No Cats Allowed (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #7)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Mass Market Paperback; Audio CD; Paperback (LP); Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425277744; 9780425277751; 9781515956488; 9781410494566
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
Various; $7.19; $24.99; $25.64; $7.99 Amazon
February 7, 2017

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Mississippi librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel are on their guard.  Oscar Reilly, the new director at the Athena College library, is on a mission to cut costs and has set his sights on the archive and rare book collection.  Reilly's also out to replace Charlie's fiery friend Melba with someone younger, but his biggest offense is declaring all four-legged creatures banned from the stacks.

With enemies aplenty, the suspect list is long when Reilly's body is discovered in the library, but incriminating evidence throws suspicion on Melba.  Charlie is convinced that his friend is no murderer, especially when he catches sight of a menacing stranger lurking around the library.  Now he and Diesel will have to read between the lines, before Melba is shelved under "G" for guilty...

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Charlie Harris doesn't like Oscar Reilly, the Athena College library's new director, and neither does anyone else.  He's managed to offend everyone he comes in contact with, and has just called Charlie's friend Melba a liar.  To make it worse, he's filed a complaint with HR that he's allergic to cats, and wants to ban Diesel from the library.

There have also been a series of pranks played on Reilly by someone, from writing 'Oscar the Grouch' on his car...with a lipstick that turns out to be Melba's, and several employees who were seemingly fired by him in a letter - a letter that had his forged signature.  There have been other pranks as well.

Before he'll allow that to happen, Charlie vows to quit his job.  But then he hears that Reilly wants to get rid of the rare book collection and the archives, which Charlie has worked on lovingly and carefully the entire time he's been there.  But before anyone can do anything else, Charlie gets the news that Reilly is dead, and Melba's lipstick has been found near the body.  He calls his son Sean to help her as he's convinced she's innocent, and realizes that whether he wants it or not, he has to get involved this time to save his friend.

But then Charlie is asked by the president of the college to take over as interim director.  When he agrees, he doesn't realize that he's about to become the next victim of the pranks.  Even the heightened security hasn't been able to stop it.  Now Charlie realizes that the killer may very well be someone who works at the library, and he needs to figure out who it is before he becomes the next victim...

I have to tell the truth and say that I haven't been terribly fond of this series up until now.  I actually enjoyed reading this book.  I don't know whether it's because I've gotten used to the characters, but the plot was very well thought out and there was less angst from Charlie about his kids, his girlfriend, etc.  It makes for a much better plot if we can concentrate on the murder, the reason behind it, the surrounding clues and such rather than what dishes he's going to wash next.

There were plenty of suspects to choose from, and even a few red herrings thrown in.  It made for a nice change in that there was lots to sift through and find the right suspect.  Although I didn't feel that it was difficult to do so - I am sure others, like myself, pretty much knew who the killer was for most of the book - it was still nice to see the interplay between characters.

When we come to the end and all is revealed, it is a reason that is age old but still quite believable, and that made it a nice read indeed.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Cats-Allowed-Cat-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425277755/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2304878931

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

Arsenic and Old Books (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #6)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Mass Market Paperback; Audio CD; Paperback (LP); Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425257296; 9780425277539; 9781452618883; 9781410482273
Berkley Publishing
320 Pages
$18.78; $7.99; $30.52; $26.99; $7.99
February 2, 2016

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Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, Mississippi, has donated a set of Civil War-era diaries to the archives of Athena College.  She would like librarian Charlie Harris to preserve and substantiate them as a part of the Long family legacy - something that could benefit her son, Beck, as he prepares to campaign for the state senate.

Beck's biggest rival would like to get a look at the diaries in an attempt to expose the Long family's past sins.  Meanwhile, a history professor is also determined to get her hands on the books in a last-ditch bid for tenure.  But their interest suddenly turns deadly, leaving Charlie with a catalog of questions to answer.  Together with his Maine Coon cat Diesel, Charlie must discover why the diaries were worth killing for before he too reaches his final chapter.

