It is a good chance not to miss this book for the engineers in the fire protection field.

This book was originally published as The Woman Who Walked Into the Sea, the second book in Craig's Martha's Vineyard series. The book was excellent then and it is still a good book. However, it is a shame that Amazon is not telling buyers that the book is a reprint.

Aside from milking Vineyard popularity in his rather dull series of mysteries, Craig does not fail to disappoint in this weakest of his offerings. Nothing much happens in this book, the murderer is fairly obvious, and Craig spoon-feeds us dribs and drabs of drama about as riveting as a bowl of mush. Cold mush. As one reviewer noted, there's just too much Zee adoration and Joshua junk. There is very little excitement. Like Martha's Vineyard after the tourists (finally!) go home. I gave this book two stars for the recipes that Craig thoughtfully includes with his stories. Now, if he would only publish his cookbook...

The reviews of this simple little book are all over the map. The comments about "too much Zee / Joshua" are fair and I agree with them. This edition had a lot less fishing too, thank you very much. The plot was easy to follow and you probably won't be "guessing" until the end. But this series is designed for summer reading - a time when your mind should be on autopilot. That means, it should be easy. also, it should be fun and it should be atmospheric. I think Mr. Craig knows that and he has hit on a decent formula that he can use (milk?) until he runs completely out of ideas. I'm reading the series now because it's April and it's still snowing here in the NE. I could use a little Vineyard summer right now and the series continues to bring me back to one of the most beautiful places in the USA. I'll keep reading if he keeps writing because I know what I'm getting.

I have devoured each of Philip Craig's Vineyard mysteries with great enthusiasm, and this one was no exception. His folksy description of Vineyard life is as enjoyable as the story itself, as is his ongoing update of his character's family life. His writing is as refreshing as an offshore breeze, and I look forward to each new book with pleasure.

I really enjoyed the challenge of reading "First Light." Once you get into the rhythm of alternating chapters by the 2 writers I think the story really developed a good flow. Having never read the Brady Coyne series, and having read all of the CW Jackson ones, I now am attempting to find the Brady Coynes that I've missed out on.

I think this novel is refreshing and although I am the type of reader who ALWAYS wants more detail and more character development, I found this book to be enjoyable nonetheless.

Enjoy!

I have read all of Philip R. Craig's Martha's Vineyard mysteries, but have never read those of William Tapply. I find that I enjoyed the interplay of the writers to create alternating chapters, although I wish there were more details, more character development and so forth.

I'm disappointed to see how many Tapply novels are out of print and hope I'll be able to find some in my Internet shopping forays.

Author Tapply has written a series of books about lawyer and amateur sleuth Brady Coyne. It is difficult to describe the Brady Coyne books except, possibly, to note that they all read like a letter from an old friend. The details of Coyne's comings and goings, his meals, his hobbies, his love interests, and his tracking down of the bad guys...are all told in an engaging style as if he were writing to each reader alone. These are the kind of books you want to "curl up with" - along with some goodie to gnaw on and a little special-wet to drink. Wish Tapply had written a hundred of 'em.

After a great start, this ones slows to a crawl and gets tedious. The ending would work, if we believe all the characters are reasonable people, but they aren't. Strangely passive ending. I'll come back, but might not stay much longer.

Philip Craig's "Vineyard Shadows" is a pleasant piece of summer reading for mystery lovers. His protagonist, J W Jackson is a retired Boston cop who has moved to Martha's Vineyard to fish and raise a family. But trouble follows him.

Two Boston hoods threaten and assault JW's wife and daughter while he is off clamming. They are looking for the husband of a woman to whom JW was once married. It is their bad luck that Zee, JW's present wife is packing. She was preparing to leave for the pistol range where she shoots competitively when they arrive. Soon after, the man the hoods were looking for turns up on JW's doorstep seeking asylum. JW decides he must find out what is going on in order to protect his own family and lend a helping hand to his ex-wife.

JW Jackson strikes me as a funnier, less pompous, domesticated relative of Robert Parker's Spenser. He confronts the kingpin of the Charlston Irish Mafia, as Spenser would. He milks old friends in law enforcement for information. Judged by the length of time it takes him to solve the central puzzle in the story, JW isn't as smart as Spenser -- or the average reader, for that matter. But then he doesn't have a sidekick like Hawk.

