Book Review: “Murder Past Due” by Miranda James

The cover of this book hooked me. I mean a cat, books, and well, books in a library! What is not to love?

Murder Past Due is set in a small Mississippi town named Athena. Athena is a small, quiet town where Charlie and Diesel live. Charlie had recently moved back and brought Diesel with him. As they walk the streets they make quite a pair. Charlie and Diesel tag team in the library. Charlie works there, and Diesel sleeps there. The perfect setup for the impending trouble.

Small town gossip flies as Geoffrey, the best-selling novelist, slides into town on a book tour. Then things and life become interesting for Charlie & Diesel.

This book is the first in the new (new to me) series, Cat in The Stacks. At first, I found the book sluggish. I believe it was the characters and not the plot. After a period of the time, the characters did develop, and the plot moved sufficiently forward that I could see the characters more clearly in my mind’s eye. In saying that, I did not find myself sympathetic to some of the characters as I knew I was supposed to feel. Those few characters had much to do and say in the plot, but I felt they were more two-dimensional than the book needed.

Let me add this, Charlie does an excellent job of sleuthing, and several people have taken notice. I will read the next book in the series. And if you read /follow my reviews you know that I will not complete a set if I do not like the first book I read whether it is the first book in the series or the last book in a series. So yes, I think ‘Cat in The Stacks’ books are worth my reading time and dollars.

Book Review: “Old Money”, a Jake Crosby Thriller by Bobby Cole

“Old Money” is the third book in the Jake Crosby series. I have not read a ‘Jake Crosby” book, so I new to his world with no backstory or understanding of the deeper details other than what was hinted at in the current book.

The plot was good and well thought out. The characters are fleshed out and are engaging. The crispness of Jake being a Game Warden in Mississippi had a realness to it.I found the writing to be a bit stalling. Let me explain my reasoning for using the word. ‘stalling’. The novel seemed to drag out in certain parts of the story line as if the author was waiting for the characters initiate action, such as Jake’s ex-girlfriend.  She returned home and was remembering old times with Jake. Then as the book moved forward to its conclusion, she suddenly was not thinking about Jake and taking matters into her hands regarding her family life. But I did not feel her resolution to stop thinking about her old boyfriend nor did I believe she even made a decision. I felt the door had closed, and I never understood how she came to that conclusion.
Overall, I would recommend “Old Money” to anyone who enjoys mysteries and the South. Both are well played in this story. I will also state the book would make a great movie. The flow of words and motion even feels like a movie.
*I received the novel/ARC free for an honest review. My opinions are solely my own.