DEADLY NIGHTSHADE

This enjoyable, if unconvincing, mystery is overstuffed with background details about its Martha’s Vineyard setting. It’s like trying to watch a movie while someone nearby talks excitedly about having visited the places where the film was shot. This puts all the more pressure on Davina Porter to rivet our attention on the characters she is bringing to life: Victoria, a nonagenarian poet and sleuth; her granddaughter, Elizabeth; a crackpot island Indian; and Domingo, the Hispanic harbormaster who drives a Rolls Royce (why?). . . Even when the plot wobbles or Victoria’s legendary pluckiness borders on the deranged, Porter gives it the skill and verve she would bring to high art, and it goes a long way. B.G. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 06/ JAN 07]