News Bulletins
Featuring Cynthia Riggs and her Mysteries
These stories and events, featuring Cynthia Riggs and her
Martha's Vineyard mysteries, all first appeared on the home
page:
June 2010. St. Martin's has accepted Cynthia's 10th book,
"The Bee Balm Murders," for publication in May
2011.
February 12, 2010. Guest author at Breakfast with
the Authors at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in
South Yarmouth, from 9:00 - 11:30 am. Visit the Cape
Cod Writers Center web site for additional information.
November 23, 2009. Interviewed on Murder, They Write,
an internet talk show that spotlights women mystery authors.
November 13-15, 2009. Panelist at the New England Crimebake.
October 29, 2009. Killer Riggs gives Encore to Falmouth
Newcomers
Cynthia will be speaking at the bi-annual event, "Meet
the Author" hosted by Encore of Falmouth Newcomers.
The
Inkwell Bookstore will be on hand to sell books.
October 2009. Harlequin has purchased Death
and Honesty for a paperback edition.
September 30, 2009. St. Martin's Press accepted Touch-Me-Not,
the 9th book in the series.
September 22, 2009. Speaking to the Mystery Club at the
Staatsburg Library in Staatsburg, N.Y., followed by a lunch
cruise on the Rip Van Winkle.
Autumn 2009. Cynthia is teaching Writing and Selling
Your Book again this autumn, through the Martha's Vineyard
Adult and Community Education Program. It's a ten-hour course
designed for those who have always wanted to write a book,
but don't know how to start. It is also for those who've
stashed a manuscript in a bottom drawer and feel it's time
to look it over. From C.Messmer who took her class last
Fall, "Beyond expectations. Cynthia Riggs is an island treasure!
Her class was informative and encouraging. Her enthusiasm
and inspiration colored a well-outlined syllabus." Visit
the
Adult and Community Education Program site for details
and registration.
Summer 2009. How Six Fans Got Their Names in Cynthia's
Mysteries
Mindy LePere bid on a weekend at Cynthia's B&B and name-in-the-book,
and ended up being a nurse ministering to two murder suspects
in Death and Honesty.Touch-Me-Not has five
winning names — Lucinda Chandler won at an auction
for Windemere, the nursing home associated with the MV Hospital;
Whit and Diana Manter had the winning bid at a second Windemere
auction; Jim Weiss bid at the Edgartown School's fundraiser
for a trip to Washington; Casper Martin bid on the Vermont
College auction; and Jeannie McIntosh won at the Sail MV
auction for her new grandson, Hugo A. Blinckmann. Look for
these names in book number nine.
July 22, 2009. Speaking at the MV Rotary Club in Oak Bluffs.
July 10, 2009. Interviewed on Internet Radio for a show
called "Mystery Matters" with Fran Stewart.
Thursday,
July 9 2009 at 7 p.m. MURDER & MERLOT AT THE MANSION Highfield Hall,
Falmouth, MA Cynthia appears with Linda Fairstein, Spencer
Quinn and Peter Abrahams at an 1878 mansion to discuss murder.
(Highfield Hall has a history of being haunted). Socialize
at the event while pianist Gary Girouard plays original
compositions on a Mason & Hamlin grand piano. Enjoy a wine
tasting provided by Murphy's Fine Wines of Falmouth. Tickets
for this event are $7 and may be purchased at the Inkwell
Bookstore, or over the phone with a credit card at 508-540-0039.
Sales benefit the preservation of Historic Highfield Hall.
July 8, 2009. Front of Bunch of Grapes with other authors
for the Tisbury Street Fair.
July 4, 2009. Signing at Edgartown Books.
July 4, 2009. Signing books at the Grand Re-Opening of
Bunch of Grapes.
June 5, 2009. Talk at the West Tisbury Library.
Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 4 p.m. BAKED BEANS and MURDER AT THE INKWELL BOOKSTORE
Inkwell Bookstore, 199 Main Street, Falmouth. Admission
is free. After the discussion, participate in a Q&A and
meet Ms. Riggs. Enjoy complimentary fresh baked beans (Victoria's
Secret Recipe) and brown bread delivered fresh from
the Vineyard. For additional information call 508-540-0039
or visit the www.inkwellbookstore.com
May 20, 2009
Cynthia is interviewed by Plum TV (the Vineyard, Nantucket,
the Hamptons, Miami Beach, Aspen, and Vail).
