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Martha's Vineyard Mystery #4
Jack in the Pulpit: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery
Cynthia Riggs gives us the story of how Victoria Trumbell, the energetic nonagenarian amateur sleuth, first came to be a police deputy. While a conflict ensues between the towns retiring minister and his successor, both named Jack, four parishioners have unexpectedly died after being sent anonymous food baskets.
216 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Riggs
27 books122 followersCynthia Riggs, a tall gray-haired and imposing figure, is a 13th generation Islander, the mother of five and daughter of author and poet Dionis Coffin Riggs and school principal and printmaker Sidney N. Riggs.
With a degree in geology, her own remarkable resumé -- writing for the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian (she spent two months in Antarctica), working in public relations for the American Petroleum Institute, operating boat charters (she lived on a 44-foot houseboat for 12 years), running the Chesapeake Bay Ferry Boat Company, and being a rigger at Martha's Vineyard Shipyard. After enrolling six years ago in the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Vermont College, Riggs found yet another calling. She has become a successful mystery writer.
All her mysteries take place on the Vineyard, and all draw from local scenes and fictionalized composites of Island characters. She knows them all well, having been a two-time candidate for West Tisbury selectman ("No, I don't think I'll do that again"), a commissioner on the Martha's Vineyard Commission, a member of what is now the Martha's Vineyard Arts Council, and an active Island voice in both politics and human rights causes.
With a degree in geology, her own remarkable resumé -- writing for the National Geographic Society and Smithsonian (she spent two months in Antarctica), working in public relations for the American Petroleum Institute, operating boat charters (she lived on a 44-foot houseboat for 12 years), running the Chesapeake Bay Ferry Boat Company, and being a rigger at Martha's Vineyard Shipyard. After enrolling six years ago in the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Vermont College, Riggs found yet another calling. She has become a successful mystery writer.
All her mysteries take place on the Vineyard, and all draw from local scenes and fictionalized composites of Island characters. She knows them all well, having been a two-time candidate for West Tisbury selectman ("No, I don't think I'll do that again"), a commissioner on the Martha's Vineyard Commission, a member of what is now the Martha's Vineyard Arts Council, and an active Island voice in both politics and human rights causes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 14, 2022
Jack in the Pulpit is the fourth in a series of mysteries set on Martha's Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. The main character is Victoria Trumbull, a woman in her 90s whose family has lived on the Vineyard for generations. This is the first entry in the series that I have read; earlier commenters here on Goodreads have said that this appears to be set before the previous volumes in the series.
There are some important background items to the story. Victoria's grown granddaughter has left a husband whom Victoria has always liked, saying that he was physically abusive, and has moved back to the Vineyard; she is living with Victoria. A new police chief came to the town in which Victoria lives, replacing a man who retired. The new chief is a woman called Casey, who has come to rely heavily on Victoria for information about the island and the people living there. The former chief's son, a sergeant in the small department, had been passed over for the chief's position when his father retired.
And there has been another retirement leading to a change as well. A minister had retired. He would like to still be active in some ministerial affairs, such as visiting the sick. The new minister resents this and, in fact, has asked his predecessor to stay away from the church for at least two years. Both ministers are called Jack; they are, of course, the Jacks in the pulpit of the title.
All of this is discussed in detail in the book, although not all of it relates to the central mystery. Four people in town die in a short period, the first time this has occurred since at least the 1918 flu epidemic. And one of those four people might have died of the flu. The other three were all elderly, and their deaths are less surprising. And yet...
Victoria happened to be present when the first victim suddenly fell ill. He complained of stomach cramps and then went into convulsions, dying shortly afterward. His doctor says that the man had had heart problems. However, the doctor adds, the symptoms were "not typical of a heart attack. I'll check, of course." If the doctor had indeed checked this would have been a very short book. (I hope that the doctor's failure to look into the actual cause of the first death cost him his license.)
