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Rating: 
Summary: Read this book at Thanksgiving...it's a turkey!!!
Review: Based on the cover hype, you would think this is one of the best novels ever written. It's not...by any means. Horrible writing, poor plot...and if I had to read the Harbormaster calling the old lady sweetheart one more time, I would have set the book on fire! Ugh!
Rating: 
Summary: Good story; bad writing/editing
Review: I couldn't wait to get my hands on a mystery book based on Martha's Vineyard that wasn't by Phillip Craig (good reading, but enough is enough...). This book is a nice change from J.W. (the hero in Craig's books)and the writing more complex, but I would still classify this story as a light summer read. The book begins with a mysterious scream, heard, apparently, only by our heroine Victoria Trumbull. More coincidences occur in Victoria Trumbull's presence, which was abit unrealistic, although not uncommon to real life in a small community. I enjoyed Cynthia Riggs descriptions of the island and characterizations of the people (although I quickly became annoyed at Harbormaster Domingo's abundant use of the word "Sweetheart"!) If you are a fan of the Vineyard, Philip Craig, or light mysteries, you may enjoy this book
Rating: 
Summary: A delightful heroine makes this mystery qwork
Review: Oak Bluffs is a peaceful village located on Martha's Vineyard. However, beneath the quiet surface dark undercurrents freely flow, waiting for the appropriate moment to surface and cause harm. The local harbormaster, retired NYPD officer Domingo, senses something is rotten as thousands of dollars a month funnel through the harbor into the pockets of some people.Victoria, a sprightly nonagenarian awaits the arrival of her granddaughter Elizabeth, the harbormaster's assistant when she hears something fall into the water. Nanoseconds later she hears a car racing away from the vicinity. Victoria tells Domingo. They investigate together only to find the mutilated corpse of one of the town's least desirable citizens. More deaths follow along with Victoria and Elizabeth receiving life-threatening notes to keep their mouths shut. Neither woman is any good at obeying orders. Victoria has more energy than a middle school sports team and remains sound in mind and body. Her fountain of youth vigor makes DEADLY NIGHTSHADE into a powerful tale even as readers will wonder if the portrayal can be realistic. Cynthia Riggs shows her gift for characterizations that will have her audience clamoring for an on-going series at least until Victoria turns one hundred. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: It's ok.
Review: Since I don't live on Martha's Vineyard and have never been there, the details of the island were rather lost on me. I also found the way the author skipped from one character scene to another a little disorienting. I would have enjoyed knowing more back story about the characters themselves and less about the island. An ok plot but nothing all that innovative or spectacular. A first book effort, we'll hope the series improves in the depth of its characters.
Rating:
Summary: Read this book at Thanksgiving...it's a turkey!!!
Review: Victoria Trumbull has lived on Martha's Vineyard most of her 92 years. One night she hears something out of the ordinary. It is a scream, then a splash, and then the sound of a car speeding away. Her granddaughter Elizabeth, the harbormaster Domingo (and Elizabeth's boss), and her speed in a boat across to where she heard the sounds. There they find a body. Domingo is concerned that something funny has been going on with the money at the harbor so Howland Atherton has written a computer program to seal up the loopholes in the system. The dock attendants handle the cash and receipts. Sometimes it hasn't all made it to the accountant. Professor T. R. Folger (Rocky) has brought his large sailboat to the harbor. He's from an old-time summer family. He also owns a big house on Tashmoo. Everyone begins speculating how a professor can afford such luxuries. He apparently wrote a software program and has received large royalties. Domingo quietly enlists island locals to keep an eye on Victoria as he is afraid something thinks she knows more about the murder than she does. Good thing. Vehicles start following Elizabeth and Victoria on dark streets putting them in harms way more than once. Victoria knows everyone and even though she doesn't do a lot of sleuthing herself, she finds out information from various sources and discusses it with Domingo and Elizabeth. I feel they all do the sleuthing together. I have been to Martha's Vineyard for a short visit and read Philip Craig's Martha's Vineyard series so I enjoyed the settings for this book immensely. They are very well described. The characters in this book are well defined and believable. I look forward to further adventures with Victoria, Elizabeth and Domingo. The plot in this book was good. It had some twists and turns. I felt this was a great first installment in this
Rating:
Summary: Good Concepts But Poor Execution
Review: When elderly poet Victoria Trumbull discovers a corpse at edge of Bluff Oaks Bay on Martha's Vineyard the unknown killer begins to worry that the lady may have seen more than she has told. But fortunately for Victoria, her granddaughter Elizabeth is the assistant harbormaster--and the two team up with harbor master Domingo, former NYC policeman, to solve the crime before the killer can strike again. It is a classic premise, but in her debut novel DEADLY NIGHTSHADE author Cynthia Riggs seems unable to decide whether she is writing a serious murder mystery or the sort of whimsical tale popularized by the likes of Lillian Jackson Braun and Rita Mae Brown. The result is a novel which is neither one thing nor another and trips all over itself in an effort to be both. The basic problem here is that while Riggs has a host of good concepts she simply doesn't know what to do with them. The character ideas are good, but the characters are inconsistently presented, their colorfulness feels forced, and frankly no one would describe her trio of sleuths as the sharpest knives in the drawer. Likewise the plot is actually quite good in basic idea--but rather than have her characters actually detect anything Riggs relies on a series of utterly absurd coincidences to move the story along to a solution so ill-concealed that any mystery reader worth their salt will spot the conclusion a third of the way into the novel. If I seem unduly harsh re what is clearly intended to be an ultralight entertainment, it is because Riggs obviously has the talent to write a much better novel than DEADLY NIGHTSHADE. And I sincerely hope she does. For with a lighter touch, stronger characterization, and less filler Victoria Trumbull and company have the potential to become a truly delightful and very, very entertaining series. GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: While I like Philip Craig's books, I was initially excited to read a mystery set in Martha's Vineyard, my favorite vacation destination, by a different author. However, after reading about 1/3 of the story, I found nothing about it that really grabs me, save for a sensationalized murder at the center of the plot. None of the characters are particularly appealing and I miss the little touches of humor and local commentary that are featured in Craig's Vineyard mysteries.
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