Title: The Framed Women of Ardemore House
Author:  Brandy Schillace  
Genre: Mystery   
Rating:  4 out of 5

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism.

After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect. At the same time, a peculiar family portrait vanishes from a secret room in the manor, bearing a strange connection to both the dead body and Jo’s mysterious family history.

With the aid of a Welsh antiques dealer, the morose local detective, and the Irish innkeeper’s wife, Jo embarks on a mission to clear herself of blame and find the missing painting, unearthing a slew of secrets about the town—and herself—along the way. And she’ll have to do it all before the killer strikes again…

I liked Jo from the beginning. The author handled Jo’s differences very well and made them believable and relatable. I loved how she randomly decided to run away to Scotland for the day on an impulse—that made me a teensy bit jealous. I loved the secondary characters in this, especially the innkeeper’s wife. I ended up binge-reading this in a singe session.

Brandy Schillace is an author and historian. The Framed Women of Ardemore House is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Hanover Square Press in exchange for an honest review.)

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