Customer Reviews

Vineyard Enigma: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery

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Another day on Martha's Vineyard. I continue to play "catch up" with this series, because it IS something akin to a vacation on the Vineyard---old familiar characters and their exploits. It's relaxing and comforting. I do have to make some nitpicking observations on the Jackson children. If these children are "5" and "almost 4," how on earth are they spending the entire day in school? Maybe Martha's Vineyard is far and away ahead of most public schools, but an "almost 4 year old" in all-day school, riding a bus no less, is pretty weird. Preschool, maybe--but I thought money was pretty tight! And time after time, JW and Zee sit on the balcony with their martinis while they hear the kids pounding down the sandy driveway when the bus lets them off. Wouldn't you go MEET the bus for such young children? Sheesh. OK....I said it was nitpicking. Just really BUGGED me the whole way through the book.

This the is third book in a row that shows this series' decline. The far-fetched plot is based on two stolen carved African eagles, and Zee makes goo-goo eyes at a studly African from the moment she meets him. The reason, we find out at the end, is that she needed at that moment to love someone other than her husband...and he's cool with that. Puleeeeeeze! Mr. Craig needs to start writing for the reader again, and not for the bank...and we'll all be a lot happier!

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.

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!

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

The Martha's Vineyard Mystery series started out wonderfully, putting a hard boiled detective in genuine Vineyard settings, and I determined to read them all, in order. This one isn't the worst, but it is far from the best. By this installment, they're distinctly so-so. The characters and their emotions are increasingly stale and fake, and Craig has J.W. moaning about changes on the Island and complaining about the contemporary world and its people as much as appreciating Martha's Vineyard. Not so bad that I'm going to stop working my way through the ouevre, but if you're dipping your toe in, pick an early one.

And of course, dead bodies along the trail in picturesque Martha's Vineyard. A mysterious visitor from Zimbabwe hires J. W. to help him locate two "stolen" soapstone eagles which are national treasures. The search goes to the upper crust Vineyard art afficianados. Something about the mystery doesn't click well, though. Although the motives for murder were good, the way the solution fell into place was just a bit humdrum for me. But as always, I enjoyed this vacation to the 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 ago
and 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.

VINEYARD ENIGMA by Philip R. Craig has Zee drifting after her encounter with a killer, which she won. J.W. is busy keeping the home fires burning while Zee wanders toward a new attraction in the personage of Abraham Mahsimba.
Mahsimba has come to Martha's Vineyard from Zimbabwe in search of two historic soapstone eagles and Mr. Brownington, a missing investigator.
J.W., John Sykes, and Mahsimba stumble upon the corpse of Matthew Duarte and the hunt is on for both a killer and this missing artifacts.
A good Vineyard read.
Nash Black, author of Indie finalists WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and HAINTS.

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.