Criminal Mischief — Mary Welk

This fifth book in the "Rhodes to Murder" series contains two back-to-back novellas featuring Caroline Rhodes. In FRAMED, Caroline travels to Chicago to claim an inheritance when she's named a beneficiary in Geraldine Miller's will. There she meets Paul-Henri Girard, Geraldine's darkly handsome nephew, who requests her assistance in investigating his aunt's untimely death. Unexpectedly drawn to the professional card shark, Caroline soon finds herself gambling with danger to help a man who may be more than just a thief of hearts. HAUNTED HEARTS continues the tale of Caroline and Paul where FRAMED left off. When Paul questions Caroline's seeming affinity to unnatural death, she tries to ease his mind by relating the story of her first brush with murder years before when her husband Ed was still alive. This time, Caroline's involvement in the case was highly personal: police accused her son of causing the death of a PTA member in the local high school's Halloween Haunted House. Will Caroline's confession drive Paul away, or can she persuade him that when it comes to murder, she's just an innocent victim of bad timing? FRAMED is at once suspenseful, fun, charming, and touching as it follows the amateur sleuth's investigation into a suspicious death -- an investigation that could easily get her killed. A fun read, FRAMED closes with a great scene that will leave fans impatient for Caroline's next adventure. Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author of AFFAIRS OF STEAK Mary Welk cleverly weaves a story that leads you into the lives of characters so deeply that you start to question your own judgment as to who is naughty and who is nice. Allan Ansorge --- Author of the Bay Harbour Mysteries