Review: Arsenic and Old Books by Miranda James

Arsenic and Old Books (Cat in the Stacks #6)
written by Miranda James
narrated by Erin Bennett

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
In this mystery in the New York Times bestselling series, librarian Charlie Harris and his cat Diesel have to battle a killer when a set of Civil War diaries inspires murder…

Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, Mississippi, has donated a set of Civil War-era diaries to the archives of Athena College. She would like librarian Charlie Harris to preserve and substantiate them as a part of the Long family legacy—something that could benefit her son, Beck, as he prepares to campaign for the state senate.

Beck’s biggest rival would like to get a look at the diaries in an attempt to expose the Long family’s past sins. Meanwhile, a history professor is also determined to get her hands on the books in a last-ditch bid for tenure. But their interest suddenly turns deadly, leaving Charlie with a catalog of questions to answer. Together with his Maine Coon cat Diesel, Charlie must discover why the diaries were worth killing for before he too reaches his final chapter.

My Review

I received a free copy from Tantor Audio and voluntarily reviewed it.

I really like this series and decided it was time for the next book in this series. This series follows librarian Charlie as he solves mysteries with his large cat Diesel at his side. In this book the archive he works at receives a donation of 4 diaries written around the time of the Civil War, there are two parties really interested in these diaries and when one of them ends up death Charlie gets involved.

This was an interesting mystery. I enjoyed seeing how the diaries and the past played into it and slowly find out more about what is in the diaries and what happened with the murder. It reminded me of ACF Bookens excellent Stitches in Crime series that often has ties to the past in the mysteries and I like that aspect in that series as well as in this book. The mystery kept me guessing and I was actually thinking in another direction. Even tough there are only a few suspects it was still tough to figure out who had done it. There are some interesting twists and turns before it gets resolved at the end.

I like long running cozy mystery series like this one and getting to spend so much time in the same town and with the same characters. It’s been great reading about Charlie and seeing his personal life change throughout the series. I like seeing how his relationship with Helen Louise is developing and seeing what’s going on in the lives of his son and daughter. And it’s fun to read about his Cat Diesel as well, who goes almost everywhere with Charlie. The narrator for this series is a good one and I like the different voices she does and I plan to continue listen to the rest of the series.

To summarize: This was another solid read in this enjoyable series. I liked following Charlie and Diesel as they solve another mystery. This mystery involves a set of diaries written around the Civil War area and I liked how the history tied in with a present day murder. It kept me guessing despite there not being too many suspects involved. I like seeing Charlie’s personal life develop through the series, seeing his romance with Helen Louise deepen and seeing what’s going on in the lives of his children. All in all another solid listen and I look forward to the next book.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.