Victoria Trumbull, a 92-year-old Martha's Vineyard native, deputy police officer and naturalist, continues to delight in this second outing (after 2001's Deadly Nightshade) from Vineyard native Riggs. Lonely recluse Phoebe Eldredge decides to sell 200 acres of beautiful, unspoiled land to a developer rather than leave it to her descendents, in particular her crass, rude granddaughter, whose arrival on the island triggers the well-paced action. Because Massachusetts has a law against destroying endangered plants, Victoria, an avid walker, goes in search of a rare plant, any rare plant, on Phoebe's property in order to forestall development, but first she stumbles on a decayed corpse, which proves to be that of sleazy lawyer Montgomery Mausz. Victoria's new sidekick, an 11-year-old boy named Robin, makes a worthy companion, leading her to unexpected island nooks. A stranger pinned under a storm-toppled tree in Victoria's driveway, an avaricious developer married to a Nevada showgirl, a recovering Vietnam veteran, earnest botanists, naïve town officials, a clique of golfing doctors—all are involved, but not all are what they seem. Amid dealings and double-dealings, the body count rises. The author's prodigious fund of natural lore, both plant and animal, complements her authentic portrait of the Vineyard's human community, complete with a chorus of locals on the porch of a West Tisbury landmark, Alley's general store. Bits of sly humor and wordplay add to the fun. This mystery unfolds as nicely as the Vineyard spring it so lovingly depicts. Agent, Nancy Love. (May 13)
