The Pawful Truth
In addition to his library duties and his role as doting grandad, Charlie has enrolled in an early medieval history course offered by young, charismatic professor Carey Warriner. Charlie feels a bit out of place- his fellow classmates are half his age- except for Dixie Bell Compton, another ‘mature’ student. When Charlie hears an angry exchange between her and their professor, his interest is piqued. He’s even more intrigued when she shows up at his office, asking for a study partner. Charlie turns her down and is saddened to learn just a few days later that Dixie has been killed.
Charlie wonders if Professor Warriner had anything to do with Dixie’s death. Warriner is married to a fellow professor who happens to be a successful author. There are rumors on campus that their marriage was on the rocks. Was Dixie’s death the result of a lovers’ triangle gone bad? Charlie soon discovers that the professor’s wife may have some secrets of her own, and his suspect list is only getting longer.
As he and Diesel step further into the tangled web of relationships, someone else is viciously killed. Whose jealousy finally erupted into a murderous rage? Was it a crime of passion, or is there another more sinister motive? Charlie races to unravel this mystery: and to draw out the culprit, he may just have to put his own life on the line.
Series: Cat in the Stacks Mystery – Book #11
Author: Miranda James (Dean James)
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Library/Pets
Publisher: Berkley
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The latest in the Cat in a Stack cozy book series, The Pawful Truth from Berkley comes out next week. This is a favorite series with books coming out quickly, the next addition, Careless Whiskers, scheduled for January 2020. Miranda (Dean) James is a fantastic storyteller, with a penchant for creating strong, likable characters with depth, and plots that are filled with twists and turns.
Charlie is doing his best not to get involved in the latest murder investigation, but it wasn’t in him to stay on the sidelines when he needed questions answered. Charlie is not your typical cozy book protagonist. Charlie isn’t a young amateur sleuth; he is a mature man with grown children, a couple of young grandchildren, has a wonderful girlfriend, and works at the college library. He is intelligent and inquisitive about murder. He is lovable and innately good at solving mysteries, especially homicide.
Charlie has a cast of characters that help him solve crimes, including his beloved Maine Coon Cat, Diesel, his girlfriend, Helen, his daughter, and son, as well as his housekeeper and cook, Azalea. The entire cast returns in this latest addition in this cozy book series. But are his family and friends help, or could they become a pawn in a killer’s game?
The victim(s) aren’t well-liked or mourned. Some even say they got what was coming to them. Regardless of what kind of people they were, the killer is worse. When Charlie unmasks the perpetrator, he places himself in danger. This is a beautiful story, with wonderful characters. It is fast-paced with just enough detail to keep readers turning the page. There are moments of brilliance within the pages of this cozy book series that endear it to readers everywhere. I am thrilled to recommend The Pawful Truth and this entire series.
Readers may also enjoy cozy book series such as Kym Robert’s https://www.kymroberts.com/ “A Book Barn Mystery” series https://www.thecozyreview.com/killer-classics/ or Alexis Morgan’s http://www.alexismorgan.com/ unusual series “An Abby McCree Mystery” https://www.thecozyreview.com/death-by-committee/.
About the Author:
Miranda (Dean) James is a native of Mississippi and recently returned to live in Jackson after spending thirty-three years in Houston, Texas. He has loved mysteries since he discovered Nancy Drew at the age of ten. At twelve or thirteen, he wrote a mystery and even submitted it to a publisher — and promptly received a form rejection letter. That dashed his hopes for a writing career for a while, but he went back to writing mysteries while he was in graduate school at Rice. His first published adult mystery was the second one he wrote: Cruel as the Grave.
Since then, he has published twenty additional mysteries. In his day-to-day life, Dean is a librarian like Charlie (except his specialty is medical libraries), and he has two cats, neither of whom is a Maine Coon. Dean loves reading and writing mysteries and taking care of two spoiled cats (that’s probably redundant–all cats are spoiled because they generally accept no less). He writes mysteries to entertain readers and help them relax and get away from the pressures of daily life.
Contact Miranda (Dean) or Diesel:
Miranda@catinthestacks.com or diesel@catinthestacks.com
Find Miranda (Dean) on Social Media:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/dean.james1
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DieselHarriscat
Twitter – https://twitter.com/MirandaJames57
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