Guest Post: Jeanne and Treadmill Books: Booking The Crook by Laurie Cass

Mass Market Paperback

Librarian Minnie Hamilton, assistant Julia, and feline sidekick Eddie are on their usual bookmobile run when they find one of their regular patrons lying dead on her driveway.  What appears to be a heart attack soon turns into a murder investigation, and Minnie quickly finds there were a number of people who would have wanted the woman dead.  The question is, who actually did the deed?

This time Minnie is drawn in by the dead woman’s young adult children, both of whom are deeply grieving.   They know that Minnie has solved other murders, so they are sure she can solve this one.  Minnie is reluctant, already having a lot on her plate in addition to her full time job. There’s her new boss, for one thing.  He seems nice enough but he is asking a lot of questions about staff members and even inquired about the bookmobile, which is Minnie’s pride and joy.  There’s also Rafe, Minnie’s own true love, who is still working on their house and who wants Minnie to help make some decisions and Minnie is helping to plan not one but two weddings. 

Ah, but curiosity wins out every time, as Eddie would tell you, and soon Minnie is asking a lot of questions. . . .

This is the seventh book in the Bookmobile Cat Mystery series.  I have enjoyed each one, though I admit I rather prefer a “whodunit” in which the reader is fed clues that may solve it.  These may leave a clue or two but mostly the perp and motive come at the end. 

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The attraction here is the charming Eddie, the library setting, and an interesting assortment of characters, from Minnie’s aunt and her beau to a former patron who has turned out to be much more capable than he first appeared in Lending a Paw.  Cass does allow her characters to change and grow, letting Minnie have some stalled relationships until she finds the right guy for her, one who challenges her a bit but who never tries to rein her in.  In fact, Rafe, wants to help her with her investigations, which makes for a refreshing change.

On the negative side, Minnie becomes very slow on the uptake at a crucial point and ends up in a great deal of danger.  For someone who is so quick to pick up on things, this came across as very convenient (Church Lady voice) for an action scene.

The next in the series, Gone with the Whisker, just came out and I will be reading it soon. Two more are in the works.  I consider these a fun visit with friends.

Books in the series:

Lending a Paw

Tailing a Tabby

Borrowed Crime

Pouncing on Murder

Cat with a Clue

Wrong Side of the Paw

Gone with the Whisker