FRAMED

by Scott Strosahl

When a hostage situation at a small Midwest bank results in no suspects, two Des Moines police officers learn that things are never what they appear to be when all the evidence points to one suspect… until it points to another.Thirty-two people have been held hostage at the Midland Savings and Loan, and $1.2 million is missing, but when the police take the building, there are no robbers, only hostages. On their first case together, Officers Riley and Weathers feel confident they have their man until everything comes crashing down around them. Quickly recovering from their mistakes, they start to put together the pieces of a complicated plot perpetrated by the robber to frame himself. But can they convince the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury that they have it right this time? Can they even convince each other?

Genres: Mystery

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 3, 2011

Reviews

[Dave Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this story a lot more, but in the end I had to mark it down. First, while the writing was good, at times it was too much description, too much telling (instead of showing) what was happening and not letting me make my own inferences. However, I could ignore that for the sake of the story.

What I couldn't ignore was the ending (besides the fact I knew who did halfway through the book). SPOILER ALERT...First, what bank in their right mind would leave a vault open, with only the janitor there, just so he could clean the floor. Second, what janitor would actually let a person in, alone, to drop something off, knowing that the vault door was open. Third, what police force would NOT question a bank's janitor that had this policy and would NOT find out that he had let a young female in the night before the robbery, thus absolving all parties (except her).

While I thought this book showed promise of being good, the ending dropped what I would have given 4 stars down to two. I'm not usually the type to find and see holes in a story, because I read to enjoy the experience, but in a mystery type book, a reader has to question a lot and those questions led me to the holes in this book.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel makes all police appear to be dumb. Like the world's dumbest criminals. Should obvious clues always be taken at face value? The one thing I did not like about this story is that I had figured out who the real criminals were even before I hit the halfway mark. I guess I was little sad to see I was right and a part of me was hoping that I had fallen for a red herring.

This was very well written and I could read the character differences for all of the main characters. They all had clear and defined different personalities. Funny how Kevin Peters hanged his tune on the innocence of caught criminals after he spent 12 days in the slammer. Speaking as someone who was wrongly accused and spent an overnight in jail, I can certainly relate to his feelings after and during his plight. I have to say, though, that I didn't like him much in the beginning when he was an arrogant prick.

[Jessica Degarmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic who-dunnit with modern twists. very well-written and engaging. I didn't see the ending coming, and a very satisfying ending it was! Highly recommended and enjoyable. I look foward to reading more from this author.

[Mark Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILL BOOK WITH A MOTHER OF ALL TWISTS

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting story that required more suspension of disbelief than I'm normally willing to give... but I'm glad I stayed with it because I did love the ending.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book quite a lot... I could easily see it on the big screen. Loved the ending. Loved the fact that it was suspenseful and yet clean.