A good cozy mystery set in Martha's Vineyard. When Annie finds a woman barely alive outside her cabin she becomes involved in finding out what happened. With a soft romance with a local cop, getting to know her half brother, and a wealth of characters this is a good mystery story. Highly recommend.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I'm glad I picked up her book. A great interesting novel that keeps you entertained until the very end.

A Vineyard Summer is about Annie spending a winter spent writing her latest novel,. She is looking forward to a summer with friends who have become like the family she never had. But then her landlord announces that his grandson will be moving into her cozy Chappaquiddick cottage—and she’ll be moving out.

Year-round island housing is tough to find at any time; in summer, it’s nearly impossible. Shaken by the thought of being forced to leave the people and the community she’s grown to love, Annie seeks distraction in the July 4th celebrations—and stumbles upon a young woman who’s unconscious on her front lawn . . . and barely alive . . .

Such a wonderful novel set in Chappaquiddick on Martha's Vineyard. Annie, is a likable writer who finds herself embroiled in a local mystery on 4th of July. I just lost myself in the setting and Jean Stone's wonderful writing. Perfect for fans of Nancy Thayer or Elin Hildebrand with a little mystery thrown in amid the descriptions of quaint streets and sidewalk cafes and boutiques. I look forward to reading more from Jean Stone.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advance copy!

A Vineyard Summer by Jean Stone is a wonderful summer read. I love that this story is about an older woman on her own. I love a lot of things about this book-- from the main character being a writer to the beautiful setting in Chappaquiddick. Whatever your age, this book will resonate with its theme of finding where you belong. The mystery is a fun bonus, too! I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

A vineyard Summer is a perfectly lovely book. If the cover doesn't grab you, the story will. Its the perfect blend of romance and cozy mystery. This is the perfect beach read even if your beach is your backyard...I recommend this lovely. Thanks netgalley for the gift of the arc. The review is my personal.opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. There was some romance and some mystery. The characters were well written and it was a fun and easy read.

this was a great summer read!! Nothing screams summer like a book set on the Cape and Islands!
I loved the cozy mystery twist in it! I read the first book so I was so happen to receive an ARC copy of this one....now I can't wait until the next one!!!! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this :)

This is a nice blend of women's fiction and a cozy mystery set on the perfect summer island of Chappaquiddick. Annie is a island resident who has just finished her most recent book. She loves her life on the island, has many friends and lives in a charming cottage. When her landlord kicks her out she is panicked that she will not be able to find housing in the exorbitant summer market. In the meantime she finds a women who was attacked and her quick thinking saved her life. The book moves into sleuth mode as Annie looks into the crime despite her precarious situation with housing and the pressure of marketing her novel . In the meantime tourists are arriving for the summer disturbing the long term residents and tempers are flaring.

This is the perfect summer read with interesting charcters, a good sleuth and fast paced writing. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you for the ARC. My opinion is my own.

This is one of my favorite kinds of summer reads - a family drama/romance/mystery in an island setting ~ all the elements for a fun summertime novel! I enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about Annie and the residents of her little part of Martha's Vineyard. Lots of family drama kept the story going, and the mystery added another level of intrigue. I loved the ending and I'm looking forward to reading the next installment and seeing where it goes from here!

A Vineyard Summer by Jean Stone is a cross between a cozy mystery and a family drama. Annie has felt alone for a long time, but over the winter, she has found a place for herself in Chappaquiddick Island on the Vineyard. She has finished her book and only needs to complete the editing. She has a boyfriend, and she enjoys spending time with him. His family has also embraced her and she is feeling positive about her life. Finding her birth mother also helped move beyond the loneliness.

Of course with the season starting, Annie knows seeing John, a detective will become more difficult with all the tourists. Little does she expect that he will have to leave the island for one of his children. Her landlord just told her that she had to leave her small cottage as a family member needs it and Annie is upset knowing finding a place on the Vineland this time of year is almost impossible. That is when she finds an almost dead bridesmaid on her side yard.

All these events and more, mean Annie is spending more time trying to uncover a mystery and find a home, while tourists are flocking in for vacation than working on her book. The story’s facts are slowly leaked out as Annie asks questions and puts facts together. She would love to share it with John and ask for his help, but his absence becomes even more tenuous. The questions abound as more interesting things happen and facts become even more elusive.

A Vineyard Summer by Jean Stone was an interesting read. I enjoyed the mystery and found myself hoping for a resolution to my liking. I found some of the twists hard to accept, but living in a small town where most everyone knows everyone and gossips is universal to all small towns. A Vineyard Summer is an interesting cozy mystery with lots of family drama to confuse and obscure the facts.

After a winter spent writing her latest novel, Annie looks forward to a summer with friends who have become like the family she never had. But then her landlord announces that his grandson will be moving into her cozy Chappaquiddick cottage—and she’ll be moving out. Year-round island housing is tough to find at any time; in summer, it’s nearly impossible. Shaken by the thought of being forced to leave the people and the community she’s grown to love, Annie seeks distraction in the July 4th celebrations—and stumbles upon a young woman who’s unconscious on her front lawn . . . and barely alive . . .

Summer on the Vineyard brings not only tourists, but also wealthy families with summer homes—like Fiona Littleton’s—and tensions between them and the tight-knit island community often ignite. But when Annie’s quick thinking saves Fiona’s life, she’s surprised to learn that like her, Fiona has no one to lean on. And when Fiona fears that someone wants her dead, Annie cannot walk away. With depleting resources and no home on the horizon, Annie is certain of only one thing: each of them will have to rise to one of life’s greatest challenges: feeling at home within themselves . . .
Amazon.com

When I decided to download A Vineyard Summer, I did so thinking the book was in the Women’s Fiction genre. To a certain extent, I was right, but then the main character stumbled over a body. I was exuberant. The book had all the charms and wisdom of Women’s Fiction, but it was also a mystery and set on the island of Chappaquiddick, MA. As a resident of an island, nothing could have suited me better.

