The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin

The Frame-Up by Meghan Scott Molin

A vigilante, inspired by a comic book character called The Hooded Falcon, appears to be fighting crime in the real world. Heroine wannabe, MG, is a writer of comics and an expert on the Hooded Falcon and she is made a consultant to the police to help them catch not only the vigilante but to uncover the crime the vigilante is trying to expose. The investigation is complicated by a double agent (who was immediately identifiable to the reader). Most of the action of the book involves MG taking her “consultant” status as an excuse to become a vigilante herself and investigate the crime while hiding details from the detective she is supposed to be advising. It’s a mess.

 

All of the above would be forgivable. It wasn’t great, but it was at least par for the course. Unfortunately, MG is also very concerned about her position as a woman in the comic book industry and her need to be taken seriously as a professional woman. That should have been great, but from the very first chapter of the book when she first sees her soon-to-be sort-of-partner detective, all she can think about are his beautiful eyes and cute butt. These constant musings about how attractive the detective is feels like they come every third sentence from start to finish and they really undercut the character. It just doesn’t work well to have a sentence on how she’s a focused professional be followed every time by distracted fantasizing about the detective’s eyes. About a third of the way through the novel, events lead to a place where MG could have legitimately started to think about the possibility of a relationship between the two of them, but the fantasizing starts right away and negatively impacts the story. It wasn’t necessary and it hurt a not particularly strong book a lot.