Poison Ivy

Martha's Vineyard Mystery #11

by Cynthia Riggs

On her first day as adjunct professor at Ivy Green College, Victoria Trumbull recognizes the stench emanating from her classroom as more than just dead mice. Brownie, the groundskeeper’s mangy mutt, soon discovers a second body hiding beneath a cluster of poison ivy.

The stakes have never been higher for Ivy Green, which is on the brink of losing already-lukewarm support from its accredited partner, Cape Cod University. Thackery Wilson, the founder of Ivy Green, worries that the bad publicity from the murders will obliterate the financial and academic support the tiny college and its dependent students desperately need. As the bodies continue to pile up, all tenure committee members, Victoria and Brownie find themselves hunting a serial killer and trying to save the college.

This charming 11th entry in the Martha's Vineyard mystery series brings the island to life with a cast of eccentric characters led by a unique and endearing sleuth.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2012

About the author

Cynthia 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.

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even on a quiet island in Martha's Vineyard, academia is lethal!

I liked this book, but it did seem to drag towards the end and end abruptly. Readers who like a spry, very smart amateur sleuth like Miss Marple will appreciate Victoria Trumbull.

Overall rating: 3.5/5.0 stars.

Reviewed for Affaire de Coeur Magazine. http://affairedecoeur.com.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written

[Nan Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it, as I have all the other books in this series. But. The very end was way too rushed, just sort of leaped off a cliff rather than guide you there. The mystery was solved, as were some other problems, but it was too abrupt an ending.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such fun to find a new Victoria Trumbull mystery...well written and great characters and the names are a hoot!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't realize this was a series so I started with book #11. I enjoyed what I call a cozy mystery even though there were lots of bodies discovered. I enjoyed the characters especially Victoria Trumbull. I hope if I live to be 92 I can be as spunky as she is.
Victoria starts as an adjunct professor of poetry at the very small Ivy Green College and the first thing she does is find a dead body. This little college is fighting to be accredited in the Cape Cod University group and a dead body is the last thing they need. Then she is asked by a student about publishing her original work which another professor is saying should be published under the professor's name with no mention of the student's name or work on the original investigations and when they find out 2 more students are in the same situation Victoria tries to help the unfair situation. And all along Brownie, the mangy dog belonging to the grounds keeper finds more and more bodies.

[Eric Jolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, which started out so well, disappointed me in its ending. Throughout this novel was some pretty good plot development, a crew of characters which were both interesting and quirky--but the ending was kind of abrupt and out of nowhere, not linking well with the rest of the story. It felt rushed.

In the end, I'll keep reading Cynthia Riggs' treasures, starring Victoria T in the Vineyard. This book won't be a memorable one from this series. It wasn't so bad to warrant a one-star rating; but only the most avid fans of this series should read. If you are new to Riggs, try any of the other books in this series first.

[Grey853 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Victoria Trumbull has been asked to teach a poetry class at the local college. The first day they find a body in her classroom. She holds her class outside. I swear, nothing seems to faze this woman. When the bodies start to stack up, it becomes apparent that there's a serial killer on the loose.

There were a several very unrealistic things going on in this one, and it just didn't seem on par with the more solid plots of the earlier books.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Victoria, Martha Vineyard's 90+ YO poet, has taken on a position at the small local college as adjunct professor of poetry. On her first day on "campus" they are about to enter the classroom when a horrible odor hits them. There's a dead body buried under the floor. As the investigation progresses, it appears there is a serial killer on the loose. And the bodies are stacking up!

[MaryRobyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better ones. I've read them all, what will I do now?

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish. Boring.

[Pam Nunes]

it was light reading and it was very enjoyable.

[Ginetta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good cozy mystery Victoria Turnbull is 92 years old. She is a smart fun detective.

[Bienzrw · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming, lighthearted mystery that's hard to take very seriously.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 2 out of 5]

Victoria Trumbull, long celebrated as a poet, gets her chance to teach poetry at the fictional upstart institution, Ivy Green College. (In actuality, Martha’s Vineyard boasts only one high school and no colleges.) Where the perennially 92-year-old Victoria goes, murder soon follows. Victoria discovers a corpse on her very first day of class. The body belongs to Dr. Harlan Bliss, a professor at Cape Cod University and a member of the Ivy Green College Oversight Committee, which oversees faculty appointments and the like at the 10-year-old college. Before September’s through, authorities uncover nearly a dozen more — much to the dismay of the priggish Ivy Green College President Thackery Wilson!

Poison Ivy Murder, available only in the Kindle format, is probably the weakest of the Victoria Trumbull novels by far. The corpses pile up in such rapid succession that the novel starts to become a parody of a cozy. The cardboard characters don’t help, either. College President Thackery Wilson evinces so much pomposity, self-importance, and ineffectuality that the reader cannot fathom that this is the same Dr. Wilson that founded Ivy Green College in order to bring higher education to those working-class Islanders left behind on a 21st century Martha’s Vineyard that’s become the playground for politicians and Hollywood stars. Likewise, the irascible, unreliable caretaker Walter, the ruthless academic Roberta Chadwick; Phillip Bigelow, the blustery professor of military science; and the over-achieving, tattooed former teenage mother Jodi Paloni never rise above the level of stock characters from a third-rate novel, without a grain of nuance. The fairytale resolution depends on more deus ex machinas than a Euripides tragedy.

