First Light : The First Ever Brady Coyne / J. W. Jackson Mystery (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Creator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two veteran writers who know Martha's Vineyard well bring together Boston lawyer Brady Coyne and former cop J.W. Jackson in a slow-paced but ultimately satisfying crime drama set on the island after the summer season has ended. When tough businessman Jack Bannerman's wife goes missing, he hires private detective Jackson to find her. A parallel missing person's case develops when Coyne, Jackson's buddy, arrives for a fishing derby, only to see his elderly client Sarah Fairchild's private nurse vanish mysteriously in the midst of a nasty dispute over the future of ailing Mrs. Fairchild's sizable beachfront property. Conflicts erupt as family members fight among themselves and developers clash with environmentalists, all over whether to have a golf club or wildlife preserve. When he finally speaks with the bumbling local police, Jackson has already noticed that attractive women, all blonde and in their forties, have been disappearing for years on the island. Slashed tires with a warning note and quotations from Hamlet become important clues that eventually lead the pair of sleuths to a culprit whose guilt has been amply foreshadowed. The first-person narration that alternates between the two heroes for 26 chapters would have benefited from some variety, while the long descriptions of surf casting at morning's "first light" will appeal mostly to those who enjoy that sport. Yet we do get an intriguing and evocative picture of this high-profile vacation spot (whose presidential visits are noted in the text) in the off-season. (Jan. 8)Forecast: This collaborative effort ought to boost sales for both authors, especially if the two Massachusetts residents can coordinate on some joint local publicity and promotion.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

While in Martha's Vineyard on legal business, Tapply's Brady Coyne (Past Tense) visits Craig's J.W. Jackson (Vineyard Shadows). Coyne gets caught in the crossfire between land developers and the heirs of an old lady, while Jackson searches for a missing woman. The two eventually join forces, of course, in a most captivating read.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (December 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743222083
• ISBN-13: 978-0743222082
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #797,945 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #43 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Craig, Philip

• This is item 19 in The Brady Coyne Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two authors join forces, December 21, 2001

By	Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Authors Philip Craig and William Tapply join together with their heroes J.W. Jackson and Brady Coyne to create a pleasant mystery set on Martha's Vineyard. Coyne has come to the island to advise his client Sarah Fairchild as to whether to sell her valuable beachfront property to golf course developers or environmentalists. Sarah is in precarious health and feels as if she needs to make this decision quickly. J.W. has been commissioned to find Katherine Bannerman who left her husband, came the island and then disappeared. When not involved in business, however, the two friends join forces to enter the fishing derby, which is a big event on Martha's Vineyard. Also J.W. is helping his two young children build a treehouse. Threats are made against J.W. and Brady, and Jackson's wife Zee has her tires slashed while at work. They work together trying to find out who is at the bottom of all of this. I wondered how the two authors would work together on this joint effort and they used the format of each one writing every other chapter, which features his hero. This is a pleasant book and an enjoyable read but, disappointingly the murderer was too easy to spot. The two main characters worked well together and would be a good match in future books.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author William G Tapply Is One Of My Better Habits, December 27, 2002

By	Joseph L Burke (Bradenton, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Author Tapply has written a series of books about lawyer and amateur sleuth Brady Coyne. It is difficult to describe the Brady Coyne books except, possibly, to note that they all read like a letter from an old friend. The details of Coyne's comings and goings, his meals, his hobbies, his love interests, and his tracking down of the bad guys...are all told in an engaging style as if he were writing to each reader alone. These are the kind of books you want to "curl up with" - along with some goodie to gnaw on and a little special-wet to drink. Wish Tapply had written a hundred of 'em.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but needs more intensity, December 18, 2001

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Attorney Brady Coyne is driving from Boston to Martha's Vineyard to combine pleasure with business. Brady plans to spend some time with close friend and sleuth J.W. Jackson while also finalizing the will of the dying Sarah Fairchild. Brady and JW plan to spend as much time fishing together as possible so they really want to ignore the plea of local resident James Bannerman whose wife Katherine is missing.

However, though Brady has plenty to do between fishing and handling the Fairchild estate, Zee, the wife of JW, decides to arrange a date between their friend and Sarah's nurse Molly Wood. When Molly fails to show up for the date, Zee believes something catastrophic had to occur. She persuades her spouse and Brady to look into the matter. Though both are reluctant to investigate they compare notes and soon realize the eerie similarities between Molly and Katherine and start following the clues.

The collaboration between William G Tapply & Philip R Craig is fun to follow as each one's sleuth takes turns telling the story. The lead detectives retain their essence form their own respective series yet their friendship rings genuine. The who-done-it barely turns on the fictional sleuths investigating it so that the audience feels they would rather join the two detectives fishing. Still FIRST LIGHT contains a charm because of the camaraderie between the two stars.

Harriet Klausner