Deadly Nightshade »

Victoria Trumbull has lived most of her 92 years on the Island. Like other Islanders, she knows the sound of the sea in calm and stormy weather - and she knows the sounds that do not belong. One evening while Victoria waits on the dock for her granddaughter to return with the harbormaster, she hears a chilling scream followed by a splash and the sound of tires skidding on sand. She investigates and discovers a mutilated body floating on the outgoing tide.

With her granddaughter, Domingo the harbormaster, a swarm of Island characters, and a few mysterious visitors, Victoria manages to get in a good bit of detective work. However, she isn't able to prevent further homicide. As the tension mounts, Victoria concocts a scheme to reveal the killer and still has time to prepare her traditional Saturday night supper of Boston baked beans.

While the summer visitors bask on the beach, sail Island waters, shop in the Island stores, the reader is treated to the magic, the history and the texture of "the Vineyard" with its year-round characters real enough to include the reader in their conversations.

Publishers Weekly

Feisty, fiercely independent nonagenarian poet Victoria Trumbull makes a welcome debut in Riggs's first novel. Martha's Vineyard has been home to Victoria's family for several generations, and in a near century she has learned much about life. The unique location, only a short hop by plane or ferry to the mainland, makes this island an especially attractive holiday destination. But bad things can happen even in such a paradise and are more shocking because the pleasant low-key life is no preparation for murder. Elizabeth, Victoria's recently divorced granddaughter, is currently staying with her and working for Domingo, an ex-New York cop, now the Oak Bluffs harbormaster. When Victoria hears a scream across the water one balmy summer evening, she, Elizabeth and Domingo set off in the harbor launch to investigate. The floating eviscerated body they discover is only the first. From local Native Americans to the wealthiest visitors, no one is above suspicion as they dive into the complexity of the crime. Victoria's highly developed sense of right and wrong and her ethical compass steer them on a dangerous but inevitable course. Riggs enriches her characters by detailing their daily routines as they handle drugs, social justice, family problems, local politics and even computerization. The book's dedicatee, Dionis Coffin Riggs (1898-1997), native Vineyarder and poet, would seem to be the model for Victoria. Everyone should have such a terrific grandmother. Agent, Nancy Love. (May 14) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.