Book 52, 2015
Aug. 28th, 2015 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chez_jaeI finished reading How to Wash a Cat, by Rebecca M Hale, last night. It's the first in a cozy mystery series featuring cats.
The main character has inherited her uncle's dusty old antique shop after he passes away. Once she arrives, she meets up with a slew of interesting characters, most of whom seem to have more than a passing interest in The Green Vase. Soon after, she ends up losing her job and then chooses to give up her apartment to live in the apartment above the shop.
Her uncle has left her some intriguing clues about what he was doing before he died, leading more than one character to speculate that Oscar either knew that he was in danger or that he faked his own death. The one theme that kept repeating in the clues was a three-petal tulip motif.
Does this sound confusing? It sort of was! For one thing, I guess I didn't realize that we are never given the main character's name (the book was in her pov) until the very end. Everyone else always referred to her as "Oscar's niece". On the final page, her name is revealed as...
Rebecca M Hale
WTF?
Also, I must say that the ending, while exciting, was even more confusing. I still don't know if Oscar was murdered, or if he simply died of a stroke, which is what the mc was told. She seems to have figured out who was searching for the same items (a potion AND a treasure?!) that Oscar was in the weeks leading up to his death. However, there's no moment when the mc reveals WHAT she found out, nor HOW she discovered it. And, several other characters all seem to have been in on the big reveal, which was worthy of an episode of Scooby Doo.
I did like the cats.
Over all, though, this one gets an average rating of three:
♦♦♦
The main character has inherited her uncle's dusty old antique shop after he passes away. Once she arrives, she meets up with a slew of interesting characters, most of whom seem to have more than a passing interest in The Green Vase. Soon after, she ends up losing her job and then chooses to give up her apartment to live in the apartment above the shop.
Her uncle has left her some intriguing clues about what he was doing before he died, leading more than one character to speculate that Oscar either knew that he was in danger or that he faked his own death. The one theme that kept repeating in the clues was a three-petal tulip motif.
Does this sound confusing? It sort of was! For one thing, I guess I didn't realize that we are never given the main character's name (the book was in her pov) until the very end. Everyone else always referred to her as "Oscar's niece". On the final page, her name is revealed as...
Rebecca M Hale
WTF?
Also, I must say that the ending, while exciting, was even more confusing. I still don't know if Oscar was murdered, or if he simply died of a stroke, which is what the mc was told. She seems to have figured out who was searching for the same items (a potion AND a treasure?!) that Oscar was in the weeks leading up to his death. However, there's no moment when the mc reveals WHAT she found out, nor HOW she discovered it. And, several other characters all seem to have been in on the big reveal, which was worthy of an episode of Scooby Doo.
I did like the cats.
Over all, though, this one gets an average rating of three:
♦♦♦