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Charlie Harris, librarian, is surprised when Lucinda Beckwith Long, mayor of Athena, Mississippi, appears in his office one day with a bag of Civil War-era diaries written by an ancestor of her husband's.  She wants to donate them and have Charlie preserve them for future reference, and she also thinks it will help her son Beck win an election, although Charlie has no idea how.

He's also surprised when a young reporter, Kelly Grimes, shows up shortly after requesting to see the diaries, and not happy when he tells her that they aren't ready for public viewing as yet.  But then he's stunned when Professor Marie Steverton, a professor in the history department, also shows up and demands access to the diaries.  Again, Charlie tells her she needs to wait but Marie refuses to accept that answer and tells him that she will speak with Mayor Long herself to get access.

Charlie is still nonetheless surprised even more when the mayor calls him and tells him that Marie should have access to the diaries - so they strike a bargain:  give him one week to verify the diaries and then he will allow Marie first access, which seems to work for Charlie.  But before anything can be done, someone breaks into Charlie's office and steals the diaries.

While Charlie is pretty sure the thief is either Marie or Kelly, he has no proof.  And any further questioning of Marie isn't going to happen:  she's killed in a hit-and-run accident the night Charlie questions her.  But stranger still: the diaries are returned to Charlie's office as quickly as they disappeared.

Then Mayor Long appears with another diary in tow, one she insisted was hidden in another compartment in the trunk where her son found the others.  But what this diary contains could change everything for Beck's opponent Jasper Singletary and perhaps change the stakes in the election...but change it enough to kill?

In the end, the story wasn't riveting and it didn't seem to be enough to completely hold my attention.  It was fine as far as mysteries go, but the ending fell slightly flat for me.  Still, I've bought others in the series so I will read them but I won't purchase any new ones that haven't yet been published.

As it is, I've read six books in the series so far and at the least, found them semi-enjoyable, but something has been niggling at me yet I couldn't quite place it - until now.  I've added a spoiler regarding this, and be aware that it concerns all the previous books in the series including this one.  If you haven't read them and don't want to know the outcome, I urge you not to read it.

I have recently noticed after reading the first five books in this series that the women portrayed (aside from those close to Charlie) are always gossips or just plain nasty, evil people (even the 'nice' women have a ruthless streak). Yet when the man is supposedly evil, we never see any of it. In the first one, we are told that Gerald was mean, but never hear any first hand conversations. Ditto with Connor, the director. Only one occasion where he snapped at actors, but then he was defended by Charlie’s daughter Laura as just being stressed and how he was actually a nice person. But yet the women? We are treated to conversations that are anything but nice, and if you look back at the series thus far, you will see this.

The killers? Almost always women when statistics show that most murderers are men; all you have to do is read a newspaper to know this. But not in his books. Then there was the one time that a man who killed someone was unexpectedly ‘thrown into’ the story - and I say thrown in because we didn’t see him at all nor have any conversations with anyone, and he was only involved because his mother was...the killer. HE didn’t even have any reason to kill anyone, and it didn't make sense.

Of the two 'nice' women: his daughter Laura is so sweet to be almost saccharine; and Helen is alright; she's a baker who spent time in France learning to bake. Soooo....at random moments she spouts French phrases. Really? She's not French. Who does this? It seems pretentious somehow, especially in a small town, to just throw out foreign phrases if you're not a foreigner. What is supposed to be cute is annoying and pompous. (as in: 'I spent time in France. Have you?')

But what bothers me the most is we never get to know the male victims - we are told they’ve done horrible things, but are never privvy to any real conversations, yet with the women we’re given conversations and actions that go on for pages. When male victim #1 was killed, we were told of his bad actions, I never saw anything evil that he did to deserve dying. For male victim #2, he seemed like a nice man (he was nice to Charlie) even though we were told how horrible he was to everyone, but again didn't see any of it. When male victim #3 was killed, he had a bad temper, which directors often do. Nothing he did warranted death. We're not privvy to any real conversations that show us how truly horrible they are. But when the women are victims, there are conversations containing threats (even against his cat), physical violence, women screaming at Charlie, etc., as if to show us how bad these females are and how they deserve their fate. It's almost as if the author doesn't like women and has to put it to page to show us how truly disgusting they are.

