“A clever murder mystery with plenty of southern charm”
Charlie Harris and his cat Diesel are about fed up with the new head of the library. Oscar Reilly acts like he’s on a mission to make enemies. That creates a long list of suspects when Oscar turns up dead. When Charlie moves into the office, to fill in temporarily, he finds something that could make him the killer’s next target.
NO CATS ALLOWED is a fantastic small-town cozy mystery. Author Miranda James’s takes her time introducing all the characters and laying out the situation. Her precise writing makes it easy to visualize the quiet Athena College campus and Charlie’s old family home. When Oscar Reilly is murdered in the library, we already know why half a dozen people might want him dead.
Coming from a long line of southerners myself, I especially appreciate the uniquely southern touches James weaves into the story, from the foods served for dinner to the way the native characters talk. Each book is a real taste of the region.
I also appreciate that the tone and language is such I feel comfortable recommending NO CATS ALLOWED and James’s other Cat in the Stacks novels to anyone who loves a good mystery, from my old-fashioned mom to young adult readers.
NO CATS ALLOWED by Miranda James
Cat in the Stacks #7
In the latest mystery in the New York Times bestselling Cat in the Stacks series, librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel must clear a friend when the evidence is stacked against her…
Springtime in Mississippi is abloom with beauty, but the library’s employees are too busy worrying to stop and smell the flowers. The new library director, Oscar Reilly, is a brash, unfriendly Yankee who’s on a mission to cut costs—and his first targets are the archive and the rare book collection.
As annoying as a long-overdue book, Reilly quickly raises the hackles of everyone on staff, including Charlie’s fiery friend Melba—whom Reilly wants to replace 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 things take a turn for the worse when a threatening e-mail 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…
Mystery Cozy [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: February 7, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint), ISBN: 9780425277751 / eISBN: 9780698181977]
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About Miranda James
Miranda James is the pseudonym of Dean James, a seventh-generation Mississippian recently returned home after over thirty years in Texas. A mystery fan since the age of ten, he wrote his first novel at the ripe old age of twelve. The only copy of The Mystery of the Willow Key vanished years ago, but since it was highly derivative of the Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mystery series, that’s probably a good thing.
Currently a librarian in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Dean has published articles on topics in library science, the history of science/medicine, and mystery fiction.
Dean lives with two young cats, thousands of books, and thinks frequently about killing people – but only in the pages of fiction.
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Giveaway
What is your favorite bit of “Southern” touches in a book? Tell us below and one commenter will win a copy of NO CATS ALLOWED (paperback version)
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