No Paw to Stand On
A Bookmobile Cat Mystery #12
By Laurie Cass
ISBN 9780593547441
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
There’s no rest for the whiskered as librarian Minnie Hamilton and her rescue cat, Eddie, have to investigate a poisoning—and a murder—in the newest installment of the national bestselling Bookmobile Cat Mysteries. When a heat wave hits northern Michigan, Minnie, Eddie, and their bookmobile head to the beach to catch some rays and some customers. But library business is put on hold when Minnie’s restaurant-owning best friend, Kristen, calls. The specialty ice cream cone treat she’d been serving to patrons was sabotaged, making some customers horribly sick. Kristen needs Minnie to sniff out the culprit fast, or the restaurant’s reputation will be destroyed forever. Minnie and Eddie are hot on the tail of the suspect when an employee from another restaurant is found dead. Could the poisoning and the murder be related? It’ll take a feline to catch a felon…
Review:
Minnie Hamilton is an assistant library director and manages the bookmobile in Chilson, Michigan. She is one of my all-time favorite librarians and cat ladies; it is always a joy to open a new cozy mystery in this series. Minnie and her fiancé Rafe are putting the final touches on their wedding plans, with no time to devote to solving criminal shenanigans. Helping the sheriff’s office solve murders keeps Minnie and Eddie on their toes in this summer tourist town. Eddie is the feline that adopted her shortly after she moved to Chilson, and she confides almost everything in him. This dynamic duo’s photo could be in an illustrated dictionary of idioms for “love me, love my cat”.
One thing I appreciate about this novel is how well the author demonstrates Minnie, Eddie, her fiancé Rafe, and all other characters through realistic conversations and behaviors. They grow and change as most people do while their basic characteristics remain the same. Minnie still believes she has the very best job in the world. Minnie converses with Eddie to help her work through challenges, even though most of his responses are Mrrr. I enjoy Minnie’s game, when the library is closed and silent, of listening to her favorite literary characters talk throughout the stacks. Not to be outdone, the director, Graydon, demonstrates his sense of humor even through the stress of recent vandalism at the library.
It was a hot, humid August day when the A/C on the bookmobile stopped working, so when Minnie got a desperate call from her best friend, Kristen, they finished their work early. The new mom of twins and owner of an upscale local restaurant could usually handle anything but today, she sounded as if she lost her last friend. Kristen’s restaurant staff had just called to tell her that a new treat they began to serve had gone horribly wrong. On hot days, they offered ice cream in gluten-free waffle cones to customers as they left. Cones were made from a recipe Kristen designed. So far, eight people that afternoon had gotten ill, two seriously enough to go to the hospital. She called the health department, devastated and worried that she would get shut down or worse, lose the restaurant she had poured herself into for several years.
Three Seasons would, indeed, be shut down for the course of the investigation. Minnie is determined to make this better for her best friend. Shouldn’t it be much easier and safer to solve than a murder? After learning of two people who might dislike Kristen enough to make patrons ill and ruin her business, Minnie was ready to roll. When she visited Cherise, the manager of another upscale restaurant, they got into a heated argument until Minnie saw the just-murdered body of Remi, Cherise’s key staff member, in the back room.
Kristen no longer wanted Minnie to be involved in any way to discover what, or who, went wrong with the ice cream cones. Kristen was not herself, acting as if all the fight had gone out of her. Negative online reviews hit most restaurants and smaller eateries throughout Chilson. An embittered former restauranteur staged a one-man protest against Kristen’s restaurant, and tourists were concerned about where to eat.
During the investigation Minnie continued to secretly conduct, several challenges arose. The minister who was going to officiate her and Rafe’s wedding had an accident that prevented him from doing so and they couldn’t find an available replacement. Kristen, exhausted from the demands of two infants, learned that a poison had been in the ice cream waffle cones. When the health department allowed her to re-open Three Seasons, very few patrons returned. Minnie and her trusty feline sidekick, Eddie, were at a loss of how to help Kristen.
There were enough suspects to keep me guessing throughout. One consideration was whether the poisoning at Kristen’s restaurant and the murder of a key staff member at the other restaurant were connected. Thankfully, Rafe and Minnie are a perfect team, as he, like Eddie, is a good listener. When she gets too intensely involved with a case, his support and sense of humor are life savers. The end was more than satisfactory after every challenge had been resolved, and Eddie did his part to help his human when it seemed all was lost. I highly recommend this cozy mystery and its series to those who love cozy mysteries, libraries, cats, long-time friendships, and romance.
