Classified as Murder (Cat in the Stacks #2)
by Miranda James
narrated by Erin Bennett
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
Librarian Charlie Harris and his cat Diesel must catalog a killer in this mystery in the New York Times bestselling Cat in the Stacks series.Suspecting that someone is stealing from him, the aging and eccentric James Delacorte wants Charlie to do an inventory on his rare book collection. Soon after they begin, Delacorte is found dead at his desk, leaving Charlie with the bigger task of solving his murder.
Immediately Charlie is suspicious of Delacorte’s own family, and relies on the help of Diesel to paw around for clues. The cat and mouse game heats up after a highly valued copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane goes missing and a second murder occurs. Now Charlie and Diesel must solve the case before the killer strikes a third time—and hope curiosity doesn’t kill the cat…
My Review
I received a free audio copy from Tantor audio and voluntarily reviewed it.
I really enjoyed the first book in the series and eagerly started this second book. Classified as Murder follows again Charlie and his cat Diesel. This time he gets hired to do an inventory of a book collection, but when the man who hired him ends up murdered Charlie gets involved in solving another mystery.
Where the first book was really heavy on the mystery with little room for anything else, this book went in a slightly different direction. The mystery took a while to get going and instead there’s a lot more about Charlie’s personal life. In particular about his son Sean, who quit his job and shows up on Charlie’s doorstep. I liked learning more about Charlie and his personal life and seeing him interact with his son. I thought the struggles between them felt realistic and I really liked how it got resolved. I thought Charlie was a bit pushy at first trying to find out why Sean had quit his job, but he obviously cared and I appreciated how he handled things when Sean told him the truth.
The mystery didn’t feel as compelling as the first one to me, but I still enjoyed seeing it all play out. I had guessed the murderer pretty early on, but there were a few twists and details I hadn’t expected. The Delacorte family was quite dysfunctional and they could be quite harsh and mean to each other, which is not a theme I really enjoy reading about. The topic of mental health got addressed a bit and they way it was handled made me feel a bit uncomfortable at times as it felt more like a plot device. I did appreciate how the members of the family got a bit more personality as the story progressed, there were some interesting surprises related to some of the characters. I liked how the mystery got resolved and the way Charlie and Diesel were involved in figuring things out.
Like the previous book there is plenty about Diesel and the cat plays a big part in the story, he goes almost everywhere with Charlie. There’s a hint of possible romance for Charlie in this book and I am curious to see that play out. The narrator again was a good fit for the book and enjoyed listening to this book.
To summarize: This was a solid second book in this series. I liked seeing a bit more of Charlie’s personal life and his relationship with his son Sean in this book. The mystery is a bit slow to start and didn’t feel as strong as the mystery in the first book, but I liked seeing it all play out. While I guessed who the murderer was pretty early on there were some interesting twists I hadn’t predicted. I don’t really like the theme of the dysfunctional family and the way some of the mental health topics that get briefly touched upon didn’t always sit right with me. I did appreciate how the side characters all got a bit more personality and depth as the story progressed and felt more like real people than they did when they first got introduced. I liked the ending and the way it got wrapped up and look forward to the next one.
Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
– B&N
– Kobo
I’m glad to hear this was a good one for you.
It was a good sequel and I just finished book 3 as well.
Glad you enjoyed it enough to move on to the next book. I see in the comment above you finished book 3, so I’ll be on the lookout for that review too!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2025/01/30/e-galley-review-a-river-connects-us-crescent-pass-3-by-allie-winters/
My review for book 3 will be posted later this month. It’s nice to have found a new cozy mystery series I enjoy and there are so many books out already, so plenty more to go.