Champagne and a Gardener [Large Print]

A charming "cozy" -- an eccentric Boston blue-blood family summering in Mount Desert Island near Bar Harbor, Maine, a murder, and local customs. There's Natives (born there, not American Indians), Rusticators (those who come annually), and Tourists. There's also us -- (Bostonians), and them (Philadelphians). The viewpoint family is an artist, her daughters (one a Grafin -- look that up in your Funk and Wagalls), her grandchildren, family retainers, the timid secretary and her erudite little girl, and the mean woman across the way. No, I'm not rambling -- this must be digested before we get to who-dunnit. You might want to read it a second time to pick up the clues that are there, carefully imbedded. Great fun. Read it as much for family dynamics and local color, as for the puzzle, which is a good one. Unfortunately, succeeding books in the series haven't the tightness of this. While interesting, they lack the piquancy of the original. P. S. Author B.J. Morison is a Native.