May 20, 2009. Talk at the Chilmark Library.
May 2009 "Death and Honesty" is now available
in bookstores and online. A list
of booksellers has been posted on this site.
August 2008
Sandra Parshall, of Poe's Deadly Daughters, interviewed
Cynthia in August. Cynthia talks about her past - "spent
some time in Antarctica" - and the future - "started
a second series set on the waterfront in Washington, D.C."
The interview has been posted to the Deadly
Daughters' blog site.
July
2008
More than a hundred people attended a Memorial Tribute
to Phil Craig, the Martha's Vineyard mystery writer
who died last year (2007). The tribute was held on Sunday,
July 20th and was sponsored by the Vineyard Haven Library.
Cynthia was MC and Lynn Christoffers took the pictures.
The speakers were Phil's widow Shirley Prada Craig; their
son Jaime Craig; Phil's friend, collaborator, and fellow
writer Bill Tapply; the manager of Edgartown Books, Susan
Mercier; and the publishers of Phil and Shirley's cookbook,
"Delish," John Walter and Jan Pogue.
May 2008
St. Martin's has accepted Book #8, "Death and Honesty,"
scheduled for publication in spring of 2009.
May 2008
On May 6th and 7th, Cynthia went to Staatsburg, NY, a town
on the Hudson River near Hyde Park, Franklin D. Roosevelt's
home, for a talk at the Staatsburg Library.
May 2008
Cynthia was recognized as one of the authors of "geezer
lit" in AARP Bulletin, May 2008. "The graying of America
is spreading fast to mystery bookshelves," says contributor,
Pat Remick. "A genre some have dubbed "geezer lit," featuring
crime-solving protagonists age 70-plus, ... could be the
next big frontier in crime fiction." He goes on to name
Cynthia among several other mystery writers with aging protagonists.
May 2008 "Murder and Merlot at the Mansion," a panel
of four mystery writers sponsored by Inkwell Bookstore of
Falmouth, Mass., was held on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at
Fairfield Hall (the mansion). Pictured with Cynthia are
Peter Abraham and Katherine Hall Page.
April 2008
In late April, Cynthia was on a panel entitled "Wicked
Mysteries: On the Waterfront," at Malice Domestic
XX in Washington, DC. The conference is for fans, authors,
publishers, and agents of cozies, the traditional mystery.
May 2007
Riggs's seventh book, "Shooting Star,"
is now out in bookstores and also
available online.
May
2007
Cynthia Riggs' first novels have been out of print, and
now they're back. An Island-based book publisher, Vineyard
Stories, has put "Deadly Nightshade" and
"The Cranefly Orchid Murders" together
in one trade-paperback volume, titled "Double
Murder in Martha's Vineyard." The double volume,
which sells for $16.95, is on sale at Cape and Island bookstores,
and available online at bunchofgrapes.com.
Vineyard Stories, located in Edgartown MA, publishes works
by and about residents of the Island. Information about
the company may be found at vineyardstories.com.
"Deadly Nightshade", first printed in 2001,
takes place in the Oaks Bluff harbor of the Vineyard. The
villains suspect Victoria has witnessed a murder and must
silence her. "The Cranefly Orchid Murders"
pits land developers against environmentalists and is based
on a real Island political debate. Now … together in
one volume!
November 2006
Cynthia attended a conference sponsored by the Los Angeles
Chapter of Sisters in Crime on "Selling Your Book to
Hollywood." There were 79 attendees, all published writers.
Cynthia went on a tour of the Sony studios, attended a workshop
on how to pitch your book to a producer, heard screenwriters
explain how they turned a book into a script, heard Hollywood
agents say what they needed in the way of books, and heard
the producers side of things. She saw a preview of a new
TV series, "Dexter," which deals with a serial killer who
kills serial killers, and discussed later with the scriptwriter
the filming of the series — what changes he had to
make and problems he'd run into. Then, as the climax of
the event, authors were given five minutes to pitch their
books to real producers, who, in a couple of cases said,
"Two minutes is all I need. I'll option your book."
Cynthia says her producer simply smiled and said, "I'll
be glad to read your book." No option. Yet.
November 2006
At the New England Crime Bake, Lowell, Mass., 10-12
November, Cynthia was on one of the panels, "Sustaining
a Series and Keeping it Fresh," and held four individual
critique sessions of mystery manuscripts submitted by writers.
About 250 mystery writers, fans, agents, and editors attended.
