprising way with the ladies, some strange sexual aids in his cabin and a bow and arrow, which is the weapon that kills him. The victim's link to the land squabble is his friendship with the daughter of an animal-rights supporter whose husband has political aspirations. Meanwhile, the hunters' spokesman is attacked by a thug linked to organized crime. Jackson has his hands full: hunting down scallops, cooking up batches of kale soup and staying on an even keel with Zee, the girl of his dreams and soon-to-be wife, if their attacks of nerves don't skuttle the pending nuptials. He also has to find the killer, which he does quite handily. Although Jackson verges on smug, the beauty of Craig's ( The Woman Who Walked into the Sea ) New England settings seem to justify his hero's pride in his soup, his boat, his girlfriend and his own, considerable charm.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Ex-cop J.W. Jackson's idyllic engagement to Martha's Vineyard nurse Zee Madieras, and his ritual bouts of fishing and scalloping and cooking and eating, are interrupted by a feud between animal- rights activist Mimi Bettencourt and hunter/editorialist Ignacio Cortez over the proper use of the 50-acre tract that wealthy Carl Norton has just sold to a public commission; by a couple of run-ins with uncouth Providence hoodlum Joey Percell, who warns Nash Cortez to lay off them animal-rights people; and by a slight case of murder. The corpse is Chug Lovell, Carl's no-account neighbor and rumored tobacco heir. As usual, J.W. (Cliff Hanger, 1993, etc.), hired by improbably swinging lawyer Heather Mainwaring to find out who killed the man she was swinging with, never falters in his stream of breezy banter and prosy homiletics, not even when he's questioning the other women Chug had also enticed into sexual submission and then blackmailed with his photo albums. A pinch of mild mystery--J.W. seems to have learned his craft not from the Boston PD but from a mail-order course, and the local law is two or three lessons behind him--to a double helping of recipes and cozy charm. It must be off season for crime and punishment too. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (June 20, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684196174
• ISBN-13: 978-0684196176
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,891,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great winter cozy in Martha's Vineyard, May 10, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Off Season (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book has animal rights protestors vs hunters, a gangster connection, a shady politician, sexual peccadillos, romance among a widow and widower, and kittens. Snow is falling all over the island during Christmas season, and Nash Cortez is stirring up trouble with the animal rights protectors. Later, a dead body is found, and our hero is hired by the girlfriend of the deceased to find the killer. He warns her, she might not like what he finds... a premonition of what is to come. This book was full of enjoyable aspects, and every chapter was a pleasure to read. As with all of Philip Craig's books, you will work up an appetite salivating over the food descriptions too. Thumbs up!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very good mystery, July 31, 2004

By 

Ravenclawlibrarian "PJ" (Surrey, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Off Season (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

This mystery series is ivery very good. I think that they are almost as good as the Dirk Pitt series. Anyone who is a fan of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt series will like them or anyone who grew up reading and liking Nancy Drew/The Hardy Boys will like them. I sugest the series for those who have outgrown the Hardy boys or read all of the series and are looking for a new good mystery series to read.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIKE TAKING A MINI VACATION WITH EACH BOOK!!!!, August 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Off Season (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

L LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THESE BOOKS!!!!! A very dear friend introduced me to this marvelous series a couple of months ago and i'm completely, totalllllly addicted!!! i think it would be great to have a recipe section at the end of each book...i'd love to try j.w.'s bluefish pate! as i was reading the earlier fantabulous books, i wondered how martha's vineyard would be 'off season' and lo and behold, that was the very next book in the pile to read....never, ever stop writing about j.w. and zee and their crazy adventures....i'd love to have this great couple as next door neighbors!!!! thanx for so many wonderful hours savoring the incredible descriptions of places and recipes!!!!! i'm simply thrilled that i have 3 more books of this fun series in order to catch up to the present!!!! and when i'm reading something else, i actuallly miss j.w. and zee....crazy, huh???