While not great literature, this novel is a very readable mystery. It is recommended for a long airline flight, relaxing at the beach, or a rainy evening at home. It is mystery No. 12 in the Vineyard series. While some people prefer to read the series in order, this one can be read as a stand along book. J.W. Jackson has his past catch up with him when he becomes involved with his ex-wife (after 15 years), her second husband, and the criminals he left behind in Boston.

J.W. is retired on disability from the Boston P.D. after being shot while on duty. He lives on Martha's Vineyard with his wife, Zee, their two young children, and two cats (but no dog in spite of his children's pleas). His preference for retirement is fishing, claming, occasional boating, and socializing with family and friends. His quiet life is disrupted by intruders from the mainland, in this case his ex-wife's husband and the hard cases looking for him for reasons not entirely clear (the man is not overly truthful about circumstances).

Yuppies spending themselves into debt, gambling, drugs, two timing men and women, criminal elements, and J.W.'s old Boston friends all figure into the plot. Two thugs make a bad mistake (fatal for one) when they try to rough up Zee. Zee then gets irked when J.W. tries to help his ex-wife by pulling her husband out of the hole he dug himself into. The plot, as they say, thickens. It takes a major effort by J.W. to restore things to a peaceful retirement. His children acquire some goldfish, but no dog, at least not yet.

A third of thew way thru, you will have spotted the killer and curiosity is the only reason to finish. Strange disappearance of Zee, though she wanders through sometimes. The book is weak.

This the is third book in a row that shows this series' decline. The far-fetched plot is based on two stolen carved African eagles, and Zee makes goo-goo eyes at a studly African from the moment she meets him. The reason, we find out at the end, is that she needed at that moment to love someone other than her husband...and he's cool with that. Puleeeeeeze! Mr. Craig needs to start writing for the reader again, and not for the bank...and we'll all be a lot happier!

J.W. and Zee Jackson live on Martha's Vineyard
with their 2 children. J.W. is an ex-cop from Boston. Now
he fishes and goes quahogging. To go quahogging you rake
quahogs, which are basically various sizes of hard shelled
clams, from the sand and mud bottoms. He gets a call from
a friend asking
him to assist an African, Mahsimba, search for 2 ancient
soapstone eagles allegedly stolen from African ruins. Zee
is acting distant since she recently shot a man and is
having trouble dealing with it. So J.W. agrees to help
Mahsimba. He starts interviewing all the people on the
island who have an interest in African art. Through the
course of his investigation he realizes he has apparently
stirred up someone.

He and Mahsimba continue their investigation of
the island art world in an attempt to find the soapstone
eagles.

This series is a fast read. I highly recommend
this book and the complete series.

One of the things I like is the authors description of his
preparation of the various seafood that he has caught and
then cooks. I am not a big seafood eater and so this gives
me insight into a type of food I would otherwise not hear
about. I also like his description of Martha's Vineyard.
Matter of fact, I like it so much that when we were
recently on a 9 day vacation in New England we went to
Martha's Vineyard. We weren't able to stay long, but at
least I got to see some of what he describes.

Having read most of the series, I also like how he builds
on the relationships of the characters. I feel like I'm
hearing from relatives when I read this book as I feel like
I know everyone.

Philip Craig's recurring character, ex-cop J.W. Jackson, is back to solve another Martha's Vineyard mystery. Jackson is engaged to Zee, a nurse who one day discovers an additional hunderd grand in her bank account. Zee's windfall disappears as mysteriously as it came. The bank is getting a new computer system and dismisses it as a glitch. When a college student winds up dead in Jackson's driveway near some bank statements revealing she'd just withdrawn a hundred grand, Jackson smells a rat and begins to investigate. Craig's mysteries are intriguing, but they don't have the rapid pace and high body count of many mysteries. He describes the laid-back lifestyle on Martha's Vineyard and the book moves along at much the same pace. In this book, Jackson's buddy shows up with a world renowed pianist in need of some personal time and Zee's mother visits and meets Jackson for the first time. As in all of Craig's books, much detail is given to the dishes Jackson makes. Die-hard mystery fans may not like Craig's style, but I enjoy being transported to the simple life in Martha's Vineyard for a little while.

This book is not up to the standards of the rest of the series. We're still on Martha's Vineyard and there are still bluefish to be had, but the plot is a bit far-fetched. J.W. is about to propose to his beloved, Zee, when she is kidnapped. There is a visit from the Padishah of Sarofim (where's that?) a missing necklace, and other inexplicable happenings which add up to a less-than-believable plot. The other books in the series are delightful, so don't let this one discourage you!