October 2006 Riggs's seventh book, "Shooting Star,"
is scheduled for publication in May 2007 by St. Martin's
Minotaur, Thomas Dunne Books. In "Shooting Star,"
92-year-old Victoria Trumbull has written a stage adaptation
of "Frankenstein" for the Island's community theater.
Despite her attempt to show the serious intent of the original
book, the play gets out of hand and murder follows.
October 2006
Over the Halloween weekend, Cynthia hosted the Second
Annual Martha's Vineyard Mystery Weekend, with four
mystery writers, a literary agent, two spouses, and two
teenage sons — Judy Green, author of 25 books for adult
non-readers, and her husband; Clea Simon, author of four
books, two of them mysteries involving cats, and her husband;
Leslie Wheeler, author of four contemporary mysteries with
historic settings, like Plimouth Plantation, and her son;
Paula Munier, acquisitions editor for Adams Media, and her
son; and literary agent Susan Reynolds. The writers and
agents were on a panel both live and filmed for MVTV at
the Bunch of Grapes. Later, the authors and agent were interviewed
live for Cynthia's weekly show, "On Island Writing." The
weather was a proper setting for mystery writers. A storm
roared in and whipped leaves from trees, tore off large
limbs, and kept boats from running all day Saturday and
part of Sunday.
October 2006 Calendar Girl or Most Wanted - take your pick.
The New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime features
Cynthia in their 2007 calendar. Cynthia is on the November
Most Wanted poster. Visit the New England Chapter of Sisters in Crime web site
to see the 2007 calendar.
September 2006 ForeWord Magazine reviews "Deadly Nightshade"
on audio tape, narrated by Davina Porter. "This
unabridged reading of the author’s first Martha’s Vineyard
mystery (originally published in 2001) introduces that most
endearing and unlikely of sleuths, ninety-two-year-old Victoria
Trumbull... The narrator, with her range of voices and grasp
of natural speech patterns, is ideal for this leisurely
paced tale. Rather than mimicking the clipped New England
accent, her characters sound English, some with overtones
of Welsh. The mixture works, enabling her to move smoothly
from Trumbull’s more refined musings to Domingo’s
gruff profanity without descending into caricature... "
Visit Cynthia's Book
Reviews on this site for the full review.
September 2006 Blackstone Audiobooks has now published four of Cynthia's
mysteries on audiotape — Cemetery Yew, Cranefly
Orchid Murders, Paperwhite Narcissus, and
Deadly Nightshade — all narrated by Davina Porter.
Visit Blackstone
Audiobooks to order any of Cynthia's books on tape.
08/2006 Cynthia is profiled in The Patriot Ledger... "Martha’s
Vineyard is no place to commit murder - not if you hope
to get away with it," writes Valerie A. Russo for The
Patriot Ledger. "Since 2001, seven cases have been
solved by Victoria Trumbull, the 92-year-old amateur sleuth
of the series written by Martha's Vineyard author Cynthia
Riggs." Visit Cynthia's
Profiles on this site for the full article.
06/2006 The New York Times recommends Cynthia's latest book,
"Indian Pipes" for summer reading. Excerpts of the review
are featured on our Reviews page
on this site. Visit NYTimes.com
for the full review.
05/2006 Seven FBI agents, four retired, three active, spent the
Memorial Day 2006 weekend at the Cleaveland House. All
seven have promised to help check Cynthia Riggs's future
books for technical accuracy. Jonathan Revere, producer
of the weekly program, "On Island Writing," taped
five half-hour programs for future airing, featuring interviews
with the agents. The four retired agents, Kathleen Puckett,
Sylvia Marusarz, Mary Marsh, and Barbara Madden, will appear
on MVTV's "On Island Writing," Channel 13. The
agents spoke about their careers and some of the interesting
cases they investigated, including industrial espionage,
mutiny on the high seas, drug busts, and the case of the
Unibomber.
04/2006 Dialog in Deadly Nightshade is used to illustrate "simulated
disagreement" in a new book by Chris Roerden, Don't
Murder Your Mystery: 24 Fiction-Writing Techniques To Save
Your Manuscript From Turning Up D.O.A. Here's an excerpt
from the book:
Borrowed tension also features in Cynthia Riggs’
Deadly Nightshade, the first of her Martha’s Vineyard
mystery novels. Victoria Trumbull, ninety-two, is a possible
witness to a murder. As she and her granddaughter, Elizabeth,
drive home late one night, a car follows them. When they
see the lights still on at the home of Domingo, a former
New York cop-turned-harbormaster, they drop in to tell
him what’s been happening. Nothing the women tell
Domingo is news to us, because these events are dramatized
in previous scenes. So where’s the conflict in this
scene? It begins with Elizabeth telling of her encounter
with a “weird, creepy man,” which prompts Domingo
to tell a gruesome story of his own...
