Book 55, 2020

[chez_jae]

No Cats Allowed by Miranda James

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



On Wednesday night, I stayed up half an hour past bedtime to finish reading No Cats Allowed, which is the 7th installment in Miranda James' "Cat in the Stacks" mystery series. Main characters are librarian Charlie Harris and his faithful Maine Coon cat, Diesel.

The Athena College Library has named an interim director while searching for someone to fill the position permanently. However, Oscar Reilly leaves a lot to be desired, not only as a boss, but also as a person. He is rude, condescending, and abrasive, targeting Charlie and his coworkers with one petty thing after another. When Oscar ends up murdered in the library's basement, Charlie's friend Melba is tabbed as a suspect. He knows she wouldn't have killed Oscar, no matter how angry she was with him, and Charlie sets out to learn who else may have had it in for Oscar.

It seems there is no shortage of potential suspects, from other employees to Oscar's menacing former brother-in-law. When Charlie is targeted, he knows he's getting close to the truth. He can only hope it doesn't get him killed, or worse, bring harm to any of his family.

Good book with excellent characterization. By the time Oscar was murdered, I could have been a suspect, because I wanted to kill him, myself. What an ass! Plot moved at a good pace and flowed smoothly. I appreciate that the resolution was accomplished without Charlie ending up in mortal peril. He alerted the authorities with the clues he'd uncovered and wasn't even present when the arrest was made. It's refreshing to read a series, in which the main character doesn't almost die at the end of each book.

Favorite line: He was so reserved he would make a clam seem chatty.

Very good, five stars.

Comments

[chez_jae]

\o/

You're very welcome!