Eventually all the victims are found to have been poisoned by ingestion of amanitas, deadly mushrooms growing wild on the Vineyard.
There are other unlikely incidents in the book, beyond the four deaths all being misdiagnosed. When the police chief has come to suspect that the four people may have been murdered, she says, "I really don't want to think about it. Murder." She makes no attempt at all to look into this further.
The book establishes that gossip is rampant on the island. However, two separate characters related to people mentioned above are found to have been living on the Vineyard for weeks, using their own names, without word of this spreading. A man risks his career to punish someone he dislikes; the response from the disliked person is even more improbable. The entire situation with the two antagonistic ministers (and a revelation about the past of one of them) seems unreal to me.
Victoria reasons out the identity of the murderer and insists on disclosing this in a Nero Wolfe-style gathering of all the suspects, despite the fact that this might well lead to catastrophe. The police chief evidently has no problem with this following the incident.
I thought that the identity of the killer was so obvious that it had to be a red herring. It was not.
But there are other (perfectly fair) red herrings in the book, characters and situations that look somewhat suspicious but are unrelated to the murders. Sometimes material that seems (and in most cases is) extraneous is rather charming, as in this paragraph:
The room was full of furniture. No one had ever, ever thrown anything out, and as long as Elizabeth could remember, the library, a beautifully-proportioned room, had been used as a junk room. Here was a tiny chair that had belonged to her great-great-grandmother, who had shortened its legs because she was so small. One of many objections to great-great-grandfather's off-Island bride, besides the fact that she came from off-Island and his mother had already selected a local woman for her son's wife, was that she was not statuesque like the Trumbulls.
One more problem that I have with the book is a personal one. I love Martha's Vineyard, and I do not think that this book takes advantage of its wonderful setting. There is virtually nothing here that could not take place in any community on the ocean in the United States, provided that it was a locality that has amanitas and colorful autumn foliage.
But Victoria, her granddaughter, and the chief of police are such engaging folks that I might well try other books in this series.
*********************************
Two brief additional notes:
⏺️The introductory descriptive material about this book here on Goodreads is clearly about a different book in the series.*
⏺️The back cover of the 2006 paperback Worldwide Mystery edition of the book says, "Adding to the mystery is some strange activity in the local graveyard," which also does not seem to refer to this book.
--------------------------------------
*11/14/22
I see that this has been corrected.
There are some important background items to the story. Victoria's grown granddaughter has left a husband whom Victoria has always liked, saying that he was physically abusive, and has moved back to the Vineyard; she is living with Victoria. A new police chief came to the town in which Victoria lives, replacing a man who retired. The new chief is a woman called Casey, who has come to rely heavily on Victoria for information about the island and the people living there. The former chief's son, a sergeant in the small department, had been passed over for the chief's position when his father retired.
And there has been another retirement leading to a change as well. A minister had retired. He would like to still be active in some ministerial affairs, such as visiting the sick. The new minister resents this and, in fact, has asked his predecessor to stay away from the church for at least two years. Both ministers are called Jack; they are, of course, the Jacks in the pulpit of the title.
All of this is discussed in detail in the book, although not all of it relates to the central mystery. Four people in town die in a short period, the first time this has occurred since at least the 1918 flu epidemic. And one of those four people might have died of the flu. The other three were all elderly, and their deaths are less surprising. And yet...
Victoria happened to be present when the first victim suddenly fell ill. He complained of stomach cramps and then went into convulsions, dying shortly afterward. His doctor says that the man had had heart problems. However, the doctor adds, the symptoms were "not typical of a heart attack. I'll check, of course." If the doctor had indeed checked this would have been a very short book. (I hope that the doctor's failure to look into the actual cause of the first death cost him his license.)
Eventually all the victims are found to have been poisoned by ingestion of amanitas, deadly mushrooms growing wild on the Vineyard.