Since I have several more books in the series (which I wish I'd never bought) I will finish them; but just out of curiosity, I glanced at the next in the series to see who the murderer was - and I wasn't surprised at all when I read it. Draw your own conclusions.

If you've read the spoiler, then perhaps you'll understand why I'm not thrilled with these books.  As I stated above, I've already bought a few more in the series (which I often do ahead of time) so there may be more reviews to come.  Please be aware that these are my own personal observations and my own opinions.  I am also aware that there are others who will disagree, and that's perfectly fine; there's always hope in a series that it will get better, so we will see.

https://www.amazon.com/Arsenic-Old-Books-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425277534/

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2295975910 

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

The Silence of the Library (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #5)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Paperback(LP); Mass Market Paperback; MP3 CD; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781410470409; 9780425257289; 9781452668871
Berkley Publishing
320 Pages
$26.99; $7.99; $22.04; $7.99 Amazon
January 28, 2014

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It's National Library Week, and the Athena Public Library is planning an exhibit to honor the centenary of famous novelist Electra Barnes Cartwright - creator of the beloved Veronica Thane series.

Charlie has a soft spot for Cartwright's girl detective stories (not to mention an extensive collection of her books!)  When the author agrees to make a rare public appearance, the news of her whereabouts goes viral overnight, and series devotees and book collectors converge on Athena.

After all, it's rumored that Cartwright penned Veronica Thane stories that remain under wraps, and one rabid fan will stop at nothing - not even murder - to get hold of the rare books...

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When Charlie Harris discovers one of his favorite childhood writers - Electra Barnes Cartwright - is still alive and even lives nearby, he's excited to learn that not only will her works be featured in a library exhibit, but that she's agreed to attend.  That is, until he learns that her daughter has told them she wants a fee for attending - something that wasn't discussed when he and the library director met with her.

But he also discovers that there are a group of rabid fans who plan on attending and are demanding that Ms. Cartwright sign their book collections, something a nearly one-hundred-year-old woman may not be capable of doing; and the fact that a small publisher has told everyone there are as yet five unpublished manuscripts that he's going to publish; manuscripts no one has ever heard of before now.

But as things get closer to the exhibit date, less and less starts adding up for Charlie; and soon someone he knows is murdered, and it has to do with the books.  Then when he discovers a vital clue that will reveal everything, he needs to enlist help to prove the truth and uncover a murderer before someone else loses their life...

After reading the first five books in this series, I've decided that they're either hit or miss.  Unfortunately, this one is a miss.  After 72 pages, it still couldn't pull me in, and I slogged my way through the rest of it.  For some reason, I just found it completely boring, and even the dialogue wasn't snappy enough to keep my attention.

Even the subplots weren't interesting this time out, including the "problem" his son Sean is having.  For being a sharp-witted attorney, it seems when it comes to his personal life his brain power shuts down, and he can't figure out the right thing to do to solve it.

Then there's a bit of a continuity problem:  Charlie mentions he's half the age of an almost centenarian, yet in the last book he's 51.  Even though this isn't in the same category, it's still pretty odd - poor Diesel is now 36 pounds, when he started out he was 33, last book was 35.  At this rate he'll be 50 pounds by the time the series ends (if it keeps going).  Details matter.

The book just seemed so slow paced.  The clues were there and easy to figure out, and there was nothing silent about this library.  In fact, there was quite bit of noise at all times, so it was mis-titled, at the very least.  (With the title, you would think perhaps a body was found in the library at midnight...when all is usually silent, but no). 

