How do I hate the main character. Let me count the ways:

1) When she finds a card with a mushy love poem in her aunt’s room she immediately assumes the guy who sent it is the love of her aunt’s life. Even though her aunt has been married multiple times and never has shown the least bit of interest in the guy.

2) On the flimsiest bits of evidence she speculates wildly about possible scenarios. And despite learning all the time that her wild imagination has taken her way off base she does not change her ways; she does not learn from her mistakes.

3) She thinks Meghan must be the murderer, while admitting there is little evidence that points her way.

Spoiler

Actually, Meghan was present at the crime scene around the time the murder took place. The police should have questioned her already.

So she decides they must trap Meghan in a lie.

4) Being present where the police is investigating for no good reason. An author must not use a shoe horn to make an amateur sleuth learn interesting things.

I also hate the police and park rangers for their incompetence in running this investigation. It takes them a week (!) to go to the neighbour of the crime scene and secure copies of his surveillance cameras. The neighbour had to call the police himself and offer these. Then it takes them another three days (!) to

Spoiler

talk to the person in the footage.

Still, Max the ranger, has the audacity to tell a witness: “We would have had a better idea of the time he died if you’d have let us know what really happened before now.” Uhm, yeah, if you’d’ve bothered to do your job and run a proper investigation, you’d’ve had a chat with this person on Thursday, the day the victim was found.

I like cozy mysteries. I really do. But I prefer it if the sleuth investigates things the police can’t or won’t due to protocol or whatever. I don’t like cozies where the police is blatantly incompetent and the sleuth has to take over to do their job.