Claws for Concern (Cat in the Stacks Series #9)

by Miranda James

Overview

Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, are embroiled in a new mystery when a cold case suddenly heats up in the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.

Charlie Harris is busy enjoying his new grandson when a mysterious man with a connection to Charlie's family starts visiting the library, bringing with him troubling questions about an unsolved murder...

Charlie may be a proud new grandfather, but he and Diesel still have work to do at Athena College and the small Mississippi town's public library. He's too busy to deal with true-crime writer Jack Pemberton, who wants Charlie as the subject of his latest book—and who won't take no for an answer.  

A more appealing proposition for Charlie is spending time helping a kind, elderly man navigate the library's genealogical database. But he's shocked when he learns that the visitor's search is focused on a member of his own family: his late aunt's husband.

Charlie befriends the man and considers inviting him to stay in his home, but he's soon given reason to question that notion. Jack is certain that Charlie's new houseguest was involved in a shocking homicide that took place years ago in a small town near Athena. As this cold case heats up, Charlie and Diesel have to uncover a killer who may already be too close to home...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425277782
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/20/2018
Series:	Cat in the Stacks Series , #9
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Miranda James is the New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, including Twelve Angry Librarians, No Cats Allowed, and Arsenic and Old Books, as well as the Southern Ladies Mysteries, including Fixing to Die, Digging Up the Dirt, and Dead with the Wind. James lives in Mississippi.

Read an Excerpt

One
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Claws for Concern"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Miranda James.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

12/04/2017
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. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

2017-11-28
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.

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for the novels of Miranda James

“Let us now praise the cozy mystery, so comforting on dark days, so warming on chilly nights—the literary equivalent of a cat.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Courtly librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, are an endearing detective duo. Warm, charming, and Southern as the tastiest grits.”
—Carolyn Hart, New York Times bestselling author of the Death on Demand Mysteries
 
“Combines a kindhearted librarian hero, family secrets in a sleepy Southern town, and a gentle giant of a cat that will steal your heart.”
—Lorna Barrett, New York Times bestselling author of the Booktown Mysteries
 
"James should soon be on everyone's list of favorite authors."—Leann Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of the Cats in Trouble Mysteries

“Ideal for Christie fans who enjoy a good puzzle.”
—Library Journal
 
“[A] pleasing blend of crime and charm.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch
 
“Humor and plenty of Southern charm…Cozy fans will hope James will keep Charlie and Diesel in action for years to come.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“James just keeps getting better and better…It’s an intelligent read, so well-written that I couldn’t stop reading it. Every single time I turned out my light for the night, I found myself thinking about the story, flipping the light switch again and reading just ‘one more chapter.’”
—MyShelf.com

From the Publisher