Main character, Annie Sutton taught English for twenty years before she started writing mysteries and moving to Chappaquiddick. As a writer of mysteries, it’s not far-fetched that when she finds an unresponsive young woman lying by her guest cottage on an estate in the midst of a wedding, Annie wants to follow the clues to find out what happened.

A Vineyard Summer is the perfect beach read having layered plots, unconventional solutions, and captivating characters, but start with the first book in the series, A Vineyard Christmas.

Please welcome Jean Stone to WWK. E. B. Davis

You wrote Women’s Fiction before this series. Why the inclusion of mystery?
How do I say, “I didn’t do it on purpose?” But in A Vineyard Christmas, when a baby shows up on the doorstep of Annie Sutton’s cottage (which was my editor’s terrific idea), it seemed that a mystery was already happening. Who was the baby? How did it get there? And what should/would Annie do? I think that adding the mystery presented a great opportunity not only for Annie to have a mystery to solve, but also for her to grow and change throughout the book, which is the heart of good women’s fiction. The blend seemed to work so well, we decided to carry a key mystery element throughout the series. Not only the whodunit, but also how it happened and why, and how whatever it is can add depth to my characters and their story.

Chappaquiddick is an occasional island, a natural occurrence of barrier islands. It’s located off of Martha’s Vineyard. Why do the island residents rely on ferries if it’s not really necessary? HaHa! I never heard that term an “occasional” island! That’s great. But the only land “connector” to the island from the Vineyard is often breached for months or years. Even when it is closed, it is not easy to cross off-season. And the strong currents and occasional riptides in the channel between Chappy and Edgartown make it difficult to rely on small craft for day-to-day transportation. About 200 people live on Chappy year round, so it is necessary to rely on the one-and-only ferry. It is also needed for emergency vehicles, US mail, and shipping deliveries.

Annie lives in a cottage on an estate owned by Wall Streeter Roger Flanagan. He tells Annie that she must find new accommodations in August, which causes her great distress. Why will finding a place to live be so hard? Martha’s Vineyard is a beautiful, wonderful place. But according to the MVTimes (Nov. 2016), “80 percent of the housing stock on the island is vacant in the winter.” Some of those homes are owned by seasonal residents who do not want to rent, others belong to investors who only rent them in summer at high vacation rates. The amount of housing available for rental year round is small; the demand is enormous, especially as the year round population grows. The island is working to address this situation, but right now, it’s a problem—one that I understand is often shared by other tourism-driven communities.

Annie has been in a relationship with a local policeman, John Lyons, for about six months. But she’s fearful to move too fast with him. Have her previous romantic relationships tainted love for her? I don’t think love has been tainted for her. But it’s taken her a long time to recoup the mess her ex-husband left her in. She is a strong woman, succeeding on her own, so she’s in no rush. She can feel love, but does not need a man to be fulfilled. The pace is working for him, too, as he’s still regaining his bearings after his divorce.

Although Annie is guarded in her relationship with John, she’s very close to his parents, Earl and Claire Lyons. Even though Annie has to meet a professional deadline and needs to find a new place to live, she agrees to help Claire with an annual garden show. Why? Earl befriended Annie before she ever met their son; he helped her acclimate to the island and introduced her to people and made her feel welcome. As women’s fiction, the focus of the book is not romance. Yes, romance is part of it here, but it’s only one layer of the story. It’s really about a middle-aged woman navigating her life in today’s world.

When Annie finds Fiona Littlefield unresponsive by her house, she calls the island’s EMTs. Taylor, an island EMT, shows up at the scene. Why don’t Taylor and Annie get along? When Annie first met Taylor in A Vineyard Christmas, she found her brusque and off-putting...mostly because Taylor was the one person who did not welcome Annie. Their personalities are very different, and Annie does not trust her motives.

When Annie visits Fiona in the hospital, she tells Annie that someone tried to poison her, according to the toxicology report. Annie tracks down the source of the poison as something surprising, something that many people have in their own homes but would not consider poisonous. Is it true? Have there been any real cases of this happening?
Yes, it is true. While not usually lethal, and more poisonous to animals than humans, I, too, was surprised when I learned about it while doing research. My primary source was Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner, Deadly Doses, A Writer’s Guide to Poisons (Writer’s Digest Books, 1990).
Who is Murphy and is she really haunting Annie? Good question! Murphy isn’t haunting her...she’s merely “with her in spirit!” She is playful and wise, and, as Annie’s deceased best friend, she knew her better than anyone.

What’s next for Annie? Books #3 and #4 in this series are underway...so stay tuned!

The perfect book to kick off summer reading season :) Just enough drama, romance, angst, and mystery to be both intriguing and entertaining easy reading! Now that I've learned it Is part of a series, I must read the rest!

I had been so looking forward to reading this book. The cover looked beautiful and the description sounded perfect. The book started off so well and I was really enjoying it but sadly it became very mundane and dragging on. Sadly it never caught me and pulled me back in again.

Annie has a cottage on chappaquiddck. . Her landlords kicking her out . His.grandson Jonas is moving to the area.she has a few weeks to find a new place.

Annie always looks forward to her summers in a rented cottage on Chappaquiddick, but this year, she appears to be out of luck as her landlord intends on living their himself. With almost no other housing options, Annie is afraid she won’t be able to stay. Then she comes across Fiona, a woman clinging to life on her front lawn. Annie saves Fiona’s life, and in doing so earns a new friend. She quickly learns that Fiona is also on her own, and that worse, she believes someone is out to kill her. With no money and no prospects the two women must lean on each other for their very survival. A summer beach read with a twist