Honestly, while I would have liked to have enjoyed this book, the conversations were so boring.  It was like two people who live in a rest home talking about what they had for dinner the night before.  I also couldn't get past the fact that no one could figure it out until almost the end.  Truly?  I won't say why so as not to spoil it for others, but if you've read it the reason should be pretty obvious. 

https://www.amazon.com/Silence-Library-Cat-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425257282/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2289315577

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

Out of Circulation (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #4)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Paperback (LP); Mass Market Paperback; MP3 CD; Digital Book; Audio Book
ISBN #:  9781624901928; 9781410461179; 9780425257272; 9781452668864
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
Various; $26.99; $7.99; $24.99; $7.99 Amazon
January 29, 2013

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The Ducote sisters are in a tiff with Vera Cassity over the location of Athena, Mississippi's annual library fundraising gala, and Charlie would rather curl up in a corner than get into the fray.  It seems everyone - even his housekeeper Azalea - has it in for Vera.  And at the gala, she gives them good reason, with a public display of rancor aimed at anyone who gets in her way.

But those bitter words wind up being her last.  When Charlie discovers Azalea standing over Vera's dead body, it's up to him - with a little help from Diesel - to clear Azalea's name, and catch a killer before his last chapter is finished.

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Charlie Harris is a librarian in Athena, Mississippi.  He’s also on the board of the Friends of the Library, and one night while they are having a meeting at his home, he is privvy to an unfortunate conversation between the Ducote sisters, grande dames of Athena society, and Vera Cassity, an upstart who aspires to their position.  Vera argued that her home, Ranelagh, would be the only one to hold the gala, as it had the largest dining room.  But An’gel Ducote was nothing if not astute and sharp-witted, and managed to convey the fact that it would be difficult to ask people for money if they weren’t having fun - and there was nothing fun about a sit-down dinner.  After this uncomfortable conversation, Vera left in a huff - once she realizes the rest of the board members agreed with the Ducotes.

But Vera isn’t about to give up easily - she goes so far as to threaten Charlie and even his boarder Justin, who is the recipient of a scholarship from Vera; and even Diesel, his Maine Coon cat..  It seems she really will stop at nothing to get her way.  Things get worse when Charlie’s housekeeper Azalea finds out she’s been in the house and threatens to quit if she shows up again - but won’t tell Charlie why she hates her as much as everyone else seems to do.

When the library gala is held and Vera shows her usual asperity, the Ducotes have one more trick up their sleeve to stop her in her tracks.  But when she storms off and Charlie later hears Azalea calling for help, he finds her locked in a room...with the body of Vera.  It appears she either fell or was pushed down the stairs, and Sheriff Tidwell sets his sight on Azalea as the murderer - if only to make her daughter, his deputy Kanesha Berry, uncomfortable and look bad to the public.

So Kanesha, who has always been aloof and professional towards Charlie, asks him to help clear her mother's name and find the true murderer.  She knows that Charlie has a knack for putting clues together, and since he's sure Azalea is innocent, agrees to help her.  But when Charlie starts digging into which person wanted Vera dead - and there were probably many - it comes down to who would be willing to commit murder in order to silence her forever...

I've read four books in this series, and at least this one had not only the murder to consider, but a subplot or two to keep things fairly interesting.  In this book Charlie's relationship with Helen is moving forward, along with those of his son and daughter's.  They don't take precedence over the murder, however; and that's how it should be.  We also learn a little bit more about Azalea's family, although nothing new on her dynamics with her own daughter.

All in all, I have to wonder if there's any vegetables grown in Mississippi aside from green beans.  They seem to have them with almost every meal (and on a side note, I detest them myself).  Maybe Azalea can introduce everyone to the pleasures of eating corn or peas - or even carrots once in a while.  I would also caution Sean to move out quickly, since every member of Charlie's household has been suspected in a murder case so far.  Just a thought...

Also, while Charlie might own a Maine Coon, he obviously doesn't know you can't give cats garlic.  It's toxic.  Yet he has no problem feeding this to his feline, while giving your cat a small amount of cheese won't hurt it.  Yes, many cats are lactose intolerant, but not all.  I'm a lifelong cat owner, and I've had plenty of cats that love cheese and it doesn't hurt them.  But garlic?  NEVER!