Sadly, coming off of two of her best novels, Touch-Me-Not and The Bee Balm Murders, Cynthia Riggs has produced a lackluster novel suitable only for the most rabidly dyed-in-the-wool Victoria Trumbull fans. Other readers can easily skip this one.

[Maggie Sievers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a reader of mysteries typically, but after having visited the very charming Cynthia in her home on Martha's Vineyard, I had read her most recent about Victoria Trumbull, the 92 year old heroine of all of Riggs' 13 mysteries. I found, as another reader did, the characters to be lackluster and predictable, and the plot less than compelling as the bodies just keep showing up. But, I had by this time fallen in love with Martha's Vineyard and was so charmed by Riggs that I kept reading to the end. Another Goodreads reader who has read more of Riggs' mysteries rates Poison Ivy among the bottom of all of her stories. Maybe I should try another.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew, been waiting for this book for a long while-the author published this as a kindle book first, then after a time [maybe 2 years] it came into being as a hardback-her last book was out in 2011. Well now, as a 92 yr old woman, main character Victoria's antics can be off-putting/unbelievable, but with the twists and turns of a "good plot" this can be overlooked? This story had "more" going for it that Victoria seemed "ordinary". I have recently met a woman in her late 80's who walks everywhere AND walks several miles at a time--this relates to Victoria who walks everywhere, although most people know her in Martha's Vineyard and stops and offers her a lift!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serial killers, professors, & plagiarism mix it up in this latest Victoria Trumbull cozy. I loved listening to most of the series, but read the last two with the narrator's voice softly echoing in my head. Victoria at 92 is an adjunct professor this time; which makes perfect sense if you know her. Some favorite characters appear and the tenure track of academia is thoroughly examined and found more than wanting. Publish and perish seems to fit this book as well as a few gardening tips and poisoned ivy encounters. Loved the dog and the crusty paper boat captain.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 92 year old poet-turned-police deputy, Victoria Trumbull, returns in this latest mystery series placed on Martha’s Vineyard as an adjunct professor in a fledging college on the island. The mystery involves the dreaded tenure process at the college and university level, and in this case, filled with secrets, sex, lies and politics. The author also includes a small deaf community, the unexpected occupations of a well educated population, and the mission of bringing higher education to the island, all interesting and unusual topics for this “cozy mystery.”

[Amy Thorleifson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Martha's Vineyard mystery with 92 year old Victoria Trumbull as the detective/deputy sheriff, and and adjunct professor at a struggling local college. Much of the book focuses on the pressures to publish or perish in order to gain tenure. With the discovery of a number of bodies on the college campus and a kidnapping, Victoria was a key figure in these events. However, the ending was abrupt and lacked the vital element of motivation.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poet Victoria Trumbull is asked to be an adjunct professor at a new Martha's Vineyard college. On her first day there, however, she helps discover a dead body. That's dramatic enough, but the janitor's dog finds more burials. Meantime, one of Victoria's students is having trouble with her graduate advisor, and may take drastic steps. The ending is a bit abrupt, with the reader's expectations of a solution upturned. Still, getting there is more than half the fun.

[Jennifer Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met her after a short talk of hers on Martha's Vineyard. She didn't start writing until she was 70 and has a goal of writing 13 books. Thirteen down at 81! Her mysteries all take place on her native island and she does a wonderful job of profiling local characters as well as giving some history of the island.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad my community college does not have tenure, but it did make this book a more enjoyable read since it dealt with college professors. No spoilers here; I enjoy the Victoria Trumbull mysteries dealing with a 92 year old protagonist. I always learn a lot about plants and geology. It's a quick light and enjoyable mystery.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victoria Turnbull is teaching a class at the small college on the island. The first day of class, she discovers a body hidden in the closet of the classroom. Soon there are bodies piling up all over the campus and no one knows why. Victoria has to deal with plagerism, kidnapping, and of course, murder in this excellent installment in this series. I just love Victoria.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This entry in the series is not the strongest, as the plot is a cartoon and the resolution makes no sense. But it is an enjoyable read due to the great characters, the setting, and the more let-loose sense of humor.

[Lenore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful island atmosphere on Martha's Vineyard. Obviously Cynthia Riggs knows her location, since she's the 8th generation to live there. Altogether a nice read, and the ending was a surprise as well.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters with ridiculous names. Plot was implausible. Now I remember why I stopped reading this series.

[Loraine Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the start I wasn't too impressed but I'm glad I gave it a chance. It is a bit far fetched but still a good read.

[Carol Heiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Putting Victoria in a new setting added new life to this enjoyable series.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Victoria Trumbull mystery on Martha's Vineyard. This time it involves the local college.

[Alice Medeiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read almost all of Cynthia Riggs books and have never been disappointed. Always feel like I am on Martha's Vineyard. This book had many plots and twists. Enjoyable summer read