- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 1039 KB
- Print Length: 276 pages
- Publisher: Berkley (Feb. 23 2016)
- Sold by: Penguin Group USA
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00X593CO4
Book Description
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, Elwyn Dillard, 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, Dillard quickly raises the hackles of everyone on staff, including Charlie’s fiery friend Melba—whom Dillard 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 Dillard’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…
About the Author
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. His first book, which he co-wrote
with fellow librarian Jean Swanson, was By a Woman’s Hand (Berkley;
1994). Jean and Dean won an Agatha Award for Best Mystery Non-Fiction
and were nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for the Edgar for
Best Critical-Biographical work for this popular reference book. A
second edition followed two years later, and Dean and Jean collaborated
on two further projects, Killer Books (Berkley; 1998) and The Dick Francis Companion (Berkley; 2003). In all he has co-authored or co-edited six works of mystery reference and one short story anthology.His first novel, Cruel as the Grave (Silver Dagger Mysteries) was published in 2000. Since then he has published eighteen more novels, writing under his own name and the pseudonyms Jimmie Ruth Evans and Honor Hartman. In August 2010 he launched a new series writing as Miranda James. The first book under this name, Murder Past Due (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) spent four weeks on the extended New York Times bestseller list for mass market paperbacks. The next book in the series, Classified as Murder (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99), published in May 2011, also hit the NYT list. The third book, File M for Murder (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) is out now. The fourth book, Out of Circulation (Berkley Prime Crime; $7.99) debuted at no. 11 on the bestseller list. Book five, The Silence of the Library, debuted at no. 8 on the bestseller list. Book six, Arsenic and Old Books, is just out.
Dean lives with two young cats, thousands of books, and thinks frequently about killing people – but only in the pages of fiction.
My Review
No Cats Allowed is the seventh book in the Cat in the Stacks mystery series by author Miranda James. I enjoy cozy mysteries and this is the first book I have read in the Cat in the Stacks series. It is also the first book of Miranda (Dean) James that I have read.
What attracted me to No Cats Allowed was that it was a cozy mystery, a cat was one of the main characters and the main setting is a library. I think I would have loved being a librarian and I enjoyed the insight into the library system provided in this book.
No Cats Allowed is a mystery and I enjoyed the mystery aspect of it. I had a pretty good idea of who the killer was by the middle of the book but there were some red herrings that kept me questioning my choice. I loved Diesel the Cat..he reminded me of our recently deceased kitty whose needs were always paramount in our home.
Charlie Harris, our main character, is an intelligent career librarian. I enjoyed all the supporting characters who helped to bring No Cats Allowed to life. I really enjoyed the library setting and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.
If you are looking for a well written cozy mystery, I highly recommend No Cats Allowed.
You can discover more about the series here:
I absolutely love, love, love Charlie and Diesel and Miranda James and all of the awesome books in the series. I am so very excited for this new one to come out and read it! Dean James is such a handsome and awesome author and one of my very favorite authors!!! This is an awesome review and makes me even more excited to read "No Cats Allowed." God bless you!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Beverly. I know you will enjoy the book. Great characters.
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