There are other unlikely incidents in the book, beyond the four deaths all being misdiagnosed. When the police chief has come to suspect that the four people may have been murdered, she says, "I really don't want to think about it. Murder." She makes no attempt at all to look into this further.
The book establishes that gossip is rampant on the island. However, two separate characters related to people mentioned above are found to have been living on the Vineyard for weeks, using their own names, without word of this spreading. A man risks his career to punish someone he dislikes; the response from the disliked person is even more improbable. The entire situation with the two antagonistic ministers (and a revelation about the past of one of them) seems unreal to me.
Victoria reasons out the identity of the murderer and insists on disclosing this in a Nero Wolfe-style gathering of all the suspects, despite the fact that this might well lead to catastrophe. The police chief evidently has no problem with this following the incident.
I thought that the identity of the killer was so obvious that it had to be a red herring. It was not.
But there are other (perfectly fair) red herrings in the book, characters and situations that look somewhat suspicious but are unrelated to the murders. Sometimes material that seems (and in most cases is) extraneous is rather charming, as in this paragraph:
The room was full of furniture. No one had ever, ever thrown anything out, and as long as Elizabeth could remember, the library, a beautifully-proportioned room, had been used as a junk room. Here was a tiny chair that had belonged to her great-great-grandmother, who had shortened its legs because she was so small. One of many objections to great-great-grandfather's off-Island bride, besides the fact that she came from off-Island and his mother had already selected a local woman for her son's wife, was that she was not statuesque like the Trumbulls.
One more problem that I have with the book is a personal one. I love Martha's Vineyard, and I do not think that this book takes advantage of its wonderful setting. There is virtually nothing here that could not take place in any community on the ocean in the United States, provided that it was a locality that has amanitas and colorful autumn foliage.
But Victoria, her granddaughter, and the chief of police are such engaging folks that I might well try other books in this series.
*********************************
Two brief additional notes:
⏺️The introductory descriptive material about this book here on Goodreads is clearly about a different book in the series.*
⏺️The back cover of the 2006 paperback Worldwide Mystery edition of the book says, "Adding to the mystery is some strange activity in the local graveyard," which also does not seem to refer to this book.
--------------------------------------
*11/14/22
I see that this has been corrected.
September 7, 2018
This is a cozy mystery and that is a genre I don't spend a lot of time in. I needed this one for a book challenge. I liked this. The story line was engaging and the characters were fun. I liked the seagull addition. That was new.
As far as the mystery goes, right away you know who DIDN'T do it. The characters were purposeful as they collected clues. Overall this was a light and easy read. I listened to the audio and the narrator, Davina Porter, is one of my absolute favorites. I'd listen to more, especially if she is the narrator.
As far as the mystery goes, right away you know who DIDN'T do it. The characters were purposeful as they collected clues. Overall this was a light and easy read. I listened to the audio and the narrator, Davina Porter, is one of my absolute favorites. I'd listen to more, especially if she is the narrator.
Read
November 6, 2017A rather botanical book: even the title is a floral in-joke! (Though it also refers to a guy named Jack who is minister of the Congregationalist Church – replacing another clergymen named Jack.) Weakening this novel are the early descriptions of autumn, where Potts uses the world’s vaguest word: “colors.” For example:
"The mirror surface of the Mill Pond doubled and magnified the edging of shrubbery and reflected early changing colors of sumac and woodbine."
When I saw, in the second paragraph, that the detective is a 92 year old woman, whose name is Victoria, I realized that this was the book for me.
Victoria lives in a heterogenous household like Samuel Johnson (replete with an artist named Angelo who was formerly a stockbroker – perhaps a nod to "The Moon and Sixpence") on Martha’s Vineyard. Apparently her house has 45 doors and 52 windows. She writes one of those lovable weekly small town gossip columns that recounts everyone who left town for a week, graduated high school, etc. (Sadly, we never see it.)
