Reviews

Charlie Harris is a librarian at Athena College, working in the rare books archives. He’s well known in the town, especially because he walks his Maine Coon cat, Deisel, on a leash. An old school acquaintance, Godfrey Priest, has made it big as an author of thrillers, and he’s in town for a reception and book launching. He may be famous, but Godfrey is basically an arrogant, manipulative jerk. He seems bent on picking fights and upsetting everyone. By lunch he’s sent one man to the hospital, and by dinner Godfrey is dead. Charlie finds himself immersed in the investigation as he, and the police, try to ferret out which of the many people who bore a grudge against Godfrey was the killer.

This is a decent cozy mystery, with a likeable main character. Charlie is middle-aged, a widower with grown children, and is perfectly suited to his work. He is deliberate, steady compassionate and curious. I like that Deisel is present throughout, but not anthropomorphized as an actual detective.

There are a lot of suspects, but I did identify the killer fairly early. Still, I enjoyed how the mystery unfolded. I would read more of this series.

marieintheraw's review

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3.0

a nice cozy mystery. also contains cute cat.

megtrav's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

holly_keimig's review

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3.0

This was fun. The characters occasionally felt a bit awkward (or dated or something), but overall I enjoyed the mystery. The ending/resolution surprised me a bit. I also like that the main character takes his cat for leash walks and to work with him. I look forward to the next in the series.