The Pawful Truth

May 20, 2019
James’s entertaining 11th Cats in the Stacks mystery (after 2018’s Six Cats a Slayin’) finds Athena, Miss., librarian Charlie Harris auditing a history course taught by movie-star-handsome professor Carey Warriner at the local college. After the first class, Dr. Warriner calls Charlie over and proposes he take the course for credit. As Charlie is leaving the room, another student, 30-ish Dixie Belle Compton, pushes past him and approaches Dr. Warriner. “What the hell are you doing in my class?” he hears the professor exclaim. The next day, Dixie stops by Charlie’s office to suggest that they, both being “mature” students, become study partners. He rebuffs her, but not before confirming that she and Dr. Warriner have a fraught relationship. When Dixie takes a fatal fall a few days later, Charlie turns amateur sleuth with Dr. Warriner, the prime suspect. Plenty of dishy gossip helps propel this tale of love and deceit. This entry reinforces James’s place in the front rank of cozy authors. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.

May 15, 2019
Murder on a college campus leads an informal investigator into interdepartmental drama that smacks of reality TV. His longtime work in libraries has primed Charlie Harris (Six Cats a Slayin', 2018, etc.) for lifelong learning. So when he has the opportunity to audit a class in the history of early medieval England at his alma mater, Athena College, Charlie jumps at the opportunity. He's heard nothing but wonderful things about professor Carey Warriner, and the first day of class exceeds his expectations. There's even another adult learner in the course, Dixie Belle Compton, who seems equal parts student and fashion plate. When Charlie chats briefly with Dr. Warriner after class, he overhears hints of some sort of conflict between the attractive professor and Dixie Belle. Not that it's any of his business, but Charlie wonders how the two know each other outside class. Athena is apparently a hotbed of interdepartmental romantic scandals among the faculty. Although Dr. Warriner is married to a fellow professor, it's possible that he's been conducting himself with Dixie Belle on an informal basis. Charlie has a history of nosing his way into town gossip, so it's natural for him to consult with his fellow Athenians about what might be going on, especially when Dixie Belle is killed before the second class meeting. Ably aided by large and ferociously friendly Maine Coon sidekick Diesel and his latest kitten addition, Ramses, Charlie uses his connections to separate fact from fiction. Will he be able to solve the case before the killer strikes again? By keeping the action limited to the college and its surrounding gossip network, James presents a sharply focused story that celebrates the role of the armchair investigator and his informants.

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June 1, 2019
Athena College librarian Charlie Harris' decision to audit Professor Carey Warriner's course on medieval history leads Charlie to join the hunt for a murderer. On the first day of class, Charlie hears Warriner argue with an older student, Dixie Belle Compton, who is later found murdered. Is Warriner the killer? Or could it be Warriner's wife, a fellow Athena professor? A second murder complicates things, as Charlie?accompanied by his Maine coon cat, Diesel?continues his investigation against the wishes of his adult children and police deputy Kanesha Berry. Using his research skills as well as interviewing suspects and listening to college gossip, Charlie uncovers multiple suspects?jealous spouses and colleagues, among them?and various possible romantic triangles. Charlie ultimately unmasks the killer but almost loses his life while taunting the murderer to get a confession. Sympathetic characters, including the intuitive Diesel; a lovingly described home life with his faithful housekeeper; two boarders; girlfriend; and adult children and their families all add to the appeal, as do the details of library work and academic life in small-town Mississippi. An absorbing addition to the Cat in the Stacks series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2019

In this next in the New York Times best-selling "Cat in the Stacks Mysteries," librarian Charlie Harris (with Maine Coon cat Diesel) returns to school to take an early medieval history course. Alas, Dixie Bell Compton, the only other student in his class well beyond 21, is found murdered after she's heard arguing with the professor.

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