Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Book Review: Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass

Eddie followed Minnie home one day, and now she can’t seem to shake the furry little shadow. But in spite of her efforts to contain her new pal, the tabby sneaks out and trails her all the way to the bookmobile on its maiden voyage. Before she knows it, her slinky stowaway becomes her cat co-pilot!
Minnie and Eddie’s first day visiting readers around the county seems to pass without trouble—until Eddie darts outside at the last stop and leads her to the body of a local man who’s reached his final chapter.
Initially, Minnie is ready to let the police handle this case, but Eddie seems to smell a rat. Together, they’ll work to find the killer—because a good librarian always knows when justice is overdue.[summary via Amazon]

I have a weakness for cats and libraries. I'm an avid fan of reading (obviously), I'm a regular at my local library and I have four cats. I absolutely love when cozy mysteries combine the two! I read more cozies set in a library/bookstore setting, then any other sub-genre. Despite my overdosing on this sub-genre of cozies, I never get sick of discovering new series. Which is how I came to read the Bookmobile Cat Mysteries.

Librarian Minnie Hamilton is excited to take her bookmobile on its maiden voyage. However, the maiden voyage takes a mischievous and dangerous turn when her cat hops aboard, and subsequently leads Minnie to a dead body! The victim is wealthy local, Stan Larabee, who donated the funds to put the bookmobile on the road. Minnie feels a need to uncover the secret behind Stan's murder, and of course her mischievous (yet adorable!) cat, Eddie, is along for the ride.

Oh Eddie! Eddie has zoomed up my list of favourite cozy felines (yes I do have a list!). He is tenacious, mischievous and oh so adorable! His response to Minnie is always "mrr" and alike to the patrons on board the bookmobile, he has completely won me over!! For a side-kick, he has librarian, Minnie. Because let's face it... Eddie is the main feature here!

I really enjoyed the combo of Eddie and Minnie. They live in Chilson, Michigan. Half the year they live aboard a houseboat, and the other half they live with Minnie's Aunt Frances, who operates a boarding house. Frances only takes in boarders that are single, and for non-mystery entertainment it was fun watching Frances trying to pair up her boarders in a match-making game!

The mystery was very tantalizing. I did, however, guess who the murderer was before Minnie. This didn't take away any enjoyment from the mystery though. In Chilson, there is a host of interesting characters, and it was great to get to know these characters while Minnie followed clues! 

Lending a Paw is a great debut in this series. It delightfully combines my love of books and cats into a delectable mystery. I will definitely be back for another visit to Chilson very soon!!

No comments:

Post a Comment