Please welcome Marla White, author of the acclaimed Pine Cove Mystery series. The second in the series, Framed for Murder: A Pine Cove Mystery, has just released. Marla, could you tell us a bit about the background of the series?
I’ve been to Idyllwild as a mentor for several retreats and have stayed in rooms from the awesome to the eccentric, but they showcase the beauty of the place. Pine trees, clear blue skies, a rushing brook, and not a chain coffee shop in sight. And the people are so lovely!
When I learned the Wild Rose Press was looking for holiday themed novellas, I was in the midst of failing to bake Starlight Mint Surprises and the origin story to “Framed” was born. I thought it would be funny to have a character running a B&B who was equally baking challenged. And what better place for the B&B than a small, mountain town like Idyllwild?
More than dealing with being a terrible cook, Mel is also dealing with the trauma of losing the only career she ever wanted, being a beat cop for LAPD. I’ve always loved fish-out-of-water stories and wanted to play with the idea that this quirky little town is exactly what she needs to heal. “Framed” is the second book in the series and she’s not there yet, but her mountain home is starting to grow on her.
Fascinating—what
a contrast between small town baker and former cop in the same body! Can you
give us a summary of the story?
Old enemies become allies to unravel a deadly mystery.
Mel O'Rourke used to be a cop before a life-changing
injury forced her to turn in her badge. Now she leads a relatively peaceful
life running a B&B in the quirky mountain town of Pine Cove. That is, until
her old frenemy, the charismatic cat burglar Poppy Phillips, shows up, claiming
she's been framed for murder. While she’s no saint, Mel knows she’d never kill anyone and
sets out to prove Poppy's innocence.
The
situation gets complicated, however, when the ruggedly handsome Deputy Sheriff
Gregg Marks flirts with Mel, bringing him dangerously close to the criminal
she’s hiding. And just when her friendship with café owner Jackson Thibodeaux
blossoms into something more, he’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime in New
Orleans. Should she encourage him to go, or ask him to stay? Who knew romance
could be just as hard to solve as murder?
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| Pine Cove |
Too much conversation before coffee.
“Excuse me, is that your car parked out front?”
She struggled to maintain a polite tone.
The woman’s head snapped toward her, her perfect
lips making a surprised little ‘o’ before breaking out in a broad smile. She
removed her wireless earbuds, blasting classical music across the room. A swipe
to her phone silenced them, and she got to her feet in a fluid motion, stepping
toward her with the grace of a ballet dancer. “Officer O’Rourke, how good to
see you,” the woman gushed in a lilting British accent. “Or should I just call
you Mel?”
“Poppy?” She was too astonished to squeak out
more.
“In the flesh.” The lithe woman beamed but stopped
short of wrapping her arms around Mel in an enthusiastic hug. So many questions
rattled around in her pre-coffee sluggish brain, but she blurted out the most
obvious one first.
“How did you get in here?” She’d locked the front
door after the posted eight o’clock closing time last night. The guests all had
keys to their own cabins or rooms and had instructions to call if they needed
her after eight. The safety protocol was a habit she’d stuck to religiously
after finding a murdered man sitting in a chair right across from the one
vacated by her…nemesis? Acquaintance? She shook her head, unable to put a label
to their relationship.
“Well,” she purred, her brown eyes sparkling
behind long fake lashes, “I drove up early this morning and it was too cold to
sit in my car until your eight a.m. opening time.” She gestured to the sign in
the window stating lobby hours. “So I let myself in. I knew you wouldn’t mind.”
Poppy Phillips was a thief. A notorious cat
burglar, sometimes called “The Ghost” by social media outlets and more
whimsical members of the public. Many police forces had been chasing her for
years, including the LAPD. They knew she’d committed a multitude of crimes, but
never found the evidence to make the charges stick, until last year. Mel, hot
on her heels in pursuit after a daring robbery, got within an arm’s length of
grabbing her with the stolen items on her person when the thief nimbly jumped
from the roof of the building they were running across, over an alley, to land
on the one next door.
Mel tried to follow, but slipped and slammed into
the side of the building instead. With her partner too far away to help, she
clung to the rooftop by her fingertips until they cramped from the strain. She
started reciting the Hail Mary for what she thought would be the last time when
two strong, slender arms pulled her to safety. It was Poppy. She could have
kept going and escaped, but she came back to save Mel’s life.
As they both collapsed to the roof, breathless and
laughing at the absurdity of the situation, she cuffed herself to the thief and
arrested her. Rather than lashing out and trying to escape, she just sat there
and laughed some more. It was almost insulting how chill she was about the
whole thing. But, since one rescue deserved another, she convinced the
prosecutor, a member of her extended family, to drop the charges in light of
services rendered. So what was she doing here?
Making a mental note to change the lock and check
into a security system to prevent another surprise visit from potentially less
amiable thieves, she persisted. “Yes, but what are you doing here? In Pine
Cove?” She narrowed her eyes at the intruder. “Are you on the run?”
Poppy’s eyes grew wide in a nearly convincing
guise of innocence. “No.” She huffed with the perfect blend of indignation and
hurt feelings. “Why would you say such a thing?”
“Experience?”
After mulling her statement over for a moment, the
Brit gave her a crooked grin. “You got me there but seriously, after our run in
on the rooftop and you managed to keep me out of the nick, I got to thinking,
is this what I really want to do with my life? So, I decided to turn over a new
leaf. When I heard about your lovely B&B, I says to me-self, ‘Poppy, that’s
the ticket. Go work for your old pal Mel.’ And here I am.” She spread her arms
wide like a magician who had performed a trick and awaited her due applause.
Mel scrubbed her face with her hands. “This is too
much conversation before coffee.”
Framed for Murder: A Pine Cove Mystery
The
Wild Rose Press, June 17, 2024
Cozy
Mystery, Romance
300
pp.
Heat
Level – on a pepper level? A poblano for salty language and mild kisses
Buy Links:
About the Author
 |
| Marla White |
Marla White is an award-winning novelist who prefers killing people who annoy her on paper rather than in real life. Her first full-length mystery novel, “Cause for Elimination,” placed in several contests including Killer Nashville, The RONE Awards, The Reader’s Favorite, and finishing second in the Orange County Romance Writers for Romantic Suspense. Originally from Oklahoma, she lived in a lot of other states before settling down in Los Angeles to work in the television industry. She currently teaches at UCLA Extension and gives seminars about the art of script coverage. When she’s not working on the next book, she’s hiking, cheering on the LA Kings, or discovering new craft cocktails (to, you know, drown her sorrows over the Kings).
Contacts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheScriptFixer
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/marlawriteswords/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MarlaAWhiteAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21467766.Marla_A_White
Bookbub:
https://www.bookbub.com/profile/marla-a-white
Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3MHIzkB
Substack:
https://substack.com/@marlawhite?utm_source=edit-profile-page
