I have read every book in this series, but this is my favorite. We are treated to the usual ambiance of Martha's Vineyard (Craig really makes me want to go there!) with fishing trips followed by gourmet blue-fish and crab dinners, but this also includes some real suspense and action with our hero being pursued by a mysterious bad guy. If you want to be convinced to read the rest of the series, read this one first!

Yes it is out of print, but look for it in used bookstores. In fact look for the whole series. These are very good light reading. The characters are good and the stories keep you interested. I no longer fish, but I enjoy reading about these characters who do love fishing, cooking, nude sunbathing, and other island type lifestyles. I don't think a lifestyle of this type would be for everyone, and I know it's not for me, I enjoy air conditioning, television, and the middle of the country, although a visit to Martha's Vineyard isn't beyond hope.

Find all of the out of print ones if you can, visit the library and find those you can and then plunge in and enjoy.

I lived on Martha's Vineyard for several years year-round, during the bustling summers and what is known as the "off season." Philip R. Craig's novel captures perfectly the sense of community that year-round Islanders enjoy. He also gives a realistic account about how everyone knows everyone else's business in a closely-knit environment. His characters Mimi and Nash are true to life. His descriptions about how people eke out a living scallopping and fishing in the off-season are also quite accurate. Craig also mixes into his cast of characters a few professional and business people, and their interaction with the native Islanders is key to his story. The suspense in "Off Season" is great, and I could not guess the outcome until the final pages of the book. I also love this book because it contains so many evocative passages about Martha's Vineyard. I feel like I am living there again when I read Craig's (a/k/a J.W. Jackson's) descriptions of my beloved Island. I know every secluded beach and back road about which he writes. When he writes about Wasque Point, I can almost see the sun setting westward over the beach in the late afternoon and feel the salty spray on my face from the crashing waves. Reading this book was like taking another vacation on the Vineyard!

L LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THESE BOOKS!!!!! A very dear friend introduced me to this marvelous series a couple of months ago and i'm completely, totalllllly addicted!!! i think it would be great to have a recipe section at the end of each book...i'd love to try j.w.'s bluefish pate! as i was reading the earlier fantabulous books, i wondered how martha's vineyard would be 'off season' and lo and behold, that was the very next book in the pile to read....never, ever stop writing about j.w. and zee and their crazy adventures....i'd love to have this great couple as next door neighbors!!!! thanx for so many wonderful hours savoring the incredible descriptions of places and recipes!!!!! i'm simply thrilled that i have 3 more books of this fun series in order to catch up to the present!!!! and when i'm reading something else, i actuallly miss j.w. and zee....crazy, huh???

Just finished this fascinating collection of papers. Very well done and extremely readable I thought this a great find.

This is an excellent addition to the Martha's Vineyard series. I got it from the libray, which is about the only way you'll be able to get a copy because it is almost as scarce as hen's teeth. You can enjoy the series without reading the first three which are regretably out of print, but hopefully the publishers will get a clue and reprint the first three. Go to your local library and see if you can find these and then enjoy.

Jeff Jackson and the characters of Martha's Vineyard are always up to some new tricks. The good thing - there are new books coming out all the time. Keep up the good work.

Donald Fox is upsetting many residents of Martha's Vineyard by using questionable title searches in order to secure people's homes at an undervalued price. J.W. Jackson and his wife Zee resist the efforts of Fox's company Saberfox to buy their house. Coincidentally, they are in a nearby restaurant when Fox's brother Paul is shot. Fortunately Paul is wearing a bullet-proof vest and he recovers from the attack, but J.W. is still a minor suspect in the shooting because of his dealings with Saberfox and his proximity to the shooting. Meanwhile another of the Vineyard's inhabitants asks J.W. to find out more about the man who is courting her mother. She has no objections to her mother having a relationship, but wants to make sure that the man is an honorable person. J.W. sets out on his investigation, and suddenly finds himself being followed by Saberfox employees. Philip Craig weaves these two plots together and throws in some of the Jacksons' family time to create another good read in his Vineyard series. As usual, he includes some recipes in the back of the book and uses Martha's Vineyard as the appealing background for his novel.

After all the trauma he experienced in Vietnam and as a police officer in Boston who got shot in the line of duty, J.W. Jackson is happy living on Martha's Vineyard and making ends meet by taking odd jobs. One day while he and his wife Zee are eating at the local deli, shots ring out and J.T. rushes out to see Paul Fox lying down on the sidewalk. The shooter is nowhere to be found but Paul is not seriously injured because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

It turns out that Paul was wearing the vest in an effort to persuade his brother Donald, a real estate developer who has many enemies, to wear one also. Donald was using immoral but legal methods to force the year round residents to sell their homes to him, making the police think Donald was the intended victim. J.T. gets himself involved in the investigation and almost winds up getting himself killed.

