The Cranefly Orchid Murders

By: Cynthia Riggs

Narrated by: Davina Porter

Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Victoria Trumbull is a feisty 92-year-old who refuses to let her age stop her from having fun, or investigating crime. When Victoria's knowledge of her native Martha's Vineyard helped to solve a murder in Deadly Nightshade, she earned her own baseball cap emblazoned with "West Tisbury Police Deputy". Now the authorities will turn to her again to help uncover another scandal on the idyllic island.

Phoebe Eldridge, a short-tempered woman who lives alone, has sold the family land to a developer who made an offer that seemed too good to resist. When the Conservation Trust enlists Victoria to search that land for an endangered plant, she and her 11-year-old after-school assistant are rewarded with the discovery of a little nest of cranefly orchids, and a body.

©2002 Cynthia Riggs (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"This mystery unfolds as nicely as the Vineyard spring it so lovingly depicts." (Publishers Weekly)
"Readers who enjoyed the charming series debut, Deadly Nightshade, will be delighted to get another dose of Victoria's sharp tongue." (Booklist)

Good Mystery

Really like the characters and setting of this story well written and story developed with precision.

bit of swearing

It's easy to immerse yourself in the story but when the occasional swear word comes it is ajarring.

Good book, but you say she's 92?

I enjoyed this book very much. I must be getting old because I was having trouble keeping track of the groups trying to acquire the property. I enjoyed Victoria's humor. Sweet old lady that she is. I really want to see the underground house. The whole book was very good and Davina Porter did a really great job of narrating.

Minerva is a strong character name.

The narrator does an excellent job 👏 with this mystery. Although I've never been to Martha's Vineyard, the characters into this series make me want to visit!

This could have been great

Lots of backstory lines that went nowhere Loose ends, in general the characters were better than the story but needed a good editor.

The cranefly orchid murders

I just love cozy mysteries like this one! the story had so many twists and turns that it kept me on my toes, trying to guess who the murderer was.

Davina Porter! outstanding narrator makes a pretty

good story a delight to listen to. Victoria Trumbull and her many friends keep Martha's Vineyard safe and peaceful once again.

Story and Accent

So I noticed complaints about the “British” Accent. And while the narration portions do sound very British, the Characters have very appropriate New England accents for the time period.
Now about the story. It has a slow and difficult pace. I also have a problem with the main characters manner toward her family I. The beginning. One can not want to be close to family and still chose to speak with respect. It doesn’t seem to match the “manners” of high-brow society at the time. I did not get past chapter 4 so her manners may have improved and I just don’t know it.

mind twister

So many suspects. So very interesting the way the author leads the reader through the tangled web of family's divided, deceit, lust and murder. All untangled by a very gutsy and proper very old lady. Fun

refreshing

It was so nice to listen to a complete book without bad language. I hate and will not read or listen to books with the F word. The story was intriguing, funny at times, and surprising at the end. The narrator did a great job too.