Perfect for Framng — Maggie Bishop

Greed, jealousy and hunger for power are a deadly mix when individual freedom versus group desires clash in this mountain subdivision. This mystery book is a whodunit that tests the reader's powers of deduction. December at the Chase's dude ranch in the North Carolina mountains draws more skiers than horseback riders so Jemma Chase turns from leading trail horse rides to her other two passions �" carpentry and photography. Word of Jemma's skills with wood spreads to a development at the top of an Appalachian mountain where she hears complaints about the Property Owners' Association president. The POA President, Petula Windsor, has the other women in the development riled up by manipulating some owners to go along with her vision for the development. The Windsors' house is broken into; cash as well as a private investigator file is stolen. Jemma struggles with her CSI wannabe urges; after all, she's applied for a job with the communications section of the sheriff's department, and Detective Tucker, “her” detective as everyone kids her, has emphasized that butting in an ongoing investigation can jinx her chances. Petula hires Jemma to build cabinets in her guest house. When Jemma comes to collect the check from the husband, she smells smoke. The guest house is on fire; Jemma risks her life to pull out Petula but it is too late. A simple break-in has escalated to murder. Jemma's CSI wannabee desires are mostly kept in check by Detective Tucker. It's hard, however, when the investigation involves so many people she has recently come to know, and she keeps pestering him for details. Her interview with the sheriff's department went well and Detective Tucker's attraction to Jemma wars with the fear that she will be hired. Detective Tucker's investigation leads to the old lady whose lands abut the subdivision and to her great grandson; Jemma rents a woodworking shop from this delightful, caring woman, who lost land to the developers in a tax sale. The great grandson, accused by Petula Windsor of arson in the past, works at the Ford dealership where Jemma takes the family truck and seems a little too sweet on her. The gallery owner, who has taken on promotion of Jemma's photographs, is in bitter conflict with Petula over plans to build the house she designed with her late husband who died suddenly after a POA meeting. Suspects include Petula's boss, who also may be her lover, and his wife; Petula's husband, her step brother who works at the Ford Dealership, the gallery owner's best friend and others represented in the files Petula keeps on just about everyone. Jemma completes the original commission just as emergency vehicles blast by the driveway. Petula's husband is dead, apparently by suicide. Eventually, Detective Tucker trusts Jemma enough to use her as a confidant in the investigation. A Christmas party brings Elvis as well as clues to the two murders. When Detective Tucker is run off the road near the top of a mountain, Jemma figures out who the murderer is and why. See if you can solve a mystery, be the amateur detective yourself, and enjoy this fiction book. “Perfect for Framing” is the second mystery book in the Appalachian Adventures Mystery series.