03/2006
The Merrimack (New Hampshire) Public Library's readers'
group selected "Deadly Nightshade," the first
in the Martha's Vineyard Mystery series, as their March
2006 choice, and invited Cynthia to speak. Madeline
Bennett (pictured), 92-year-old fan of 92-year-old Victoria
Trumbull's, discusses writing with Cynthia Riggs. Ms. Bennett,
who works three days a week at the library, is a member
of the readers' group.
02/2006
Cynthia completed a six-week police academy course
offered by the Vineyard Haven Police Department.
In one of the classes, a cold, dark, windy night, she and
classmates practiced being cops who'd stopped a vehicle
that was driving erratically, and each had to go up to the
driver to ask for license and registration. All sorts of
different stuff happened — the driver dropped his license
on the ground, the driver dropped a baggie full of something,
the passenger got out and looked scary, the driver said,
"but we live on the Island year round..." Material
for her next book? Most likely!
11/2005
Five members of the New England chapter of the Mystery
Writers of America and two of their husbands spent the
Halloween weekend at the Cleaveland House B&B. The five,
Lea Wait, Paula Munier, Judy Green, Margaret MacLean, and
Susan Oleksiw, appeared on a panel at the Bunch of Grapes
bookstore on Friday, October 30th. On Saturday, Cynthia
interviewed each of the five writers for "On Island
Writing," a half-hour program aired every Wednesday
night at 8 pm on Martha's Vineyard's community access channel,
MVTV.
10/2005
Cynthia Riggs spent 19-22 October, in Casper, Wyoming.
She'd been invited to give a talk on her Martha's Vineyard
mystery books at the Natrona County Public Library. While
she was there she was interviewed by Ch 13, live at 7 am
and by K2 radio, and had articles about her in Casper's
two newspapers. Ch 13 taped her talk and showed part of
it on the 6 pm news along with Hurricane Wilma. She also
gave a talk after lunch at the Casper senior center.
06/2005
St. Martin's Minotaur, Thomas Dunne Books, has accepted
Riggs's sixth book for publication in 2006. The book, "Indian
Pipes," involves a series of murders triggered by Wampanoag
tribal members' plans to build a gambling casino on Martha's
Vineyard.
06/2005
Thorndike UK plans to publish a large print edition of The
Paperwhite Narcissus in Great Britain.
06/2005
Davina Porter will be reading Riggs's first five books for
Blackstone
Audio Books. Porter is a 2004 Audie Award Winner.
She has recorded more than a hundred books including "Anna
Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy, "The Sunday Philosophy Club" by
Alexander McCall Smith, "Other People's Children" by Joanna
Trollope, and mystery novels by Anne Perry, Ruth Rendel,
and M.C. Beaton. AudioFile says of her, "Porter's performance
is a pleasure for the listener – sensitive,
subtle and elegant...." She "completely immerses the listener
in the various characters, no matter what their sex or station
in life."
04/2005
Cynthia is hosting a weekly MVTV
series, "On Island Writing"—produced
by Jonathan Revere.
04/2005
Cape Cod Life named Cynthia one of the region's
most "intriguing" people, in their Top 400 2005
issue.
03/2005
Cynthia Riggs and Philip Craig talk about their
protagonists and how they each became mystery writers on
WGBH's The
Point, Tuesday, March 15th, 2005.
03/2005 Blackstone
Audio Books has purchased rights to produce all
five books in the Victoria Trumbull Martha's Vineyard Mystery
series.
Thursday,
July 9 2009 at 7 p.m.
July
2008 
May
2007
offered by the Vineyard Haven Police Department.
In one of the classes, a cold, dark, windy night, she and
classmates practiced being cops who'd stopped a vehicle
that was driving erratically, and each had to go up to the
driver to ask for license and registration. All sorts of
different stuff happened — the driver dropped his license
on the ground, the driver dropped a baggie full of something,
the passenger got out and looked scary, the driver said,
"but we live on the Island year round..." Material
for her next book? Most likely!