It is always great to have a new Martha's Vineyard Mystery to read and A VINEYARD KILLING proves that claim. It is fun getting reacquainted with characters we have come to like and seeing Martha's Vineyard through the eyes of Philip R. Craig is always a special treat. The hero can't stop playing cop as he tries to solve an attempted homicide, a murder, a stalking case, and figure out how all these events are connected. This is definitely a must read mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I fell in love with J.W. and his Vineyard several books ago. Recently, though, I've found Craig's stories weak to the point of boring.

With the wife came responsibility and predictability. J.W. has changed, and he just doesn't offer the excitement he used to. Now that he has two children, the sleuth is just another dad, lugging car seats and buying ice cream. It's interesting, almost funny, how precocious Craig makes these little darlings, shaking hands and exhibiting perfect manners, even to the bad guys. I couldn't help but think, every time these kids refer to their parents as "Ma" and "Pa", that I was back to "Little House on the Prairie". Maybe that's a better title..."Little House on the Vineyard."

Please, Mr. Craig, get rid of this sugar-sweet family. They could all fall off the boat and drown. They could be kidnaped by terrorists and never returned. Anything. Just bring back the old J.W. and his adventures - minus the missus and the diaper bag.

Craig's novels are easy reads, enjoyable characters, with realistic solutions to most problems. JW is no superman and avoids violence as a real person would, but can handle himself in a tight spot. Good local color. Craig lives there and lets others sample the pleasures of the island.

This novel is a good mystery with some unexpected twists at the end. An actress shows up on Martha's Vineyard with a friend from the island, saying she wants refuge from a stalker in California. It is out of the frying pan and into the fire when she attracts the attention of a local psychopathic hoodlum. J. W. Jackson becomes more involved than he intended when he takes on the task of carrying out an investigation. His own life is endangered when he, in turn, draws the hoodlum's attention. Saying more would give away the plot.

This book, like some of the author's other books, has recipes in an appendix. It also has the usual map of Martha's Vineyard for readers unfamiliar with the island, and some side accounts of fishing.

This is the first of several Craig books that I have read. Walking down the street in my hometown of Washington, DC, I saw the book in the window of a local bookstore that specializes in Mystery Books. Needing a new book, and being a regular Vineyarder since I was a toddler, I decided to buy it. The book is rich with Vineyard references, many of which will only be fully understood by those of us who frequent or live on the island. The problem with this, as with the rest of Craig's books is that I have found myself reading his work only because it is set on Martha's Vineyard. The storylines often vary between unbelievable and uninteresting. The dialogue is downright awful and incredibly trite. Still, Craig has a Grisham-esque ability to make you turn the pages. The plot is simple enough to follow, without being idiotic, even if you have to strech to believe both that a retired Boston cop would be entrusted with the care of a president's daughter over the Secret Service, and the reason for it, which you'll need to read, otherwise it's a major spoiler.

The sleuth lives a lifestyle I relish and admire. An ex-cop living on Martha's Vinyard spendind his days fishing, digging for clams, and walking the beach. His nights are spent with his beautiful wife, sipping on cold Sam Adams while watching the sun go down over the Nantucket sound. Everthing is how it should be until they're asked to hide the President's daughter from would be assasins. The plot is nothing special, but "Craig's" descriptions of Island Living and contentment made me wish I was in a hammock with an ale in my belly. Craig will take ten pages to describe the beauty of the shore at sunrise while you're fishing for Bluefish, "oh by the way, the killer is in his car watching from across the street". A wonderful lazy-day read.

Cricket Callahan looks like an average American teenager. However, with the father of the sixteen year old girl being the President of the United States of America, the secret service agents try to make sure she does not act like one. Sometimes they fail to accomplish their intended goal. One particular time that she slips off their leash, she meets former Boston police officer J. W. Jackson. Although the secret service immediately catches up with her, she ducks out of sight. The agents give J. W. a hard time, but he quickly realizes who has been the recipient of a fishing lesson. ....... Cricket stows away in the back of his pick-up truck. She maneuvers herself into staying with J. W. and his spouse Zee for the few days left of her vacation and participate in some normal fun. Much to the surprise of J. W. the First Family and the secret service are nearby, but in spite of some strange occurrences, they do not make Cricket return home. J. W. learns that an attempt on Cricket's life is expected to be shortly made and since the agents fear a mole within their midst, they feel she is safer where she is. Anyone who knows J. W. realizes that he will not idly standby and allow harm to come to his beloved spouse or the innocent teen. ....... This novel is a fast, breezy read that features likable characters, especially a hero who emulates the positive o the point that readers are instantly involved with the story line. Although there is bit too much geographical description of the Martha's Vineyard area, Phillip R. Craig has scribed a tale that will appeal to all types of mystery readers. The precocious teen almost steals the show with her adolescent antics mixed with a sophisticated savvy. This is necessary read. ......Harriet Klausner

I have read a lot of books on the JFK assissination.

