Book Review: Borrowed Trouble by Christine Falcone

Christine Falcone may be a relative newcomer to the national mystery scene, but New Englanders have known of her talent for many years. A recently retired nurse in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (after nearly four decades of devoted service), her writing career has progressed from short stories (published in works such as Imagine, Lancrom Review, and Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England Writers) to novels. In 2022, she published Ex’d Out—the first in a series for Level Best Books. October saw the release of a follow-up, Borrowed Trouble.

Visiting nurse Melanie Bass and her devoted terrier Bruno are still recovering from their last brush with death when Detective Sunny Cody of the Guilford (CT) PD knocks on their door and asks to borrow Bruno for an undercover operation to capture neighborhood drug dealers. Inclined to decline, Melanie instead offers a compromise: Cody can use Bruno if she is allowed to come along. Under the guise of taking the dog for a walk, the three make their way to the designated meeting spot. But what was supposed to be a contained situation escalates into chaos when gunshots ring out and Detective Cody is hit by a car that then flees the scene.

Sidelined by a significant leg injury, Cody—the widowed mother of a young daughter—allows Melanie to do a bit of investigating on her behalf, albeit reluctantly. After all, a man is dead and his killer remains on the loose—and Cody has no confidence in the detective assigned to the case. But what begins as some innocent questioning turns sinister when Melanie finds herself in the crosshairs. This threatens her burgeoning romance with Bruno’s veterinarian, Justin, who is dismayed over her willing involvement in yet another perilous situation. Torn between the desire for truth and her longing for love, Melanie must reconcile her head and heart, even if it means that her sense of civic duty overrides all else.

Falcone limits the narrative to Melanie’s perspective, which emphasizes personal conduct over procedural, and renders both Melanie and Bruno as multifaceted beings who exist among equally nuanced people and place. These include unlikely friend Lynn (also once married to Melanie’s deceased ex-husband) and cantankerous patient-turned-cohort Charlie (who just so happens to be Justin’s grandfather) as well as a welcoming backdrop, complete with autumnal embellishments. But the many charms of coastal Connecticut are belied by an undercurrent of danger, given the widespread influence of the drug trade, which has even infiltrated the local high school.

Borrowed Trouble is a keeper—and a welcome addition to the Melanie Bass Mysteries, which hold the promise of longevity. Christine Falcone borrows from her own background in nursing to inform her plucky heroine while showing a gift for crafting engaging secondary characters, evocative settings, and engrossing plots that reflect pressing real-life societal issues. The whodunits satisfy on their own merits, but it’s the communal spirit (and canine cuteness) that will undoubtedly draw readers back for more.