chez_jae

Probable Claws by Nancy C. Davis

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Slogged through the rest of Probable Claws last night. It's the second book in author Nancy C Davis' "Vanessa Abbot" mystery series, featuring crazy cat lady Vanessa.

After I read the first one, I was rather meh about it, and this one was no better. It sort of picks up where the first book left off, in that the murderer in that one was slated to go on trial soon, and someone had come to town to threaten the witnesses. Only, the bad guy was killed before he could make good on his threats. Of course, the police have to treat it as a murder investigation...aaaaanndd it went to hell from there.

So, our intrepid heroine is now sorta/kinda dating Detective Pete Wheeler (and believe me, he was referred to as Detective Pete Wheeler throughout the narrative, lest the reader forget either his name or his occupation), and Pete basically invites Vanessa to help him investigate. Say what now? Nope. No officer of the law is ever going to do such a thing. Vanessa does have an ace up her sleeve, however. Henry, one of her dozen (or so) cats, has his paw on the pulse of the national cat network, and he promises to get some information to Vanessa via that route.

Now, I've read paranormal mysteries with talking cats before, and I find them fun. However, most of the time, there's a witch involved, or the book is obviously combining fantasy with cozy mystery. In this series, however, the only odd ball thing is that Vanessa communicates with her cats. We never "hear" them speak; rather, the reader only gets Vanessa's side of the conversation, because, apparently, the cats communicate telepathically. Worse yet, Pete believes Vanessa when she tells him this. This woman puts the CRAZY in Crazy Cat Lady. I mean, I talk to my cats, too, but they don't answer me. Well, Jake does, but it's just in various meows and purrips and murps.

The story would not have been so bad, but it reads like it was written by a 12 year-old. The writing is utterly unsophisticated, there is no complex sentence structure, and the murder investigation is so unrealistic as to be almost laugh-worthy. The motive for the crime is okay, but the method is absurd. Finally, when Pete starts hinting at wanting more of a relationship with Vanessa, they actually discuss moving in together. Okay, okay, I'm with you. However, throughout the entirety of the book, Vanessa keeps Pete at arm's length, afraid he may try to kiss her?! Um, lady, if you move in together, there will be a lot more than kissing involved. Sheesh. Let's just say I'm relieved I snagged this book when it was free; I'd have hated to pay for this dreck.

Favorite lines:
♦ "I couldn't exactly tell him I'm waiting to hear from the national cat network to give me my next clue, could I?"
No, I don't suppose that would be wise, Pete.
♦ "I've given you cats the best years of my life. Would you really begrudge me a little pleasure just for myself?"
I hear ya, lady. Ha ha!

I am waffling between one star and two. Hm. SPaG was clean, so I'll give it a two.