Deadly Nightshade - Hardcover

Riggs, Cynthia

3.25

959 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786237546 ISBN 13: 9780786237548

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 2001

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Martha's Vineyard has been home to Victoria Trumbull for most of her ninety-two years. Its magic, history, and picture-perfect calm are part of her very being. Like other Islanders, she knows the sounds of the sea in calm and stormy weather--and she knows sounds that do not belong. One evening, Victoria is waiting on the dock for her granddaughter to return with the harbormaster when 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. Despite interruptions from her granddaughter Elizabeth, the harbormaster Domingo, a swarm of Island locals, and a few mysterious visitors, Victoria manages to get in a good bit of detective work and still find time to cook her traditional Saturday-night supper of Boston baked beans. She even concocts a scheme to trap the killer. But she'll need to act quickly because victim number two has already been found.

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About the Author:

Cynthia Riggs, a thirteenth-generation Islander, lives on Martha's Vineyard in her family homestead, now a bed-and-breakfast catering to poets and writers. She has a degree in geology from Antioch College, an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College, and a US Coast Guard masters license.

From 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.

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