Victoria Trumbull, the astute, 92-year-old Vineyard native and deputy police officer, takes on her most bizarre case yet, in Riggs's third appealing Vineyard mystery (after 2002's The Cranefly Orchid Murders). An empty grave, a misplaced coffin and a missing hearse driver are the harbingers of a series of grotesque murders, whose victims turn out to share an odd South American connection involving smuggling and an exotic bird. The author lends ballast to an outlandish plot by lovingly depicting ordinary island people (awkward teens, a friendly police chief, small-town officials with their rivalries and gossips) and events (notably the return of the local high school football team from the big game against Nantucket). The unfamiliar portrait of the Vineyard in winter is another plus. With patience and charm, the down-to-earth Victoria succeeds in drawing out confidences. In the end, even she is surprised.

Genre: Mystery