Can Mel Clear a Frenemy?
When Framed for Murder crossed my path last year, I decided to give it a try. After all, I do enjoy reading books set around California. Sadly, the book wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be.
After being injured on the job, Mel O’Rourke finds her career as a police officer over. With help from her family, she buys a B & B in Pine Cove and tries to focus on her new life.
Of course, that’s hard when she finds her old life sitting in her living room one morning. Poppy Phillips was the thief that Mel spent so much time trying to catch when she was an officer. Now Poppy’s come to Mel with a wild tale of being shot at while committing a robbery she’d been hired to make. Oh yeah, there was the dead body she stumbled upon as well. It is obvious that Poppy is being framed, but can Mel figure out how to clear her? Does she even want to?
While this book is the first novel in the series, this isn’t the first story with Mel and some of the other characters. They were first in a novella I haven’t read. And, this is a reminder of why I prefer to read a series in order since I struggled a bit to figure out the various character relationships. Even worse, this novel contains major spoilers for the novella.
The mystery that we did get here is good. I was intrigued by the premise and kept happily guessing until the end, when Mel reached a logical conclusion. However, I was very confused by the police response to things. You see, the crime that Poppy was being framed for took place over an hour away. So why were the police in town being pressured to solve it? While the same county, wouldn’t it be outside their jurisdiction? It’s quite possible it wasn’t, but it kept bumping me since it was never discussed.
I really did like the characters and the relationships that were forming between them. The suspects were well drawn as well. Mel is finding herself involved in a love triangle, but there is a clear winner as to who she should pick.
The other thing that bothered me was the foul language. Maybe it was because I was looking for a lighter cozy when I picked it up, but it was excessive for what I wanted to be reading.
The characters and their relationships made this a fun read, but my other issues kept me from fully enjoying Framed for Murder.
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