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Cynthia Riggs
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Widow's Wreath: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery Kindle Edition

by Cynthia Riggs (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 141 ratings
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It’s a case of cold feet—and cold-blooded murder—as 92-year-old poet/sleuth Victoria Trumbull gets more than she bargained for after hosting an ill-fated wedding.

A wedding on picturesque Martha’s Vineyard promises to be the affair of the season when Penny Arbuthnot asks her cousin, feisty 92-year-old poet Victoria Trumbull, if she can use her property for the reception. Victoria agrees—but she has no idea what’s in store for the hapless couple.

For one, Penny is seriously in debt and desperate to marry money. She thinks she’s on the road to riches when she hooks Rocco Bufano, whose father is a multi-billionaire. But unbeknownst to Penny, Rocco’s been disowned by dad. He’s also in hock up to his ears, and thinks he’s bagged the catch of a lifetime in a wealthy Vineyard native. He also knows that someone is out to kill him. In fact, several guests have a reason to off Rocco, among them an autistic savant with a prodigious knowledge of murder weapons.

Victoria has assumed the reception will be a modest lemonade-and-gingersnap affair—but when a body is found in her cellar, it may be a happily-never-after in Widow’s Wreath, the fourteenth engaging installment in Cynthia Riggs’s beloved Martha’s Vineyard mysteries.
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  1. Book 7 of 7
    Martha's Vineyard Mysteries
  2. Print length
    328 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Crooked Lane Books
  6. Publication date
    June 12, 2018
  7. File size
    3762 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Widow’s Wreath:
“An exciting and twisted tale of hatred and family honor that will keep you guessing until the end.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Absolutely delightful!”
—Suspense Magazine

"Riggs opens up important topics in a thought-provoking mystery."
—Manhattan Book Review

Praise for the Martha’s Vineyard mysteries:
“There’s no better Vineyard guide than Cynthia Riggs and her character, Victoria Trumbull. She’s got the island’s DNA in her genes, knows all the history as well as its mystery, and creates a spellbinding tour of my favorite place on earth.”
—Linda Fairstein, NYT bestselling author of the Alexandra Cooper mysteries

"Satisfying...Fans of darker cozies will enjoy Riggs’s blend of crime, island lore, and well-drawn characters."
―Publishers Weekly on Trumpet of Death

"Riggs’ pleasantly old-fashioned sleuth is still clever enough to come up with a surprising culprit in another graceful homage to the island both she and her author call home."
―Kirkus Reviews on Trumpet of Death

"Riggs, who describes the beauties of her acerbic sleuth’s island home as lovingly as ever, provides a...satisfying conclusion."
—Kirkus Reviews on Bloodroot

“Riggs, a 13th-generation Islander in her mid-80s, is adept at fashioning an intriguing puzzle rendered in no-nonsense New England prose with particular respect for the abilities of the elderly. And she spins another good yarn.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch on Bloodroot

"Delightful...a cozy that celebrates the springtime beauty of the island as well as its quirky, endearing residents."
—Publishers Weekly on Touch-Me-Not

"Riggs’ character development and her lovely descriptions will have readers longing for both a trip to Martha’s Vineyard and the next book in the series."
—Booklist on Death and Honesty

"People are so nice in West Tisbury that even the villains seem less than evil ― more like seriously naughty."
―The New York Times on Indian Pipes

"Lovely descriptions of the Vineyard in the fall, plenty of suspenseful action and a cast of eccentric supporting characters...help make this another winner."
—Publishers Weekly on Indian Pipes

"There are many levels on which to enjoy Cynthia Riggs’s latest mystery....There is the twisting and turning plot of a good murder mystery. And there is prose, beautifully written, by a wonderful writer."
―The Martha’s Vineyard Times on Indian Pipes

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.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075WZR216
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (June 12, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 12, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3762 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 141 ratings

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Cynthia Riggs

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Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
141 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Judy Dickson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
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It is a great book by an exceptional writer
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F. Yoder
4.0 out of 5 stars I’ve enjoyed the other books in this series
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2018
Widow’s Wreath is the fourteenth book in the Martha’s Vineyard Mystery series.