Riggs is particularly strong on the geography of the island, whose ponds abut the sea, and whose unmarked sandy backroads crisscross secretively. A terror of casseroles permeates "Jack in the Pulpit."
February 9, 2022
Junior is the best!!! Love it, thats exactly how you deal with that situation!!! 🤣🤣
August 10, 2015
This is the 4th or 5th book in the series, but it actually tells the "start" of the tale. Even if only because it answers questions I found myself being more interested in the story than usual.
July 18, 2016
The fourth book in the series. I wasn't pleased. The main story was predictable. The author would abandon it for several chapters at a time, for a secondary, rather boring, story. I listened to the audiobook. I don't think mysteries are best-suited for audiobooks, as there's too much to keep track of. The vocal presentation was annoying. The reader seemed to be channeling Kathryn Hepburn for Victoria Trumbull. She didn't have much vocal variety for the male characters. This is supposed to be the fourth book in the series, but this is where she gets a badge and hat, which appeared in earlier books.
January 29, 2016
Martha's Vineyard series, book #4. This is listed as book #4, but it seems like it should be the first in the series. It explains how the police chief Casey O'Neill deputizes Victoria Trumbull, how Victoria loses her driver's license, and how Victoria's granddaughter Elizabeth ends up living with Victoria. The Jack in the Pulpit refers to the two Jacks that are the current and former church reverends. Several elderly parishioners, who had recently committed to making bequests to the church, unexpectedly die from Amanita mushroom poisoning.
June 26, 2021
I am enjoying this series set in Martha’s Vineyard. Victoria is a hoot! I love it that she’s in her 90s and knows the island very well along with everyone in it. She also is very smart when it comes to murder! In this book she has become a deputy assistant and gets an honorary cap to wear.
Her granddaughter Elizabeth is living with her. Elizabeth had a former marriage that ended badly due to abuse. Without giving too much away, there is a depth to the storyline and the people involved are realistic. Engrossing read.
Her granddaughter Elizabeth is living with her. Elizabeth had a former marriage that ended badly due to abuse. Without giving too much away, there is a depth to the storyline and the people involved are realistic. Engrossing read.
November 1, 2020
Several old people poisoned by wild mushrooms. Red herring, all left codicils to the local church.
The ex husband of Victoria's granddaughter shows up to stalk her and possibly kidnap her. Another irrelevant storyline.
The odd duck who was the chef at the nursing home and driver of the meals on wheels was thinning the herd of old people and trying to get even with Victoria for hitting his van.
Good book to put a person to sleep
The ex husband of Victoria's granddaughter shows up to stalk her and possibly kidnap her. Another irrelevant storyline.
The odd duck who was the chef at the nursing home and driver of the meals on wheels was thinning the herd of old people and trying to get even with Victoria for hitting his van.
Good book to put a person to sleep
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 4, 2018
I think this one should actually be read before #3 as it explains some events that happen in the so-called #3.
Enjoyed the book; love the characters, and this one kept me guessing until the end, though I did figure out one piece of the puzzle early on. Pretty sure that was the author's intent.
For a small island with several small towns, there's an awful lot of dead bodies popping up! :D
Enjoyed the book; love the characters, and this one kept me guessing until the end, though I did figure out one piece of the puzzle early on. Pretty sure that was the author's intent.
For a small island with several small towns, there's an awful lot of dead bodies popping up! :D
October 19, 2008
I really enjoy this series. Traditional cozy mystery, great setting & interesting characters.
December 7, 2021
Why the reading order says #4 I have no idea because this story pre-empts the other three. This has also sparked my interest in Jr's story and given a few tidbits on other main characters.
April 25, 2021
Cosy mystery that was engaging and held my interest, more because of Elizabeth’s predicament and the stalking ex.husband ( told with a gentler touch), than for the whodunnit.
This does have shades of a Miss. Read type of village, though with the mystery portion the village pipeline - for news and gossip - doesn't quite play out: everyone would have known, after a month's duration, that someones ex.wife was on the island.
