A DEADLY VINEYARD HOLIDAY: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery - Hardcover

Craig, Philip R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684197189 ISBN 13: 9780684197180

Publisher: Scribner, 1997

Synopsis

Cricket, the president's runaway daughter, who has taken up temporary residency with fisherman, cook, and sleuth J.W. Jackson and his wife, Zee, is being stalked by a killer or killers in the Secret Service, and J.W. must protect the vulnerable young girl

About this title

About the Author

Philip R. Craig is a professor of English at Wheelock College in Boston.

Reviews

An early morning session of casting for bluefish brings a new adventure to the not-so-quiet life of J.W. Jackson (Death on a Vineyard Beach, 1996, etc.)--once a member of Boston's PD, now eking out a living on Martha's Vineyard with adored wife Zee, a nurse at the local hospital. The morning's fishing is interrupted by the appearance of Cricket Callahan, the daughter of the President. Cricket is sick of the security guard that watches her every move--especially right now, in the wake of a series of threatening letters. When her parents agree to let her stay with J.W. and Zee for the last days of their holiday, J.W. speculates, correctly, that there are suspicions of a threat within the vacation White House itself. Cricket, renamed Debby, disguised with glasses and a new hairdo, is now J.W.'s cousin from Virginia, visiting with sister Karen (her bodyguard). As Debby and Karen do all the fun things teenagers do, J.W. puts his mind to tracking down the source of the threatening letters. Matters are soon complicated by the murder of a tabloid reporter in the woods near J.W.'s house. With the help of FBI man Jake Spitz and ex-government agent Joe Begay (an old Vietnam buddy), J.W. finally comes up with some pretty bizarre answers. A leisurely guide to the Vineyard, complete with instructions on fishing, climbing, and cooking. Some of the background clarity could have been used to strengthen the jerry-built plot in this comfortable but uncompelling episode. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This pleasant series continues as sleuth J.W. Jackson and wife Zee become clandestine surrogate parents to the president's teenaged daughter. When someone kills the reporter who discovers her whereabouts, J.W. fears a conspiracy. A winner as usual.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

President Callahan (read Clinton) and his family are vacationing on Martha's Vineyard when J. W. Jackson encounters the First Teen during a predawn excursion for bluefish. Cricket Callahan (read Chelsea) and her entourage of Secret Service agents come to spend a few days with J. W. and his wife, Zee, allowing her a normal teenager's summer, however briefly. Cricket needs protection even more than usual, forcing J. W. to thwart a plan to attack her. Jackson's relations with women--Zee, Cricket, Cricket's female Secret Service guard Karen--are warm, easygoing, and just a bit tangled by the Mars/Venus thing. Beyond the appealing characters and the Clinton parallels, the real fun here comes in meandering across the island and its culture. Craig knows the Vineyard intimately and uses that knowledge in intriguing ways. A nice addition to this series, but it could have used a better--and more Clintonesque--title. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684197189
• ISBN 13: 9780684197180
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288