Customer Reviews

Suitable for Framing

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Constructed much like a police procedural, Suitable For Framing is the third outing for Britt Montero, ace crime reporter for the Miami Herald, oops, Miami News. As the book opens, Montero is pursuing the story of a trio of teenage car-jackers terrorizing the city by shooting drivers of late-model luxury cars gratuitously in the knee and dropping them by the side of the road. The cars then vanish.

That night it becomes more personal when Montero herself witnesses a car-jacking that goes wrong - resulting in the killing of a baby and the maiming of its mother. Persistent as a hound on the scent, Montero tracks down one of the carjackers and discovers he's a salvageable homeless kid with a crack-addicted mother. But under Florida law, all those present at a crime resulting in murder are guilty of murder.

Meanwhile Montero finds time to pause and help a rookie colleague - a would-be reporter stuck in the paper's library, go-getter Trish Tierney. With Montero's help Trish soon lands a general assignment job in the newsroom and quickly shows herself to be smart, grateful and a good cook to boot.

And crime doesn't stop just because Montero's hot on a trail. Body parts are found in a downtown demolition site, a child disappears, a sinkhole swallows traffic. And Montero misses a major story - the biggest political scandal in years - scooped by Trish.

Soon Trish is hogging more and more of Montero's limelight and the veteran reporter's suspicions sound like petty jealousy. As the story lines converge on a startling climax, Montero finds herself in danger of losing more than her job.

Buchanan keeps up a breakneck pace, as Montero exploits police sources, goes along on chases, tracks leads into Miami's seamiest neighborhoods and delivers plenty of steamy Miami atmosphere. A top-notch thriller.

I found this book to be better written than most of the similiar books on the market. Her story line progressed well, the multiple plots tied together excently and the crime was believable. I admire Buchanan's style.

This book was fantastic - you did NOT know what to expect! It really got you into the storyline- I didn't want to put the book down - really great!

Edna Buchanan has captured the essence of Miami with her protagonist, reporter Brit Montero. This book was especially great fun. A brash young reporter tries to upstage Brit at the newspaper. She is quite successful. Brit is there with Lottie her friend and Kendall MacDonald. This is a great fun series by Edna Buchanan.

Trish Tierney comes to Miami to be a star police reporter just like Britt Montero. She has to take a job in the library at the paper at first, and then she meets Britt and becomes very helpful to her. Britt takes notice of Trish and promises to help her become a reporter. After a few weeks Trish catches a break and becomes a general assignment reporter, not exactly what Trish wanted but at least it is a reporter job. Very soon things start to go haywire at the paper. It becomes as dangerous there as on the streets. Britt begins to wonder if Trish's stories are what they seem to be. Stories such as: a desperate woman on a ledge and missing infants. Are the victims being manipulated in some way? Britt decides to check things out on her own and that's when everything begins to come apart. She is accused of a murder and realizes that she could lose everything she has worked for. Britt knows she has to find the real murder on her own. Crime reporter Edna Buchanan is a masterful writer and never forgets that her reporter-heroine is her biggest story. This is a book to read if you like heart-stopping drama. Edna Buchanan has done it again. Pam Stone

Edna Buchanan is an excellant writer. I have read many of her books and would recommend her books to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.

This is the type of book that wants me to round up all the other ones in the series to see what else is going on in Miami. This book has everything: humor, a dark side, romance, betrayal, friends and enemies, car chases, shoot outs, and touching scenes of friendship and bravery. I doubt that the Miami Chamber of Commerce would approve of this book, as it would certainly scare me from the thought of heading to that city which seems to have a large criminal element. However I enjoyed the book while sitting on the sidelines safe at home. I will certainly be looking for more books from this author.

The beginning of this book was a bit of a disappointment. Britt befriends someone you know she shouldn't, and you just feel like shaking her. After all, Britt is a savvy gal, it's hard to believe she didn't sense what we instantly know. Once you get past that initial hiccup, though, this book really takes off. The subplots all tie together nicely and the plot suddenly but realistically goes off in a direction I never could have predicted. It's also nice to see old law-and-order Britt become a bit more sympathetic to the plight of the accused. This lends texture to her character.

Since I am a fan of the Miami-crazies genre, I had to try Edna Buchannan. Buchannan does get away from the nuttiness that is in Hiaasen and Leonard novels, but does show the true grit of Miami. Britt Montero is a most likeable character as a reporter on the crime beat. The story centers around a rash of car-jackings and a soon to be rival up and coming reporter after Britt's job. The two stories balance together well and fouund myself staying up late to finish it on a work night. You can easily find yourself rooting hard for Britt and the other good guys. One nice touch Buchannan adds is a tender side, in the story with the gang character and the Margaret Mayberry charatcer.

The reason this novel falls to four stars is the typical "let's make the main character perfect" syndrome. Britt is almost to perfect,works hard, in great shape, nice home. Edna give us at least one little thing that makes her more human. In total I am looking forward to others and strongly suggest this one.

Having found myself with some time to kill and nothing to read, I just picked this book from among the romance novels that seemed to dominate the shelf at the local drug store. I'm really glad I did. With an extremely interesting story and great visual descriptions, this novel had me riveted from the beginning. I began to look forward to getting to know even more about Britt and the whole Miami scene the way she saw it. Certainly much different from the Miami I hear my brother talk about. This and other Britt Montero mysteries have turned Edna Buchanan into one of my two favorite authors.