I’ve enjoyed the other books in this series, but this one not as much. For me, there were too many suspects introduced early on in the book and it seems to take a while to learn that the wrong person had been killed. It took me a while to get everybody straight and their reasons for wanting the same person dead.

Victoria Trumball has agreed to host her 25-year-old distant cousin’s, Penny, wedding to Rocco Bufano. An electrician, Mark Johnson comes to Victoria’s home to upgrade the wiring that will be needed to support the need of additional electricity for the reception. Johnson soon asks Victoria what he should do with the scarecrow hanging in the basement. He soon learns that it is no scarecrow but in fact the body of a man that has been strangled.

Victoria wonders whether this was a good idea when she also learns that Penny has gone deeply into debt to fund the wedding and reception. The wedding, as it turns out, is a matter of convenience. Both of them think the other is rich and their answer to pay off their debts. The police are having difficulty identifying the body, but they feel that Rocco is not being completely honest when asked to identify the body. It seems that just about all of the guests and even the wedding party end up coming under suspicion. It will become clear that Rocco is the intended victim and the police will need to find the killer before someone else is murdered.

This is a well developed and interesting story with many interesting and believable characters. I would like to see future books to more like the earlier books.

I will be watching for future books in this entertaining series.
2 people found this helpful
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B. FILBERT
3.0 out of 5 stars Oh dear...
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
I have read all of the previous books in this series and loved them. I was so excited that another one had been published, but right from the start it seemed as though something was wrong with this one...as though another hand was at work. First, there was a lot of very course language, which I don't remember being nearly so prevalent in previous books in this series, and is definitely not something that I'm looking for. Then at least one character was given a different first name when referred to later in the book, and the final wrap-up of who did what was an absolute nightmare of mis-editing. The same details are actually told a second time right in the same few pages! I love the setting on Martha's Vineyard and the plot is not terrible; perhaps this volume could be reworked so that it's up to the standards of its predecessors. I even hope that a sequel will follow, but I strongly encourage the author to get a quality editor to go over everything before going to press. Onward and upward!
6 people found this helpful
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Daisy7dog
5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent installment in this series
Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2019
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I have read, enjoyed and own all the books by Cynthia Riggs in this series. This one is more intricate than previous books and for awhile I thought I had guessed the ending; but I was really wrong. Don't go by negative reviews on this book, just pay attention to the stories going on within the story and you will love it.
One person found this helpful
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Silvija Hellbusch
2.0 out of 5 stars Rather tiresome
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2018
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I rated this two stars because I finished it. If it had been more boring I would not have bothered. This multi murder mystery was simply not believable and the characters caricatured. But the fact that it took place in Martha’s Vineyard keep me reading, because I have always wanted to go there. If you want something more exciting, try National Geographic’s.
4 people found this helpful
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Miss Ivonne
4.0 out of 5 stars charming cozy
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2019
Widow’s Wreath proves very different than most of author ’s Martha’s Vineyard novels. The perennially 92-year-old poet, gardener and sage Victoria Trumbull seems crankier than usual. But she deploys her status as West Tisbury’s oldest police deputy to help solve the murder of a man left in Victoria’s own musty basement.

In this 14th novel in the series, Victoria’s feather-brained distant cousin Penny Arbuthnot will be marrying in less than a week and is having her reception at Victoria’s home. She’s marrying into a wealthy New York Italian family with some sinister ties. So with the corpse in the basement, an off-Islander clearly there for the wedding, Victoria and the police begin trying to unravel what’s really going on.

The mystery is clever and off-beat, but that’s not the real charm of these books. Riggs, the 13th generation of her family to live on Martha's Vineyard, knows the island inside and out; her descriptions make you feel the chill of the fog, taste the bourbon and water, and smell the garden flowers, including the titular flower. (Are they bridal wreath, as most people call them? Or widow’s wreath, as Victoria and her grandmother always termed them? You’ll need to read to find out!) May Riggs, now nearly as old as Victoria herself, keep writing these gems.
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Mark Monmonier
5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging plot with local color
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2018
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I enjoy Cynthia Riggs' mysteries because they remind me of pleasant times on Martha's Vineyard. Her plots are original and engaging, and in the end everything seems to fall into place. I look forward to reading another one next year.
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