Marla A. White – Ruff Drafts

Meet the Characters of “Framed for Murder”

This isn’t the usual meet and greet of characters with their favorite colors or what makes them tick. There’s some of that too, but we’ll get to know them through the cocktail of their choice.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that most Fridays, I post a Happy Hour Drink. I don’t know what it is, I’m just fascinated by all the different odd combinations of cocktails people come up with. I’m also intrigued by plain old beer and wine—how it’s made, how did they learn to do that? Fortunately, I live in southern California, home to some truly great wineries and breweries. (Sorry, Kentucky, I love you but your wine, not so much.)

Mel O’Rourke –

Mel—sorry, Grandma O, I mean Emmeline—was a beat cop for seven years until a rooftop chase ended in a crushed ankle. Oddly, it was Poppy she was chasing, but more on her later. She unexpectedly discovered her second career running a bed-and-breakfast when she returned to her favorite family vacation spot after retiring. She saw the “For Sale” sign on the Babbling Brook and it was love at first sight. The second youngest of six children, the family all invested in her taking a chance and buying the place, so she’s got a lot riding on this. And then along comes Poppy with the cops hot on her heels for murder.

If she’s drinking wine, she prefers a bold, jammy red. When things are really stressing her out, she is not against a wee drama of the Irish whiskey her grandmother is fond of.

Jackson Thibodeaux—

Jackson is a genius-level chemical engineer but left the rat race, disillusioned when his talents were used to make imitation food flavors. Instead, he came back to Pine Cove to live with his father and use his skills to create real flavors at The Hungry Puppy Café. His treats for dogs and their owners are so popular he had to expand. He’s quick to smile, and it lights up his aquamarine colored eyes.

His preferred drink of choice would normally be coffee. Despite originally being from New Orleans, he never really got into the party-life since he and his father moved to Pine Cove when he started high school. However, he’s been known to try beer from the local brewery since he can admire and respect the process.

Deputy Sheriff Gregg Marks-

Gregg grew up in Pine Cove and knew Jackson in high school. He even admits that he was kind of a dick to him but not so freely shares that it was because he was being bullied himself. By his dad, who was his football coach. Unlike Jackson, he’s not close with his father, who disapproved of him quitting college to go into the Marines and later becoming a cop. But more on that in the next book. More serious than Jackson, it feels like a true accomplishment for Mel when she gets him to laugh. It’s a rare but beautiful sound.

He’s come to trust Mel enough to let her in on his secret—he’s a Chardonnay drinker. He only drinks beers in front of the guys to preserve his image.

Poppy Phillips—

The mysterious cat burglar who is better known to the media and law enforcement as “The Ghost”. Mel only knows her real name because of their rooftop chase. When Poppy came back to save Mel’s life, she got arrested and booked, but the charges were soon dropped. Despite a lengthy criminal record, she never carries a weapon of any kind, which is why Mel knows she didn’t commit the murder the cops are accusing her of. But then again, is anything she knows about Poppy true? She is unabashedly upbeat and cheeky, determined to help Mel get over her fear of heights by any means necessary, even if some of them are a little odd. Ever try a sound bath?

For a Brit, it’s odd that her preferred cocktail is a gin and tonic but with American made Aviation gin and elderflower tonic water. Of course, she’d never say “no” to a good glass of champagne!

Grandma O’Rourke –

Grandma loves all of her children, Mel’s father Seamus, daughter Rita and avowed bachelor Colm, but Seamus gave her the most grandchildren, so he wins. Of course, Iris, her daughter-in-law, is part of the package. They argue constantly, but mostly it’s because arguing was the language of love Grandma shared with her late husband, and she misses him deeply. She’d say she’s an eccentric, but Iris calls her crazy. She got the ingredients wrong when she gave her grandchildren her famous holiday recipe, resulting in no one ever topping her cookies. Crazy, or crazy like a fox?

There’s only one drink for Grandma O’Rourke and that’s Irish whiskey. She prefers the peaty taste of Connemara, but any whiskey in a pinch will do.

Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery)
by Marla A. White

About Framed for Murder

Framed For Murder (A Pine Cove Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – California
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Wild Rose Press, Inc. (June 17, 2024)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 284 pages
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D18C415T

After a life-changing injury, Mel O’Rourke trades in her badge for bed sheets, running a B & B in the quirky mountain town of Pine Cove. Her peaceful life is interrupted when an old frenemy, the notorious and charismatic cat burglar, Poppy Phillips, shows up on her doorstep, claiming she’s been framed for murder. While she’s broken plenty of laws, Mel knows she’d never kill anyone. Good thing she’s a better detective than she is a cook as she 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?

About Marla A. 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 out in the garden, hiking, cheering on the LA Kings, or discovering new craft cocktails.

Fun facts
Something readers might find interesting about this book:

The quirky Babbling Brook Bed-and-Breakfast is loosely inspired by the Silver Pines Lodge in Idyllwild. Highly recommend staying there if you’re even in that neck of the woods.

A fact about me that readers might find interesting:

I share Mel’s nearly debilitating fear of heights. Well, not to the same extent, I can climb a set of stairs, but looking down more than a few flights? No way 😀

There’s a scene where Mel does a singing bowl session. I’ve done that and honestly, it’s pretty cool!

I accomplished the dream of becoming a published writer in my late fifties after helping other writers craft their stories for thirty years.

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