Six Cats a Slayin’ (Cat in the Stacks #10)
written by Miranda James
narrated by Erin Bennett
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
December 25 is right around the corner, and Charlie is making his list and checking it twice. He is doing his best to show some peace and goodwill toward his nosy neighbor Gerry Arbitron, a real estate agent who seems to have designs on his house (and maybe on him, as well), while preparing for a very important role, indeed – his first Christmas as a grandfather.The last thing Charlie expects is to gain several new additions to his family. Charlie finds a box on his doorstep with five kittens inside and a note begging him to keep them safe. With Diesel’s help, Charlie welcomes the tiny felines into the Harris household just as Gerry decides it is time to throw a lavish holiday party.
Determined to make her mark on Athena, Gerry instead winds up dead at her very own party. Though attempts to dig into her past come up empty, Charlie and his girlfriend, Helen Louise, witness two heated exchanges involving Gerry before her death: one with a leading citizen and another with the wife of a good friend.
Will one of these ladies wind up on the sheriff’s naughty list?
Charlie and Diesel have to wrap up the case before the special season is ruined by a sinister scrooge.
My Review
I received a free copy from Tantor Audio and voluntarily reviewed it.
Six Cats a Slaying’ is the tenth book in this series and it’s a series I like to pick up when I need a cozy comforting read. Despite reading this during a stressful time it kept my attention and I really enjoyed this book. There’s a great mystery and it’s always fun to spend more time reading about Charlie, his friends, family and his cat Diesel.
This mystery was such a good one. Charlie has a new neighbor next door, Charlie isn’t quite sure how to interact with her as she flirts with him strongly despite him telling her he has a partner already. He ends up going to her Christmas party with his partner Helen-Louise alongside him. At the party his new neighbor dies and the police immediately suspects murder. Charlie gets involved in the case. The interesting part about this mystery is how a lot centers around who the dead women actually was, despite saying she lived in Athena her whole life, no one recognizes her. I also like how Melba got involved in that part of the mystery with trying to figure out who she was.
This mystery had some great twists and reveals. There were multiple suspects that seemed plausible and eventually the truth comes to light and a lot of them had something to hide and some secrets and personal backstories come to light. The part about who the dead women really was also comes to light and her backstory was quite sad. The reveal was a good one, but I did think it felt a tad rushed and I would’ve liked a few more details and answers.
Besides the mystery there are some other side plots going on as well. Someone brings a box of kittens to Charlie’s doorstep and asks in a note him to take care of them as their father will drown them if they keep the kittens. Charlie takes on this task and tries to find out the identity of the kid who left the kittens at his door. I really liked how this plot line played out and the resolution was great. It also was fun to read about the kittens, see the characters and Diesel interact with them and read about their antics.
I always like reading about Charlie as always and seeing his life and that of his friends and family develop along the way. In this book he has a new granddaughter, but his son Sean and daughter-in-law Alex are really struggling and there’s a bit about that. There’s more about his daughter and his son-in-law and their son as well. And there are some interesting scenes with Melba in this one. As well as more about Diesel and Charlie’s relationship with Helen-Louise. This one takes place around Christmas time, so there are some Christmas vibes as well.
To summarize: This was a great read. I really liked spending more time in Athena and listening to this book as Charlie gets involve din another mystery. This mystery was a good one with not only centering about how the women died and who did it, but also who the dead women is and her past comes to light. There are lots of twists and turns as well as secrets that come to light during his one. The backstory of the dead women is quite sad. The reveal felt a bit rushed and I would’ve liked some more details. Besides the mystery there is more going on with a box of kittens that is left on Charlie’s doorstep and he wants to figure out who brought the kittens to him and why. And there are some personal life plot lines going on with Charlie’s family and friends. I enjoyed listening to this one, the narrator is a great one for this series and this was such a good installment in this series.
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