Book Review: Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James (Cat in the Stacks Mysteries #8)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery; delightful characters

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

Face from Charlie’s past

Murdered at a convention

Delightful again

Murder at the Librarian Convention

I spent last year working my way through the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, and I loved every minute of it.  By catching up, it meant I was ready for Twelve Angry Librarians, the eighth in this series, and the series is still going strong.

As this book opens, Charlie Harris is still working as interim director for the Athena College library.  The college is hosting the annual Southern Academic Libraries Association convention, and as part of his job, Charlie will be involved in the weekend event.  Unfortunately, that means interacting with Gavin Fong, the keynote speaker.  Gavin and Charlie were in graduate school together years ago, and Gavin was an arrogant jerk back then.  Unfortunately, Gavin hasn’t changed a bit in the intervening years.

Charlie is hearing rumors of Gavin’s bad behavior before the keynote address, but the last thing he expects is for Gavin to fall over dead after taking a sip of water during his speech.  Charlie doesn’t want to be involved in yet another murder case, yet he finds himself drawn in again as he learns more about people who might have wanted Gavin dead.  Can he figure out the truth?

I have praised the books in this series for the fast paced, tension driven plots, and this book is no different.  I was captivated from the first chapter and always had a hard time putting the book down until I reached the end.  The murder happens after several motives and suspects are set up, and the author does a wonderful job of building the tension from the very beginning.  The solution to the mystery is wonderful.  It was completely logical, yet I never saw it coming.

The reason I love this series are the characters.  I will always complain that we could see more of the supporting cast, but that’s a minor issue.  We do get a sub-plot involving Charlie’s daughter Laura and her husband Frank.  I loved the scenes we did have with the series regulars.

Of course, this does leave us plenty of time to get to know the suspects in the case, and they are strong.  I never had a hard time keeping everyone straight, and I could see several of them as the killer at one point or another in the book.

Then there’s Diesel, Charlie’s Maine Coon cat.  Because so much of this takes place at a convention, Diesel isn’t in every scene like usual.  Don’t worry, he still has plenty of page time, and he is as charming as ever.  His many fans (and I’m one) will be pleased.

I’ve gotten so used to visiting these characters every couple of months that I am going to go through serious withdrawals now that I am up to date.  If you haven’t started this series, you need to fix that today.  And if you are anxiously awaiting your next visit with Charlie and Diesel, you’ll find that Twelve Angry Librarians hits the spot.

Once you are charmed by Diesel, you'll want to read the rest of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries in order.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book.

Giveaway!

Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of this book to give away.  Because it is a physical book, the contest is limited to residence of the US.

Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address so I can get in touch with you if you win.  I will pick the winner next Tuesday, February 28th, so please leave your comment before 12:01AM Pacific Time on 2/28.  You will have until midnight on 3/5 to get back to me, or I will choose a new winner on 3/6.