Wrong Side of the Paw
A Bookmobile Cat Mystery, Book #6
By Laurie Cass
ISBN 9780451476562
Five Stars
Author Website: catmystery.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
As Laurie Cass continues the national bestselling Bookmobile Cat mystery series, librarian Minnie Hamilton is happy to take her bookmobile for a spin with her rescue cat, Eddie–but her tenacious tabby always seems to find trouble…
As the bookmobile rolls along the hills of Chilson, Michigan, Minnie and Eddie spread good cheer and good reads. But when her faithful feline finds his way into the middle of a murder, Minnie is there, like any good librarian, to check it out.
Eddie turns a routine bookmobile stop into anything but when he makes a quick escape and hops into a pickup truck…with a dead body in the flatbed. The friendly local lawyer who was driving the pickup falls under suspicion. But Minnie and Eddie think there’s more to this case than meets the eye, and the dynamic duo sets out to leave no page unturned. (Goodreads)
Review:
This is, paws down, my favorite cat cozy mystery series! Eddie is such a charmer, even with his penchant for demanding treats from his human. The library and bookmobile are also huge attractions for me…if I had it to do again, that might be my career choice, especially if I could bring a fur baby to work. Laurie Cass brings us a new gift in Wrong Side of the Paw, including gorgeous northern Michigan in the fall and how great it can be to work in a library.
Changes. As the colors of the leaves change, it seems almost everything in Minnie’s life is, also. There is a new library director, Jennifer. If you read the novel just before this one, you might remember how Eddie reacted to her when she came to interview…and Jennifer just hasn’t yet warmed up to Minnie. Jennifer plans major changes to this small town library. Aunt Frances’ life is changing, which will result in huge changes for Minnie. These situations and some I won’t spoil for you have her heart in a turmoil; so many things at once! In the meantime, back at the job she loves…
There are probably only a few days of all that Minnie has driven the bookmobile that she wishes had not happened, and this is one of them. Leese, an attorney who has moved back from a successful practice in southern Michigan, has begun a senior and elder care practice in Chilson, which makes me like her already. She is a regular at the bookmobile, and this visit starts like any other. Until Eddie, bless his fuzzy face, runs from the bookmobile to Leese’s truck. When Minnie tries to collect her nosy boy from the bed of the truck, she sees a body under the tarp where Eddie has gone. Not just any body, but that of Leese’s father.
Leese and her siblings did not have close relationships with their father. Sadly, he was not well liked, with the possible exception of his second wife and her sibling’s mother, Carmen, and people from their church. The sheriff’s office took Leese in for questioning. Leese then begins to lose the few clients she had, and both her sister and brother are suspended from their jobs when their work is sabotaged. It would seem that they are being picked off, one by one. Even with her own life in upheaval, Minnie still wants justice for Leese and her siblings.
Minnie is my favorite kind of librarian and friend. She is diligent, loyal, and a tenacious researcher. Finding information for people is one thing she really enjoys. Her staff finds similar satisfaction with their service to the people of Chilson. Minnie and most of the characters in the novel are my kind of Midwest, smalltown folksy people. We get to know Minnie the best, then her staff and friends. Next to Minnie, I like Julie, her bookmobile partner as both have the needs of their community at heart. They keep track of and bring on their route the books requested by their readers. I also like Leese, the more I see of her.
Cats choose their people. Eddie chose Minnie just as surely as many of us have been adopted by strays. Eddie is the best kind of confidant, one who doesn’t tell tales (or tails). Minnie talks with Eddie about everything, from men, to changes with Aunt Frances and the library, and of course, what she is learning about the murder of Leese’s dad. The plot twists continue to ratchet up the suspense. While I was confident that Minnie could solve the murder, I just didn’t know how the challenges in her personal life would resolve. I had a sneaking suspicion who the bad guy(s) might be, but I didn’t quite have a grip on how sneaky he or she really was. It was really a surprise to see the resolution! Wow! By the end of the novel I was satisfied with how everything worked out for Leese, her family, and of course, Minnie and Eddie – more surprises! I highly recommend this as the best and most compelling mystery in the Bookmobile Cat series to date; I think fans of this series, of cats, libraries, and well-written cozy mysteries will agree.
