Widow's Wreath

The Martha's Vineyard Mysteries, Book 14

By: Cynthia Riggs

Narrated by: Helen Lloyd

Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

It's a case of cold feet - and cold-blooded murder - as 92-year-old poet/sleuth Victoria Trumbull gets more than she bargained for after hosting an ill-fated wedding.

A wedding on picturesque Martha's Vineyard promises to be the affair of the season when Penny Arbuthnot asks her cousin, feisty 92-year-old poet Victoria Trumbull, if she can use her property for the reception. Victoria agrees - but she has no idea what's in store for the hapless couple.

For one, Penny is seriously in debt and desperate to marry money. She thinks she's on the road to riches when she hooks Rocco Bufano, whose father is a multi-billionaire. But unbeknownst to Penny, Rocco's been disowned by dad. He's also in hock up to his ears and thinks he's bagged the catch of a lifetime in a wealthy Vineyard native. He also knows that someone is out to kill him. In fact, several guests have a reason to off Rocco, among them an autistic savant with a prodigious knowledge of murder weapons.

Victoria has assumed the reception will be a modest lemonade-and-gingersnap affair - but when a body is found in her cellar, it may be a happily-never-after in Widow's Wreath, the 14th engaging installment in Cynthia Riggs' beloved Martha's Vineyard mysteries.

©2018 Cynthia Riggs (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

The twists!

The twists this time were way ahead of me! I had to repeat the last 4 chapters to keep up.

Horrible narrator.

What a let down after listening to the rest of the series narrated by Davina Porter. Ruined the entire experience.

Not my favorite in this series

Usually I am invested in the author’s characters very quickly. They are quirky and strange but usually fun. Her plots are usually well thought out and not too far fetched. This book has characters that I just can’t get into and I found the ending unsatisfactory. Or maybe unsatisfying, which may be the same thing in a book. I hope she has more and Audible does them. I have all the rest and this is the only weak one.

Oh gracious

The new narrator sounds like Betty White, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and a South Jersey wise guy. The narration is terrible. I love these books - the stories are great - Davina Porter’s accents hit it the Vineyard spot on and reminds me of Katherine Hepburn. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t get through the book. I turned it off at Chapter 3.

Disappointed

I have so enjoyed the previous Martha Vineyards Mysteries. This was such a disappointment. I felt the story line was painfully childish. The accents seemed to change throughout the story and were terribly wrong. I thought the Narrator had a lovely reading voice, but this whole combination was very poor.

Not so much

I've really enjoyed every other book that I've read in this series but this one not so much

No thanks.

Not at all like the others Audible has in its library. it jumps around too much, important characters from Victorias life are nonexistent and not even referenced. Victoria is hardly even the main character and is not doing any actual sleuthing that endeared her as a character. Not a fan of this one at all.

Couldn’t get through it

I’ve enjoyed previous books in this series but I couldn’t get through this one. The main characters were practically non-existent and the dialog was mostly a back-and-forth between irrelevant characters that was banal and irritating. I think I’m done with this series.

Worst of the series

Where is Casey? Why is Elizabeth given 15 seconds of air time? Where is Dojan? I wouldn’t have even known this was written by the same author as the previous books. And the narration is horrible. Odd accents that sound almost cartoonish. Not worth the time to listen. Definitely skip this one.

unrealistic plot and dialogue

It’s not worth putting up with the exaggerated stereotypes to get to the unsatisfying conclusion.