This was included in my audible membership, as a free audiobook, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have listen to it: I’m pleased I did but won’t be purchasing further titles in the series to read.
[Eta: just noticed books 1-6 are available as included/free listens for those with an audible membership.]
Extra: some swearing, no f-bombs. Emotionally, and psychologically damaged adults ( past childhood abuse and neglect).
This does have shades of a Miss. Read type of village, though with the mystery portion the village pipeline - for news and gossip - doesn't quite play out: everyone would have known, after a month's duration, that someones ex.wife was on the island.
This was included in my audible membership, as a free audiobook, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have listen to it: I’m pleased I did but won’t be purchasing further titles in the series to read.
[Eta: just noticed books 1-6 are available as included/free listens for those with an audible membership.]
Extra: some swearing, no f-bombs. Emotionally, and psychologically damaged adults ( past childhood abuse and neglect).
April 27, 2018
Another fun addition to this series. I love this 92 year old woman who is still so independent and active. In this book she has her driver's license taken away because she backed into another vehicle (twice) that was parked way too close to her. But her granddaughter, Elizabeth, and the sheriff, Casey, are always willing to take her wherever she wants to go. She continues using her super sleuthing abilities and not only determines why elderly people from the community are dying but finally gets an official offer from the police department.
March 29, 2019
I love these Martha's Vineyard stories. In my mind's eye, I'm whisked back to the sunny towns, lanes and beaches of the Vineyard. I revisit summers in familiar places and almost feel I know the characters. Victoria could very well be one of my favourite people.
Jack in the Pulpit truthfully surprised me! While usually able to figure out the culprit early on, this story had me puzzled to the very end!
Jack in the Pulpit truthfully surprised me! While usually able to figure out the culprit early on, this story had me puzzled to the very end!
April 28, 2022
This book confused me. It is number 4 in the series, but the events in it occur earlier than the other books. It basically introduced characters and events that have already happened in earlier books. If it was set up as a flashback, or a remembrance of what happened earlier, I missed it. So it felt odd.
I also liked Victoria significantly less in this book, purely for her treatment of Elizabeth when she tells her about Lockwood.
I also liked Victoria significantly less in this book, purely for her treatment of Elizabeth when she tells her about Lockwood.
August 13, 2017
This is the 4th book in the Martha's Vineyard cozy mystery series and a bit better than the 2nd and 3rd ones. I keep reading these because I can get the audio for free through my local library's Overdrive. I have been hoping they would get better, but so far they aren't great. As far as old-lady mystery solvers go, I like Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax much, much better.
January 4, 2021
I read this series mostly because of the heroine - a 92-year-old poet and writer and deputy to the chief of police - but I am also enjoying being immersed in Martha's Vineyard. In fact, I am planning a trip there, hopefully nest summer or fall, or whenever travel becomes safe again.
July 5, 2025
Enjoyable read. Started off a bit slow and all the characters were confusing. But once the "stage had been set" and all the characters introduced, the pace picked up and determining the real murderer became an interesting challenge.
July 8, 2019
Enjoyable because I often visit Cape Cod.
November 19, 2019
Very repetitive and at the end it makes it sound like you can get the flu from a flu vaccine. Seriously!
November 25, 2019
Listened to the first 16 chapters while working. So. Many. Details. Excruciating. Only have a couple hours left. Not sure if I'm going to finish it.
April 20, 2020
Great short read - hero of the story is a 92 year old senior - funny, small town story.
September 7, 2020
TW: Stalking
February 28, 2021
This is the best one so far. There’s a bit of character development.
May 15, 2021
It's a nice "cozy type" mystery, set on Martha's Vineyard which was the main attraction for me.
February 28, 2023
Listed as #4 in the series it is chronologically #1. Very good story.
March 28, 2023
Going back to re-read the series.
September 29, 2023
This is a very entertaining series.
February 11, 2024
3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews