A Beautiful Place to Die: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery

Still relatively young Jeff Jackson is forced to retire as a Boston PD detective due to an injury sustained while working a case that killed his partner, the injury-causing bullet, still lodged in his back, too close to the spinal cord to remove and which causes him occasional physical pain. With his father having recently passed, Jeff has settled on Martha's Vineyard in his father's house, the island where Jeff spent much time in the summers growing up. Jeff's relaxed life of fishing and working on his father's boat takes a turn when he discovers the murdered dead body of a young man, Ray Norris, he had seen around the marina the preceding day. With Martha's Vineyard Police Chief Madieras, his father's best friend, having little history working on murder investigations, Jeff, initially reluctant, eventually accepts the offer to consult on the case. Also working on the case is the Chief's daughter, Dr. Zee Madieras, Jeff's childhood friend and now the acting M.E. Ray, who was not local to the island, still seemed to have ties there, one of those that could have led to his murder. One of those ties seems to be a local foundation, Harriet's Hope, the Executive Director Payton Bartel and two of the more prominent Board members, married Helena and Thomas Percy, the faces of the just held gala fundraiser for the foundation where Ray had been present. Also attached to the charity is accountant Gerald Martin, whose two offspring, Bradley and Stacy Martin, had been seen with Ray. The issue with Gerald in particular is that the IRS is investigating the charity for possible fraud in money being skimmed from their coffers, Gerald's firm which handles the books. Also on Jeff and Zee's radar is Donovan Fletcher, the owner of the boat which Ray had used, Fletcher who Jeff knows has criminal ties in Boston. As Jeff and Zee sift through the evidence they discover, one other question that emerges is if Jeff can withstand the pressures of working on a homicide investigation again, he who has been having recurring nightmares of the incident that resulted in the bullet in his back.—Huggo