A FATAL VINEYARD SEASON

Summer on Martha’s Vineyard is waning and J.W. Jackson, his wife Zee, and their two small children are settling in for the winter. J.W. (A Shoot on Martha’s Vineyard, 1998, etc.), once a Boston cop, will do his care-taking jobs for absentee house and boat owners—like caring for the Crandel house in Oak Bluffs, presently occupied by actresses Julia Crandel and her friend Ivy Holiday. Ivy is seeking relief from McKenzie Reed, the stalker now jailed in California for the killing of Ivy’s roommate Dawn Dawson. No one can explain the letters that follow Ivy from him, despite strict prison surveillance. More immediate danger threatens in the looming shadow of the Vegas brothers—Alberto, who runs an ever expanding so-called protective agency, and brother Alexandro, who acts as his huge, violent, foul-mouthed enforcer. J.W. is glad Zee and the children are visiting grandparents on the mainland while he keeps an eye on Julia and Ivy, even though they—re officially guarded by Boston’s Thornberry agency. Events escalate as Hurricane Homer heads for the Vineyard; young policeman Larry, who annoyed Alexandro, is found beaten nearly to death; Julia and Ivy disappear, and the Vegas boat Invictus leaves its mooring with J.W. secretly aboard and a drama-laden ordeal to come. Eventful doings suffused with a rueful air and lots of J.W.’s homespun philosophy. The tension-filled finale makes it one of Craig’s better outings.