In the end, when the murderer was found out it seemed to me slightly extreme of this person since they really gained nothing at all from the deed that I could tell.  I would have liked to have seen a much better reason for the murder than what was given.  However, since I've already gone this far into the series I will probably proceed, since I've read much worse books and survived.  At least this was the best of the four so far, so there's hope yet.

https://www.amazon.com/Out-Circulation-Cat-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425257274/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2285654873

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

File M for Murder (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #3)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover LP; Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book; MP3 CD
ISBN #:  9781471329920; 9780425246184; 9781522670742
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
Various Prices; $7.99; $7.99; $9.99 Amazon
January 31, 2012

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Athena College's new writer in residence is a famous native son, playwright Connor Lawton, known for his sharp writing - and sharper tongue.  After an unpleasant encounter, librarian Charlie Harris heads home to a nice surprise:  His daughter, Laura, is visiting and will be subbing for another professor this fall semester.  It's great news until he hears who got her the job: her old flame, Connor Lawton...

Fearing competition for Connor's affections, one of his admirers tries to drive Laura out of town.  And then, before Connor finishes the play he is writing, he is murdered - and Laura is the prime suspect.  Knowing she's innocent, Charlie and his faithful sidekick, Diesel, follow Connor's cluttered trail of angry lovers, bitter enemies, and intriguing library research to find the true killer before his daughter is forever catalogued under "M" - for murderer.

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Charlie Harris is enjoying his life in small town Athena, Mississippi - aside from the fact that egotistical playwright Connor Lawton is making him miserable.  It seems he's in town to hone a play at the college, and he's being a pain in the rear to everyone he meets.

But when Charlie's daughter Laura arrives, it's a welcome surprise.  Laura is conducting a semester at the college teaching acting, and it's an unfortunate occurrence when Charlie discovers that Connor and Laura once dated.  Everything he knows of the man screams Horrible Human Being.  But it's an even bigger surprise when he discovers that Laura has kept a secret about the true relationship she had with Connor.

Then Laura finds Connor's body and things change.  She's high on the suspect list, and Charlie now has a personal interest in finding the killer.  Once he saw Connor's body for himself, he knew it wasn't an accidental death, and he's also sure Laura is innocent.  But with so many people who disliked the man, there isn't going to be an easy path finding out the truth.  When things escalate and Charlie's very household comes into danger, the stakes are raised and Charlie will do anything to keep his family safe..

This is the third book in the series, and I would have liked to enjoy it more.  I did like the second one better than the first, but it seems Charlie is in a rut.  We've never really learned much about him except that he's barely over fifty and has a bit of a paunch.  There's no descriptions, not only of Charlie, but really of anyone else, sans hair color (black).  We're told his kids are attractive, but that's a relative term (especially since he's their father).  I would have liked to have seen more personality traits.  (We do get height - maybe the author doesn't like short people - everyone seems to be nearly six feet tall or taller).  There are also no descriptions of the town, so there's no connection of it to the story.  This place could be Anywhere, USA.

Then there's Deputy Berry...who's the most unlikable person in the book.  She has no humanness about her - she's cold, standoffish, always professional.  She's also never available when Charlie wants to reach her.  I realize she's a police officer, but surely at some point she can show that she's also a human?  Unbend a little?  Do her employees even like her?  Because I see nothing in her that shows she has any empathy for anyone else, nothing that shows she has a sense of humor, has a social life.  She's colder than my freezer.

Then there's Diesel.  I'm a lifelong cat owner, and I talk to them, play with them, etc.  But they don't act like humans.  Most times, cats do their own thing and are cats.  Diesel is practically a furry person.  It doesn't make sense (nor does the fact that Charlie talks to him like Charlie's a woman, not a man - I've never heard a guy call a cat 'sweet baby').  While Maine Coons do trill (I've owned one), they don't act like human beings.

As you can see, the book didn't impress me much - I've begun to wonder if I liked book #2 better because of the secondary characters in that book, since it obviously wasn't Charlie's family.  It makes you wonder what his late wife was like - was she as boring as everyone else?  They sit around brooding most of the time or sleeping.  A barrel of fun indeed.

As far as the plot goes, it was quite similar to the first - a writer comes to town, nasty and unlikable, and is murdered, and someone Charlie cares about is suspected of the crime.  This is only the third book.  Surely there could have been a different plot available?  And the ending - I don't know how I can put this without giving anything away, but I'll do my best: it would have been nice to see something of a certain person who was heavily involved.  There was no indication why, no indication of the person even existing.  No reason why anything happened or a certain person was targeted.  No.  Reason.  At.  All.  So it didn't make sense.

