The Silence of the Library (Cat in the Stacks Mystery)

t's always good to visit w/ Charlie the small-town southern librarian and his giant Maine Coon cat, Diesel. In this outing, Charlie is helping set up a library display of books featuring girl detectives, such as Trixie Belden (the ones I read as a girl), Nancy Drew, or Charlie's favorite Veronica Thane. Charlie and his fellow librarians are delighted when they discover that the author of the Thane novels is still alive, although about to celebrate her one hundredth birthday, and that she will attend their library opening of the display!But there are a whole cast of eccentric Thane groupies who complicate the whole business, as well as the author's daughter and grandson. Is the bickering playful or is there real animosity between Mrs. Cartwright (the author) and her daughter? Why does the grandson sound so corn-pone when his mother and grandmother are educated women? What's going on between some of Mrs. Cartwright's groupies, especially when one of them ends up murdered?Charlie is re-reading the first of the Veronica Thane mysteries, and we are treated to sections of that mystery as well interspersed throughout the mystery that Charlie is trying to solve. There is a link at the end of the book to the entire Veronica Thane mystery as well, so Ms. James went to a lot of effort in this installment of the Charlie-and-Diesel mystery series, basically writing two novels in one!"The Silence of the Library" seemed to move a bit more slowly than the previous four Cat in the Stacks mysteries that I have read, and the murderer was telegraphed too soon in the story for me, taking the mystery out of the mystery for me. Still an enjoyable four stars, and I'm looking forward to getting around to the next Charlie-n-Diesel mystery.

For a murder mystery, even a cozy, this is a delightful entry in the series. It has been four months since the Christmas-time conclusion of the last novel. Charlie’s daughter, Laura, is planning a June wedding. Charlie’s son, Sean, is practically engaged. And Charlie and Helen Louise are still very much in love themselves. Even Charlie’s boarder, Stewart Delacort, is in a relationship serious enough to have him reading more Shakespeare than scientific journals.With National Library Week only a short time away, Charlie and Theresa Farmer, the public library director, have decided to focus this year’s exhibits around the old juvenile detective series like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys and Judy Belton. They also plan to include exhibits on a series featuring Veronica Thane, which rivaled Nancy Drew for some time and was written by a deceased regional Mississippi author. Now what could possibly go wrong when a library chooses to spotlight children’s mystery books?Well, what goes wrong happens after Theresa Farmer discovers that the author of the Veronica Thane series, Electra Barnes Cartwright, is not deceased. She is quite spry for a centenarian and living only a few miles away. After the library announces on its web site that Mrs. Cartwright will appear during Library Week, rabid collectors of her books descend upon Athena. Fights actually break out among several collectors, in the library no less, and two days later one of the local collectors is dead, strangled at her home office desk. And Charlie’s telephone number is on a pad beneath her hand.For a serious mystery reader, determining the identity of the murderer in this tale will seem too easy. Quite frankly, you feel you know who the villain is before the woman even dies, even if the book is written strictly from Charlie’s first person POV. But this is not a weakness on the author’s part. There are at least four other highly viable candidates and even the real possibility of a tag-team effort. So the obvious could really just be a well-crafted red herring.And speaking of melodrama, Miranda James employs a second, and more rarely used, literary device to further the tale – a book within a book. From the opening page, Charlie is reading, in his spare time, the first Veronica Thane novel. We are treated to every word as he reads it, a few sections at a time. For those of us raised on Nancy Drew, the “blast into the past” makes you realize just how dramatic and unrealistic those stories were. Back then, that type of story was exciting, an I-want-to-grow-up-and-be-just-like-her type of thing. But now, along with Charlie, you read the story with a big grin, your eyes rolling back into your head so far you can see your hair follicles, and a realization that the main characters would now be classified as TSTL.However, the absurdness of those characters and the theatrics of that plot finally trigger a memory in Charlie and the clues begin to fall in place. And for Charlie and Detective Berry, the plan to expose the murderer proves to be dangerous, complicated and ingenious.After finishing the scene that moves the current investigation forward to its denouement, Charlie stops reading the Veronica Thane story to us – right in the middle, just when it’s getting good. Overly dramatic or not, characters in the TSTL category or not, there’s a villain afoot and a victim to save. Oh, how could Miranda James do that to us, her faithful readers?!Well, supposedly, she doesn’t. After the murderer is unmasked, her third literary device comes into play. James states in her Afterward that the entire text of the Veronica Thane story can be found on her web site. Unfortunately, that is not true. There is a sidebar link to a page that says “Coming Soon,” but no text of the story exists as I write this review, four months after the publication date of this novel. For that misdirection, I have reduced the book’s rating in my review. The storyline is already a work of fiction; the author’s Afterward should not be.

We are back in Athena, Mississippi visitingCharlie Harris who works part-time at theUniversity of Athena’s Library in thearchive section. Charlie is alwaysaccompanied by Diesel, a very tame MaineCoon cat. Diesel walks on a leash and goeswith Charlie almost everybody.National Library Week at the Athena PublicLibrary is being planned. It is to feature amateursleuths we loves as young children…such asNancy Drew, Cherry Ames, the Hardy Boysand Veronica Thane.Charlie is surprised to discover the author ofthe Veronica Thane mysteries is still living andabout to turn 100. The author lives very closeto Athena. Her fans flock to town when theyhear she will be there. They want her to signher old books plus one man wants to buy herold books and her unpublished books rumoredthat are hidden away.Then one fan is murdered. Charlie, Diesel andDetective Kanesha Berry work together to findthe culprit.A plot within a subplot with interesting, wellbuilt characters.I enjoyed reading about Nancy Drew, CherryAmes, the Hardy Boys and other character’sbooks mentioned.Kindle Unlimited Customer.

If you're looking for Agatha Christie, well not happening. Still fun and a great way to spend a lazy afternoon.

If you have not tried her books! I just really really enjoyed every page. I’m usually good at working the plot out before the book reviews it but not in this story. And I loved the way the cat is portrayed. Wish you could see his picture.

I love Miranda James' books! The latest installment was no exception. I feel as though I am right there in Athena, Mississippi when I am reading the book. The characters are believable and complex and the storyline is entertaining.

Takes a little getting into unless you are a Miranda James fan. The pace was a little slow to start, but then picked up quite nicely. A reasonably good plot and little glimpses of a certain Maine Coon along the way.

Brilliant entertaining book. Love all of Miranda James' cat books and this series are all great! Love mysteries, love cats, you will LOVE these!

Love this series from Miranda James