Claws for Concern

December 4, 2017
The endearing relationship between widower Charlie Harris and his Maine coon cat, Diesel, lifts James’s lightweight ninth Cat in the Stacks mystery (after 2017’s Twelve Angry Librarians). While volunteering at the public library in Athens, Miss., Charlie befriends an elderly stranger researching genealogical records. The man is seeking information on the father he never knew, who just happened to be Charlie’s aunt’s late husband. Meanwhile, true-crime writer Jack Pemberton enlists Charlie’s help in looking into a previously solved case. Despite his wish to stay out of the limelight, Charlie eventually works with Pemberton to investigate the stranger, who may have committed multiple murders long ago. The clues to the real killer come together a little too easily, and all the detail of Diesel’s moment-to-moment activities gets a little tedious. Still, Diesel is an intelligent, well-behaved cat, who opens doors for Charlie and gets people to talk. That the animal isn’t essential to the plot and his presence at times seems tacked on won’t bother cozy fans. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary.

December 15, 2017
A mild-mannered mystery-solver and Maine coon cat owner roots around in his past in order to determine whether to condemn or exonerate a stranger come to town.Charlie Harris is equally known around Athena as the proud owner of Diesel, a large, purring cat, and as the unintentional solver of several local murder cases (Twelve Angry Librarians, 2017, etc.). The latter experience introduces Charlie to author Jack Pemberton, who finds Charlie's connection to killers a perfect topic for his next novel. Charlie isn't sure he wants to get involved with Jack. He's more interested in a low-key life whose highlights are volunteering with the Athena Public Library, spending time with his lady love, Helen Louise Brady, and being a devoted and doting grandfather. But Charlie's library connection brings him up against a new case when patron Bill Delaney's inquiries about his past unearth a mystery of his own. Bill, who looks almost familiar, asks Charlie about someone named Del Collins, who happens to be Charlie's uncle by marriage. Without divulging this connection, Charlie does a little digging on Bill and learns not only that Bill may be related to Del, but also that he's hiding secrets that may explain why he's not forthcoming about this. Naturally, Charlie wants to investigate, and Jack is the natural teammate to get to the bottom of Bill's past and figure out whether Bill is caught up in something bigger than himself or is the cause of his own trouble.Charlie's even temper so completely sets the tone for James' cat cozy that the brutal truth, when it finally comes, is quite a surprise.

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