Murder Past Due [Mass Market Paperback]

This cozy mystery has an irresistibly attractive cover, and I'm happy to report that the story inside more than measures up to it! I liked the characters, including the good-natured, compassionate librarian Charlie Harris, the delightful small-town Southern setting, the way all the supporting characters were so well portrayed, and the clever whodunit plot. Most of all, I loved Diesel, Charlie's friendly Maine coon cat, who loves attention, walks on a leash, and chirps and warbles rather than meowing. A fun read for anyone who loves mysteries, cats and books.

A CAT IN THE STACKS MYSTERY
RELEASE DATE AUGUST3, 2010
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME

This is a brand new series featuring Diesel, a Maine coon cat rescued by Charlie Harris, the kindly librarian, who takes Diesel almost everywhere he goes in a halter with a leash. Maine coon cats are huge, they can weigh as much as 25 pounds and it is one of the oldest natural breeds in North America, specifically native to the state of Maine, where it is the official State Cat. They are known for their intelligence and gentle personalities.

Diesel and his owner reside in Athena, Mississippi where Charlie, who has recently lost his wife to cancer returns to his hometown to live in a home left to him by his aunt. He works in the Archive Department of the college library and Diesel is well known at the library but stays pretty close to Charlie. Charlie also rents out rooms in his home to college students just as his aunt did. Diesel has a unique trait, in that he knows when people around him need a paw, a head bump or a cuddle, and is especially close to Justin, a freshman at the college who is rooming with Charlie.

Charlie is immersed in his work when he learns that famous author and former classmate, Godfrey Priest, is returning to Athena to promote his current book and take care of some personal business. Charlie remembers his classmate as an arrogant jerk would thought he was better than anyone else and there are quite a few people who agree with that assessment. His homecoming is very eventful, by lunch he had put one man in the hospital, turned some of the town's residents lives upside down, and by dinner he is found dead in his hotel room.

Charlie finds himself pawing through all the information he can find to determine who killed a man not very many people liked, most of whom are his friends and co-workers. It is quite a "purr-plexing" mystery.

I LOVED IT!!!!!

This book had me from page one, I fell in love with this cat and the rest of the story very quickly. I was at a high school basketball tournament and couldn't put it down. Charlie and Diesel make a formidable detective team in their purr-suit of the truth. The characters are so well developed you become invested in their lives without any effort at all. This is a wonderful debut to what I know will be a paws down successful series.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

When librarian and archivist Charlie Harris loses both his wife and his beloved aunt within a few weeks, he returns to his roots in Athena, Mississippi; to the gracious house Aunt Dottie has willed to him. With the help of her faithful housekeeper, he continues his aunt's custom of boarding a few college students each year. This process has gone very smoothly - until now.

When his boarder Justin learns that the man who raised him is not his natural father; and that his real father, a famous author revisiting his home town, wants the boy to live with him, sparks begin to fly. When the author is murdered in his hotel room, Justin and his mother become prime suspects, and Charlie attempts to help clear the boy.

While this cozy has a charming setting and some interesting characters - particularly Diesel, the Maine Coon cat - it seems to have been scrambled together in a bit of a hurry. The author trails more red herrings past us than a fish market; and we never do learn why the police detective is so sure of the guilty party - she doesn't even learn about the clue that will nail it until the arrest at the very end, when she has no time to check it out.

With that said, this first book has a lot of the elements for an entertaining series, if the author can organize her plots better and develop the characters in subsequent books.

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