"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.
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]
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.
A cat lover who's written a cat mystery? How could I not want to read your book! (Rena Leith 1:32pm February 6, 2017)
I have never read a cat mystery before! This sounds intriguing! (Jennifer Heacox 3:08pm February 6, 2017)
I am such a huge fan of any cat mystery series! Would love to win this one! (Valerie Stein 8:57pm February 6, 2017)
Captivating cats. Southern locale. (Sharon Berger 9:43am February 7, 2017)
I would love to read a cat mystery. It sounds very interesting. (Kaye Newman 12:43pm February 7, 2017)
location and hopefully quirky people (MaryEllen Hanneman 2:25pm February 7, 2017)
I would love to win your book. I love cats. (Linda Hall 4:48pm February 7, 2017)
This sounds very fun!!! (Shirley Bennett 11:01pm February 7, 2017)
I love to read about people drinking their sweet tea and having homemade apple pie or pecan pie in my books. Definitely a Southern thing or us Southerners love to feed people. (Teresa Kleeman 12:48pm February 8, 2017)
Diesel is just the perfect cat for a mystery. (Sue Farrell 10:10am February 8, 2017)
drinking sweet tea & Southern perfect manners even when the person doesn't like the other person they still make you feel welcome. Love Diesel! (Joann Lord 11:53am February 8, 2017)
Sweet tea, smart women, manners, warm temps, trees with spanish moss hanging down, and porches with swings. (Sharon Shearouse 12:20pm February 8, 2017)
Being half Southern myself (my mother hailed from the Mississippi Gulf Coast), it's the descriptions of food that tug at my heart. Seafood gumbo, shrimp fresh off the boat (my grandmother's house was literally 3 blocks from the port they came in to!), okra stewed with bacon, onion, and tomatoes .... I'm making myself hungry for my grandmother's kitchen here! (Lynn Rettig 12:34pm February 8, 2017)
My mother made the best pecan pie but I cannot find her recipe. I think it may have come from Texas Electric Company many years ago and she just remembered it. Your books sound like great reads. (Leona Olson 12:43pm February 8, 2017)
I love a mystery that has cats that help solve crimes I have three cats but they just sleep and eat I would love to read this book thanks for the chance (Jeri Dickinson 4:57pm February 8, 2017)
I like the recipes & quirky characters. (Jana B 7:07pm February 8, 2017)
Hospitality, charming men, sultry nights and beautiful houses on plantations. (Dawn Staniszeski 10:42am February 9, 2017)
The Southern touches that I most appreciate are the ones of food! Pecan and peach pies, sweet tea.... (Jamie Stein 1:17pm February 10, 2017)
As a Southerner (Virginian), I always enjoy the customs and food (vegetarian, for me). I hear voices--those of my mother and aunts and of the men who called their fathers "Daddy." (Lee Green 9:58pm February 10, 2017)
Southern touches would be phrases used mostly in the South (Patricia Wagner 11:45am February 11, 2017)
I'm from Louisiana and am used to folks saying ya'll, yes mam or no mam to those who are older, having foods such as sweet glasses of cold ice tea, corn bread, peas, butterbeans, gumbo and jambalaya, people attending church on Sunday and soft, gentle voices. These are common, everyday touches that are Southern. (Anna Speed 2:46pm February 11, 2017)
Southern cuisine and southern manners. (Irene Menge 8:05pm February 11, 2017)
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