Jo Jones’ life has been something of a rollercoaster ride. At present, she’s unsure whether she’s on a giddy ascent or taking a fast downhill drop. A longtime New Yorker, Jo just arrived in Abington, a small English village she had never heard of until recently. Abington is the home of Ardemore House, which, to Jo’s surprise, belongs to her.

Approaching Ardemore House, Jo exclaims over its size and grandeur. It’s a castle! No, the solicitor assures her, it is decidedly not a castle. Upon closer examination, its state of decay becomes all too clear. Still, Jo inherited this place. And truthfully, she has little else at this point. Her husband and partner in their publishing business has cheated on her --- and cheated her out of her fair portion of their assets. While he moved on with a new partner, Jo’s mother fell ill, and Jo rushed to Chicago to help during her last days.

"There’s as much action as feeling in Brandy Schillace’s debut novel, THE FRAMED WOMEN OF ARDEMORE HOUSE. It’s enough to satisfy every reader, especially mystery lovers."

But now, here she is in Abington, facing another dilemma: what to do with Ardemore House. Jo knows no one in this town --- in this country, really --- and making friends has never been her strong suit, especially with her autism at play. She tends to be very direct and not especially tactful.

To make matters worse, there’s the issue of Sid, a troublesome man who claims to be the caretaker of Jo’s property and wants to continue in that role. However, they do not hit it off, to put it mildly. And their relationship sours even further when she accuses him of stealing a painting from the estate. Jo does not want to alienate the village people and prefers not to get the police involved, but she can see no way around it. Then the irascible Sid turns up dead on Jo’s rug in the cottage at Ardemore House. What else can possibly go wrong? Never ask a question like that.

Jo would be happy to figure out what happened, but she’s mostly focused on the missing painting. The matter of Sid’s death is something for the police to unravel. She begins her quest by looking for clues as to who had been the subject of the portrait and uncovers a lot of history, including that of her family. Which is just what she wants! However, the police keep interfering by slinging accusations and suspicions at her. Why can’t they let her be?

At least DCI MacAdams seems to have something of an open mind. But his counterpart, DCI Fleet, is another story altogether. As for suspects, those keep piling up --- in the form of Sid’s exes and enemies, and even some friends. Jo may be a convenient person to pin the murder on, but her motive appears pretty slim. Still, the painting --- if it actually exists, which the police have serious doubts about --- remains missing. And Jo is still fixated on finding and retrieving it. What does it have to do with anything?

Chasing a killer around England and Wales becomes quite the romp. Jo, while sort of trying to clear her name, finds herself making friends and actually beginning to fit in somewhere. Her doggedness provides her with a focus that also gives her presence meaning. She needs to uncover her history to uncover who she herself is. And she ends up being pretty good at it. There’s as much action as feeling in Brandy Schillace’s debut novel, THE FRAMED WOMEN OF ARDEMORE HOUSE. It’s enough to satisfy every reader, especially mystery lovers.