Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Strong characters
Cons: Plot a little weaker than normal
The Bottom Line:
Offer and stranger
Visit with great characters
Delights series fans
Fans Will be Happy to Get Their Claws on this Book
It was just four years ago that I started reading the Cat in
the Stacks series by Miranda James. I
was behind at the time, and I quickly made getting caught up a priority, and
with each book, I’ve fallen more in love with the characters. I was thrilled to catch up with them again in
Claws for Concern.
In between books, Charlie Harris has become a
grandfather. While he is thrilled to
have little Charlie in his life, his cat Diesel has taken to the baby and
stands watch any time they are together.
The biggest issue in Charlie’s life is that Helen Louis, his girlfriend,
doesn’t seem to be letting go of her bistro like she should now that she’s
hired some more employees.
Of course, bigger trouble has a way of finding Charlie, and
it appears on a couple of different fronts.
First, he gets a letter from a Jack Pemberton, a true crime writer who
wants to write a series of books on amateurs who get involved in solving crimes,
including Charlie. Then there’s the
mysterious man down at the public library who is digging into something from
the past. Where might these two things
lead?
This book in the series took a little while to get
going. I could tell these two threads
were leading somewhere, but it wasn’t apparently just where things were going
for a while. Once it did, I became more
interested in the mystery aspect of the story, and I ultimately found it
satisfying.
I’ve mentioned the characters at the beginning, and I am
glad to say they are at their best here.
With baby Charlie being new to the series, we get to see a lot of his
parents, Laura and Frank. The rest of
the recurring characters get a scene or two to shine, and I loved spending time
with all of them. The new characters are
strong and fit right into the book.
A few months ago, the author announced that the spin off
Southern Ladies series wouldn’t be continuing.
But since they are spin off characters, they can appear here no problem,
and that’s just what happens. Miss
An’gel and Miss Dickce manage to work their way into a couple of scenes, which
I was delighted to find.
Speaking of which, this book also brings in some characters
from a previous series written under a different pen name. I haven’t made it to that series – yet. I still had fun getting a taste of the
characters and setting for that series.
Claws for Concern
provides another chance to meet these characters that we’ve come to know and
love. I savored the pages for just that
reason, and I’m already looking forward to the next visit with them due to be
released later this year.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book.
This is a favorite series of mine. Looking forward to reading this newest one. Thanks for the review! judy
ReplyDeleteI just got back to this series after reading the first one years ago and really enjoyed it. I knew there was another series but I didn't realize it was a spin off. I really liked Miss Angel and Miss Dickce so I'm excited to see the series focuses on them.
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