<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b>Eminent mystery authors Philip R. Craig and William G. Tapply team up for a richly nuanced new installment in the Brady Coyne/J. W. Jackson series that is a tribute not only to two witty, smart fictional sleuths but also to the enduring friendship of their creators.</b> <p/> It's late August, just when thousands of vacationers on beautiful Martha's Vineyard are preparing to go home so the kids can return to school. There's a problem, though. A union has gone on strike, paralyzing the Steamship Authority, which runs the ferries to America, and creating panic and anger among many tourists and islanders alike. <p/> When an explosion destroys a boat's engine room and kills the striker who apparently planted the bomb, J. W. Jackson, once a Boston cop but now an island man-of-all-work, reluctantly agrees to the widow's pleas that he attempt to prove her husband innocent of the crime. As J.W. begins inquiries, he discovers a complex series of relationships among strikers, scabs, and boat owners, and encounters violence of his own. <p/> Meanwhile, Boston attorney Brady Coyne gets a call from a former client now living full-time on the Vineyard, who tells him about a group of armed men loading and unloading mysterious crates at a dock at midnight. Jackson and Coyne get together and discover that not only are their cases connected but that time is running out for them to prevent a crime that could have international ramifications -- and their only hope will be to confront dedicated killers face-to-face....With its winning contrast of page-turning suspense and evocative Vineyard ambiance, <i>Third Strike</i> is crime fiction at its best.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>"Two fine mystery writers team up for the third and last time, with their heroes swapping chapters and stories seamlessly." -- "Publishers Weekly"<br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>The late Philip R. Craig was the author of nineteen novels in the Martha's Vineyard Mystery series. A professor emeritus of English at Wheelock College in Boston, he loved the Vineyard and lived there year-round with his wife, Shirley. <p/>William G. Tapply was a professor of English at Clark University. The author of twenty-one Brady Coyne novels and ten books about fly-fishing and the outdoors, he was also a columnist for <i>American Angler</i> magazine and a contributing editor for several other outdoors publications. He lived with his wife, novelist Vicki Stiefel, in Hancock, New Hampshire.