Hopefully the next book in the series will be better, and we'll actually get to see why on earth Helen is interested in Charlie - unless she spends her off time sleeping, too.

https://www.amazon.com/File-Murder-Cat-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425246183/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2279509499

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

Classified as Murder (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #2)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; MP3 CD; Digital Book; Audiobook
9780425241578
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
&7.99; $9.99; $7.99 Amazon
May 3, 2011

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Suspecting that someone is stealing from him, the aging and eccentric James Delacorte wants Charlie to do an inventory on his rare book collection.  Soon after they begin, Delacorte is found dead at his desk, leaving Charlie with the bigger task of solving his murder.

Immediately Charlie is suspicious of Delacorte's own family, and relies on the help of Diesel to paw around for clues.  The cat and mouse game heats up after a highly valued copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Tamerlane goes missing and a second murder occurs.  Now Charlie and Diesel must solve the case before the killer strikes a third time - and hope curiosity doesn't kill the cat...

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Librarian Charlie Harris lives and works in small town Athena, Mississippi.  One day he's approached by James Delacorte - a wealthy resident - and he asks Charlie if he will inventory his rare book collection.  But he has an ulterior motive - it seems he believes one of his family members is stealing from the collection book by book.  And since those same members live in the Delacorte house, he knows it has to be one of them.  Charlie is offered a generous salary to do so, is allowed to take his Maine Coon Diesel with him; besides, he finds it tempting to see the collection, so he accepts.

But then Charlie's son Sean arrives, along with his poodle Dante - he hasn't seen him since Christmas, and he asks out of the blue if he can stay with Charlie for awhile.  He agrees of course, but doesn't want to press him as to why he left his job at a law firm in Houston and decided to move to Mississippi.  Things between them seem slightly tense, but after Charlie has tea with the decidedly strange Delacorte family, Sean isn't sure Charlie should take the job.

The next day Charlie begins his task with Mr. Delacorte at his desk in the same room, and everything  seems fine.  Then Charlie goes home for lunch, and when he returns, he finds James slumped over his desk, his tongue swollen and his face splotchy.  He immediately calls the police and waits outside the room.  When Detective Kanesha Berry arrives, she's a little surprised to find Charlie there because they have an uncomfortable history - her mother is Charlie's housekeeper - but she respects him and he her.  After everything is said and done, and Charlie tells her what he was tasked to do, she allows him to stay - under the condition that he observes only - and reports back to her anything he finds out.

But then another bombshell is dropped - Delacorte's attorney tells Charlie he's co-executor of the will, is to continue his inventory, and when all is done, it will become property of Athena's library, along with the funds to keep it in order.  After hearing of the murder, Sean decides Charlie isn't going back without him (or Dante).  Charlie agrees, and everything somewhat returns to a semblance of order.

But all is not well in the Delacorte household.  No one seemed pleased by the terms of James's will, and at least one person wants Charlie to stop what he's doing, according to the late night anonymous telephone call he receives.  But Charlie keeps going, at least until another murder occurs, and Charlie realizes that there's more at stake than just rare books...

I will say that this book was much better than the first in the series.  While we still get Charlie's daily routine, it's not so much that he's telling us every single action he does (as in the first book).  With his son in the picture, it gives a little more insight into why Charlie seemed so dull and lifeless in the first book, and I am hoping that things will progress even more in the third.

The mystery itself was very well done, and a sort of funny twist on a quintessential solution to mysteries.  I really enjoyed the way it was handled, and thought it was incorporated into the story nicely.  I liked several of the characters in this book, and also the fact that Detective Berry is less abrasive in this book and looks like she might be on her way to becoming a friend to Charlie (I certainly hope so). 

