I want to make a couple comments before Sandie Herron’s review. I’m back from New York City, and I’ll eventually have a couple blog posts about the trip. Some of you might appreciate the photos of the exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cloisters. It’s a joint exhibit: “Heavenly Bodies and the Catholic Imagination”. I have other photos as well, but a number from this exhibition. It takes a little while to download all the photos and write the pieces.
In the meantime, I’m always grateful that Sandie Herron contributes some reviews of audio books. I probably reviewed all of Miranda James’ Cat in the Stacks mysteries, but that doesn’t mean I addressed how the books work for those who like to listen to them. Sandie does that for us. Thank you, Sandie.
*****
Murder Past Due
Mystery Book 1
hours and 46 minutes
2014
James’s (Dean James) first entry in the Cat in the Stacks series MURDER PAST
DUE. This was a relatively simple story that gained speed as it
unfolded. By the end, we had been treated
to several twists and surprises that pointed to an unlikely conclusion.
town of Athena, Mississippi, we are introduced to Charlie Harris, who is
widowed and whose adult children are on their own. Living in a large
home, Charlie took in boarders who attended Athena College. This semester just one boarder – Justin
Wardlaw, son of school and college classmate Julia Wardlaw – lived with Charlie
and his cat. Diesel was a Maine Coon cat; therefore he was large among
cat breeds. In fact, Charlie almost
always took Diesel wherever he went bound by a harness and leash.
Charlie and Julia, Godfrey Priest, had gone on to become a famous and popular
author. He returns to Athena for several reasons. He is to do a signing of his new book just
published. He also wants to donate his
“papers” to the college where Charlie was the head archivist. A
dinner was planned to thank Godfrey for his donation; however, he never made
it. Several people stopped by to see Priest, with his final visitor being
Charlie Harris, who found Godfrey dead in his hotel room.
Charlie’s boarder Justin is Godfrey’s son from an affair he and Julia had many
years ago. From there clues began popping up, or at least now that there
was a murder to solve, they became more apparent. If I shared them now, there would be no
reason for you to enjoy this cozy mystery.
strained believability. Justin acted younger than 18, but then he’s just
been told that the only father he ever knew is not his father and then his
biological father, Godfrey Priest, is killed, all in one day. Charlie
tries to help since he knew everyone, but his involvement was unnaturally
formal and friendly at the same time. On
getting to know Charlie better, we discover that he is a southern gentleman
which explains the importance of proper manners to him. Julia was around
a bit too often, hovering over Justin.
When the Will was read, Julia wanted to know how much was in the estate,
in dollars, a rude question at the time.
some flaws, I felt the clues to the murderer were well placed and plausible.
Their presentation was unpredictable yet believable. When we learn more behind the motives, clues
came together to support the final resolution, even though my jaw dropped once
or twice on the way.
the Cat in the Stacks series. I would enjoy seeing Charlie and Diesel in
a certain sequel.
This sounds like an interesting book that I might check out. I like to review books too on my blog. I will add it to my ever growing to read list 🙂
I hope you enjoy it, Bec.