Riggs's pleasing seventh Martha's Vineyard mystery (after 2006's Indian Pipes
) finds her 92-year-old heroine, Victoria Trumbull, a poet and deputy police officer, becoming a playwright for a summertime stage adaptation of Frankenstein.
The amateur theatrical troupe—which includes such locals as DEA agent Howland Atherton (playing the monster) and high school student Dawn Haines (playing Frankenstein's bride)—prepares for opening night under the dictatorial leadership of artistic director Dearborn Hall. The production is beset by tragedy when its eight-year-old star, Teddy Vanderhoop, goes missing, and his neighbor, also an actress in the show, is found murdered. Demoralized by the death and disappearance, much of the cast drops out, but Dearborn insists the show must go on—with farcical results. Riggs delivers yet another irresistible beach read. (May 29)
