The Bee Balm Murders
Cynthia Riggs
Minotaur, Apr 26 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780312581794

Martha's Vineyard beekeeper Sean McBride suggests to entrepreneur Orion Nanopoulos he rent a room from the former's boss nonagenarian Victoria Trumbull. Orion, who heads a fiber optic cable project, takes an attic room on Victoria's West Tisbury home.

A corpse is found where Orion's crew is laying down the cable. When a body is found in the trench where they are laying the cable; Orion recognizes the victim as Brooklyn construction mogul and project investor Angelo Vulpone. The deceased's family, learning that Victoria has a reputation for solving mysteries, hires the feisty senior citizen to investigate Angelo's murder. She begins her inquiry quickly learning a lot of people could make a lot of money with Vulpone dead.

This is a terrific whodunit especially when the action is on Martha's Vineyard, as the dynamic Victoria does her thing while providing readers with a charming tour of the island. Part of the fun is watching the money investment crowd go in for the kill when Orion loses his prime backer as this group has no respect for the dead. With nine previous cases solved by marvelous Martha (see Touch-Me-Not), she has proven to be a super professional sleuth.

Harriet Klausner