Framed and Burning by Lisa Brunette (Dreamslippers #2)

Framed and Burning is the second book in the Dreamslippers series by the author Lisa Brunette. I haven’t read the first book in the series, so I was a bit reluctant to pick this book up, however once I’ve started reading, I realized I needn’t have worried, as the book can be easily read as a standalone novel.

Cat and her grandmother Grace are both dreamslipper, with the ability to enter other people’s dreams. I was instantly drawn to this aspect because I am very much interesting in dreams, especially lucid dreaming. Of course the movie Inception was never far from my mind either.

While enjoying their holidays in Florida, Cat and Grace are drawn into a crime mystery where Grace’s own brother, Mick is deep in the middle of the case.

Mick Travers is an artist who shares his studio with his assistant. One night this very studio is burned to ashes, and his assistant, Donnie is killed while Mick was supposedly a guest at his own art show. Since Mick is unable – or unwilling – to share his alibi with the police as his presence at the show was not confirmed for the whole night by the guests, he automatically becomes the main suspect in the crime.

As the police won’t leave Mick off the hook, Grace, knowing that he would never be capable of these horrible crimes, launches her own personal investigation with the help of her granddaughter, to find the real killer.

At their request Mick provides a list of people would have an interest in killing him, which turns out to be a mile long. Too many suspect to go over one by one. Luckily the women can make use of their unique dream slipping gift to try to unravel the mystery. But even using their gift it is no easy feet to complete their investigation, and even more it all could become too dangerous for the two PI women, especially considering that as dreams go, they can be easily interpreted in different ways by different people.

Granny Grace is a fun eccentric lady, whom I wouldn’t mind having for a grandmother myself. While 70, she doesn’t look or feel her age. I instantly liked her style and character. I also enjoyed the interaction between Grace and Cat, they have a very dynamic duo which is hard to miss. In the first book apparently the focus is more on Cat, while here granny Grace has a more center stage where we learn more about her past.

While Grace is very close to her brother, Cat cannot relate as much to him as she’d like, so while Grace is in it for proving Mick innocent, Cat only wants to find the truth – whatever that might be.

Overall this is a fun book, much more fact paced than a cozy, but without the gory and gruesome details of real crime mystery novels. It has its own  niche with two adorable investigators who do the story justice.