Publisher's Weekly Review
At the start of Riggs's warm and witty sixth Martha's Vineyard mystery to feature Victoria Trumbull (after 2005's The Paperwhite Narcissus), the feisty 92-year-old deputy sheriff stumbles on the body of a neighbor, reclusive engineer Jube Burkhardt, who appears to have fallen to his death from a cliff. Two days earlier, Jube attended a meeting of the local Wampanoag tribal council about testing soil for a prospective casino's septic system. Not surprisingly, many islanders oppose the casino project. The arrival of a gang of motorcyclists who like to stunt-ride further raises the temperature. Victoria's investigation leads her to a second body, a burning house, a missing computer and considerable personal peril. Lovely descriptions of the Vineyard in the fall, plenty of suspenseful action and a cast of eccentric supporting characters, including the bikers' tough college professor leader, help make this another winner. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Instead of going gently into that good night, 92-year-old Victoria Trumbull, accompanied by her granddaughter Elizabeth, is finding another corpse. Jube Burkhardt, a Martha's Vineyard native, appears to have fallen from a cliff. But Victoria (The Paperwhite Narcissus, 2005, etc.) is suspicious enough to ask her friend, Native-American lobbyist Dojan, to look for a murder weapon. Meanwhile, the Aquinnah tribe is fiercely debating a casino on their Vineyard property, and off-island gaming interests are jockeying for position. Tribal leader Patience VanDyke is secretly buying up land; her assistant, Peter Little, is in the pay of a group looking to establish a floating casino; and each of Jube's two nieces thinks she could inherit land worth $18 million. When Jube's house goes up in smoke, even more interested parties are dying to get their hands on his singed computer, repository of many secrets. One of Jube's nieces is on the island with a biker group led by a Smith College professor who'd been offered a bribe by Jube. The other niece is staying with Victoria, although she's frequently off on her own. After another murder, Victoria develops a shortlist of suspects and offers herself as bait in a trap to catch the killer. Victoria's resourcefulness is the only thing to cheer in this mundane tale. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Trouble is rearing its head in little West Tisbury on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The local Native American tribe wants to start a gambling casino, and hundreds of Harley bikers are in town for a rally. Then 92-year-old police deputy Victoria Trumbull and her granddaughter Elizabeth discover the body of their neighbor Jube Burkdardt on a cliff. The next day, Hiram Pennybacker, who was sure Jube had been murdered, goes missing. This sixth book in a series, whose titles are taken from the names of plants found on the island, captures the local sense of community and presents an intriguing mystery that keeps readers guessing. Riggs lives in West Tisbury, MA. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.