Review: Behind the Frame by Tracy Gardner

Behind the Frame (Shepherd Sisters Mysteries #2)
by Tracy Gardner
narrated by Karissa Vacker

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
When art in the park
leads to murder in the dark,
the Shepherd sisters
have another crime to solve.

Savanna Shepherd, an art expert turned elementary art teacher, is planning the Art in the Park festival for her hometown of Carson. But apparently, someone isn’t happy that Carson got to host the event: the beloved statue in the park is destroyed. Not long after, Savanna finds the dead body of one of the people on the planning committee.

Savanna and her sisters are convinced that the arrested murder suspect didn’t do it, despite strong evidence to the contrary. With the help of Dr. Aidan Gallager, Savanna’s new romantic interest, they uncover hidden resentments and intrigue. Several people in Carson had a motive for the murder. Can they find out which one of them is behind the framing of an innocent person?

My Review

I was in the mood for a cozy mystery in a series I already started. When scrolling through my audiobooks I spotted this one I knew it was the perfect book for my mood. And it turned out I was right. I really enjoyed this book and thought it was even better than the first book in this series, which I really enjoyed. It has everything I look for in a cozy mystery, likable character, a fun small town setting, an interesting and engaging mystery as well as fun daily life scenes.

I really enjoyed Behind the Frame. It’s the second book in this series and takes place about half a year or so later. I liked catching up with Savannah and her two sisters, as well as the rest of the family. This time Savannah is helping organize The Art in the Park festival when she finds one of the people on the planning committee murdered in his house. After a friend of the family gets accused for the crime the three sisters jump in action to find out who really did it.

The mystery was a good one, plenty of suspects and it kept me guessing. I managed to guess who the murderer was, but only toward the end, and it was satisfying to be proven correct when everything came to light. The mystery itself has plenty of progress with new information coming to light, suspects getting ruled out and new ones popping up. I really liked it and it made for a satisfying read. I also appreciate how Savannah and her sisters get involved in the mystery in a way that makes sense and how they go about investigating in a smart manner.

I also enjoyed the daily life scenes as Savannah is more settled back into her home town. I liked reading about her interactions with her sisters and the rest of the family. There’s a visit with Caroline Carson from book 1. And then there is the detective who is a competent detective, which I like seeing in cozies, and with whom they visit frequently to discuss the case. I also really liked her romance with Aidan. This is one of the better romances I’ve read in a cozy mystery. It’s sweet and I really like them together, their dates are fun to read about and I just love seeing them spend time together and grow closer.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book! I liked returning to Carson and reading about Savannah and her sisters as they try to solve another mystery. The mystery had plenty of progress with new information coming to light, suspects being ruled out and new suspects popping up. It kept me guessing, but toward the end I managed the guess the murderer correctly, which was satisfying. I like reading about Savannah’s daily life as well, with her job as a teacher and organizing the festival. I like seeing her interact with her family and the romance with Aidan is well written and sweet, one of the better romances I’ve read in a cozy mystery. The narrator was great and I enjoyed listening to this one.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.