This book caught my eye for that reason. However, once I began reading it, this book kept my attention. It read like a novel. I liked that, it was a switch from the usual fact presented like facts JFK conspiracy books. I liked that about this book. It certainly had me convinced that this guy had something to do with the JFK murder. It made me wonder why we didn't do more then in regards to this guy.

The book was gory when talking about the dismemberment of his mother and father. I really didn't like that. I'm not sure that it added much to the book except some length. However, it did make me realize that this was the type of man who would do what he thought needed to be done and might certainly shoot at a president.

This book is very interesting and those interested in reading about the JFK assassination would do well to consider reading this book. It is an easy one to skip over with the massive amounts of books available to read. However, the novel like feel of this does not detract from the research completed and conclusions drawn in this book.

I have read quite a lot of books about the Kennedy assassination but this one is the best by far. It is well written and reads like a thriller.

At the end of the book a groundsheet of the Rogers' house is shown. This helps to understand the description of the crime and the search through the house by the two police officers. What I miss is a groundsheet of the parsonage. From the description it is not possible for me to imagine how it looked like. It plays an important role so I think it would better the book if it was printed too. A thing that makes me curious is: what did the authors put on their trail? Where they one of those informed by Marietta Gerhart?

I think it's the children that are ruining this series. Like so many other readers I used to love these books. However, I'm sorry, but I don't find them believable at all. I have 5 kids of my own, all grown up but I can remember having small kids around. Never were there such perfectly mannered tots, such paragons of precocity & good behavior as Josh & Diana. Not to mention the "Pa" & "Ma" bit is irritating in tne extreme as well. It really surprises me that these stories have deteriorated to the extent that they have; I never would have expected it. Zee is bad enough, but the addition of the kids has been fatal to the former high quality writing.

Sorry, but I have to agree with the "Go away, Zee" reviewer. Any new M.V. book by Philip R. Craig used to be automatically bought by me, but now I've had it with J.W. Jackson. There is hardly any plot left, instead there are innumerable repetitions of Zee's equally innumerable perfections. If there ever was a "heroine" female readers couldn't identify with, Zee wins the contest hands down. In the older stories Zee with or without kids used to be shipped off to the mainland or somewhere else whenever the story got really interesting, or J.W. went away on his own as he did in "Cliff hanger". Those days are gone, regrettably. Unless there is a drastic change, I'm sure I'll be a faithful reader of these stories no longer.

This is one of the few mysteries that I've ever read and it is a terrifiic story! JW and Zee and their children are so refreshing. After reading the book, I feel like I've actually met them. And Corrie is such a laid back old soul--I loved him. This wonderful author doesn't overdo the detective into some kind of super-motcho man--JW is an everyday kind of guy with a family that he also has time for; his career just happens to be looking for evidence and then putting it together and come up with a solution. The story involves college students rooming in houses that are not kept up by the landlord. He owns the houses for the profit made on them. Some of the college students get a little too rapped up in their partying and sometimes revenge to each other. Then throw in arson and there's a story to make you read til you find out if it's arsen or fate and who's behind it all--if anyone is. Really a super story. The author keeps you reading because you're always "just about to find out more".

OK, the "Vinyard" series does not represent great literature. However, that's not the point about these 'atmospheric' novels is it? You read these kind of books while you're on the Cape or to bring you mentally back to the place. This one has a better plot that the others I have read in the series but the dialogue remains the weak point. Enough with the fishing and the traffic jams too, please. All in all, since we go to the Cape every year, this series is a fun read for me. However, if you want read a good series with excellent dialogue and a strong sense of place, find one of the Dibdin novels. They are set in Italy and they are wonderful.

Craig's biggest downfall is the third-rate dialogue he employs. It's often trite and unrealistic, I criticism I noted in another review of one of his books. The storyline is actually better in this book than in others. There's an unexpected twist that throws you at the end, which makes it better reading than Craig's other works. As with his other "Martha's Vineyard Mysteries," the story centers on another adventure with retired Boston cop (and Vineyard resident), J.W. Jackson. He finds a dead girl in his driveway, and goes about solving her murder. There are subplots that don't really add to the story, and as I said above, the dialogue is crap. I'm sure the reason I keep reading Craig's books is that if you are a Vineyarder (as I am), there are few better ways to conjure up images of the island than his books. His descriptions of such things as the traffic jams and night life on the Vineyard are incredibly realistic and offer a respite to someone like me who only gets to spend a week or two per year on the island. Non-Vineyarders would do better to find something else.

This novel seems to be a little bit of mystery added into a story about fishing on Martha's Vineyard with a travelogue of the island. The author puts a little too much emphasis on the fishing. An interesting basis was developed for the crime, i.e., manipulating inter-bank transfers, with intelligent criminals fumbling the implementation, but maybe there are one too many characters/complications/side issues.