In the end, it was a fun read and I will read the next in the series.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Classified-Murder-Cat-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425241572/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2274636190

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

Murder Past Due (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #1)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; Large Print; MP3 CD; Digital Book; Audiobook
ISBN #:  9780425236031; 1410433435; 9781522670759
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
August 3, 2010

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Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows Charlie Harris, the good-natured librarian with a rescued Maine Coon cat named Diesel that he walks on a leash.  He's returned to his hometown to immerse himself in books, but soon enough he's entangled in a real-life thriller...

A famous author of gory bestsellers and a former classmate of Charlie's, Godfrey Priest may be the pride of Athena, bur Charlie remembers him as an arrogant, manipulative jerk - and he's not the only one.  Godfrey's homecoming as a distinguished alumnus couldn't possibly go worse:  by lunch, he's put a man in the hospital.  But dinner, Godfrey's dead.

Now it's up to Charlie, with some help from Diesel, to paw through the town's grudges and find the killer before an impatient deputy throws the book at the wrong person.  But every last one of Charlie's friends and co-workers had a score to settle with the nasty novelist.  As if the murder wasn't already purr-plexing enough...

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Charlie Harris is a college librarian in Athena, Georgia.  He moved back home after his wife died and he inherited his Aunt Dottie's house.  She used to take in roomers, and he continues to do so.  His latest is Justin Wardlaw, who's in his first year of school and doesn't want to live in the dorms.  It also helps that he went to school with Justin's mother Julia.

When Charlie hears that another old schoolmate, Godfrey Priest is coming to Athena, he's not looking forward to seeing him.  Godfrey is a best-selling author, but he was a bully in school and almost everyone disliked him.  So when he appears at Charlie's door, he's surprised.  It seems that Godfrey wants to leave his papers to the college and is willing to donate the money for their upkeep.  But then he drops a bombshell - he tells Charlie that Justin is his son and he wants to see him.

While Charlie doesn't know what to do with this information, he's nevertheless stunned when he returns home and sees Justin arguing with his dad, Ezra - the man who raised him.  He's doubly upset when he sees Ezra slap Justin and tells him to leave.  But after talking with Justin, he finds out he already knows about Godfrey and is prepared to talk with him.

But it's not too much later when Charlie finds Justin outside of the hotel where Godfrey is staying, and he seems to be in shock.  Justin isn't making a lot of sense, so Charlie persuades him to go back to the room where Charlie finds Godfrey's body - and sees Justin's cell phone nearby.

While he doesn't believe that Justin murdered Godfrey, he wonders how the cell phone got there.  Soon there's more suspects than Charlie can count, and each of them had solid motives to kill the man.  But it would be easier to catalog every book in the library than find the guilty party...

While I thought this book had promise - a small town librarian with a Maine Coon cat - it didn't quite live up to its potential.  For one, I wondered why Justin was living at Charlie's when he had a home in town.  It didn't make any sense.  If you live in the city where you go to college, and aren't staying in a dorm, why would you pay money to live in someone else's home?  One town over maybe - but the same town?

Another thing that bothered me is the author feeling the need to tell us every time Charlie did anything at all - used a penknife to open a letter, washed dishes, etc., including the fact that he mentions he forgot to wash his hands after dinner.  So what?  I don't know anyone who finishes a meal and then feels the need to run to the sink to wash their hands - unless, of course, you're eating messy food (they weren't).   Every.  Single.  Action. 

It didn't help that the characters were either dull or cardboard cutouts.  Charlie is only 50, but acts like he's nearly 80.  I know 60-year-olds with twice the life in them that he has.  Justin also seemed a bit like a mama's boy, which is another reason I wondered why she allowed him to leave home in the first place.

While the best thing about the book was Diesel, he wasn't the detective and didn't help solve the crime.  We just get a play-by-play of Diesel's actions, much like Charlie's.  It keeps the plot slow-going, and I found myself losing interest quite a bit.  We never learn enough about anyone in the book to know whether to like them or not; we're only given bits and pieces.

In the end, the murderer wasn't really a surprise, but the reasons the murder was committed was as old as time itself.  I would like, in the next book, to see Charlie with some sort of life in him, and the characters get more definition.

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Past-Due-Stacks-Mystery/dp/042523603X/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2271209500

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/