The Silence of the Library, Miranda James
This is the fifth book in the "Cat in the Stacks" series. I posted about the fourth, Out of Circulation, back in February, but I had to wait until the TBR Dare was over to read this latest. As I have mentioned before, "Miranda" is actually Dean James, whom I've known for many years through Houston's Murder by the Book. I just read recently that one reason he writes under noms de plume is because anyone searching on-line for information about "Dean James" is going to get pages and pages of "James Dean" first.
The central characters of the series are Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel. Charlie is a librarian and archivist in the small town of Athena, Mississippi. A widower, he lives in the family home he inherited, with his son and daughter, as well as two boarders who are part of the extended family. Three of them have been suspects in the past cases that Charlie has investigated, and they're frequently drawn into the new ones.
Like the previous book, this one is set around the Athena Public Library, where Charlie volunteers one day a week. For the annual Library Week celebrations, he and the director, Teresa Farmer, are planning an exhibit featuring the author Electra Barnes Cartwright. Mrs. Cartwright is the creator of the Veronica Thane books, a series whose main character is a beautiful young orphan with a roadster. She solves mysteries with the help of her best chum Lucy and her devoted swain, the athletic and handsome Artie Marsh. (The book includes excerpts from the first Veronica Thane story, The Mystery at Spellwood Mansion, which Dean obviously had fun writing.)
Charlie and Teresa are surprised but delighted to learn that Mrs. Cartwright is still alive, at age 100, and living near Athena. They are even happier when she agrees to appear at the library during the celebrations. The news that she is alive and well, and will be appearing in public for the first time in decades, sets off a shock-wave among the devoted fans of Veronica Thane. Readers and collectors of her books descend on Athena. Rumors of unpublished manuscripts begin to circulate, which could set off a bidding war. And then one fan is murdered, and the extensive files this person kept on Mrs. Cartwright disappear. When Charlie's phone number is found near the body, the police come calling.
This is another fun mystery, particularly for those like me who grew up with Nancy Drew and other young Sherlock Holmeses. Charlie includes Cherry Ames on that list, since in the later books in her series, she spent as much time solving mysteries as she did nursing patients. As a long-time member of internet fan groups, I also enjoyed Dean's knowing portrait of the Veronica Thane fans in action. And I appreciated the fact that in this book, the victim's death came as something of a surprise. In many books, it is all too clear who the future victim will be, either because he/she is the rudest and most abrasive person in the whole book; or because he/she keeps talking about holding some crucial piece of evidence.
This book includes an excerpt from another Dean is writing, which will feature the Ducote sisters from the previous story. Dean told me that he is having fun writing it, and that he feels like he is in an episode of "Designing Women." I'm looking forward to reading it, and the further adventures of Charlie and Diesel as well.
Showing posts with label Miranda James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miranda James. Show all posts
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Death on the stairs
Out of Circulation, Miranda James
This is the fourth book in Miranda James' "Cat in the Stacks" series. Miranda is actually Dean James, whom I have known for many years through Houston's Murder by the Book. The series features Charlie Harris, who moved from Houston back to his home town of Athena, Mississippi, after the death of his wife. He lives in the old family home inherited from his aunt Dottie, which he shares with his son and daughter, as well as two boarders. Another resident, the cat in question, is Diesel, a Maine Coon, a breed known for its size, intelligence, chattiness, and charm. Sometimes mistaken for a bobcat at first glance, Diesel goes almost everywhere with Charlie, even to work. Charlie is a special collections librarian and archivist at Athena College, and one day a week he volunteers at the local public library. Dean himself is a librarian, so the details of Charlie's work are always right, though I don't know any archives that would actually allow a cat in their stacks. In the acknowledgements for this book, he thanks two local archivists, colleagues of mine, "for their expert advice on archives and rare books."
This book is really all about libraries and archives. It opens at a difficult meeting in Charlie's home, where the board of the Friends of the Athena Public Library has gathered to plan their annual fundraising gala. One member, Vera Cassity, wants to wrest control - of more than just the gala - away from the Ducote sisters, Miss An'gel and Miss Dickce, the last of a prominent old Athena family. Quick-tempered and brash, Vera has made more enemies than friends in the town, and in the days leading up to the gala, she picks fights with people all over the place. She swoops into the college archives and tries to bully Charlie into giving her access to the Ducote family papers, obviously hoping to dig up some dirt on the sisters. Since it is a closed collection, he refuses, and she retaliates with threats to get him fired and Diesel impounded. I wasn't the least surprised when she is murdered during the library gala at the Ducote mansion, pushed down a steep staircase. Charlie's long-time housekeeper, Azalea Berry, becomes the chief suspect, and her daughter Kanesha asks his help in finding the real killer. A chief deputy in the sheriff's office, Kanesha is of course barred from the investigation while her mother is a suspect.
The library gala was a hoot to read about, at least up until Vera is killed. It is a costume party, with guests coming as their favorite literary characters - and I suspect some of Dean's. Charlie is Hercule Poirot, with his date as Ariadne Oliver (a character I had to google). The Ducote sisters are Elizabeth Peters fans. Miss An'gel dresses as Amelia Peabody Emerson, complete with pith helmet and tool belt, and her sister as Jacqueline Kirby. Charlie's daughter Laura and her boyfriend Frank come as Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson, his son Sean with his girlfriend as Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. There are other guests dressed as Jack Reacher, Mma Precious Ramotswe, and Scarlett O'Hara (the victim Vera). I was giggling all through those chapters and trying to decide what my costume would have been.
As part of his investigations, Charlie reluctantly decides that he has to check out the Ducote sisters as well as other possible suspects, including Vera's husband Morty, who according to the town's grapevine has been carrying on an affair with a neighbor, Sissy Beauchamp. For the Ducotes, that means looking through the family papers in the college archives. There he discovers a diary, with a long-held family secret. The sisters themselves don't even know it's there, let alone what it might tell them. But it's in talking to people, asking questions and putting information together, that Charlie discovers the solution, and the murderer.
This is a fun series, and I enjoy both the characters and the setting. The fifth book, The Silence of the Library, which has just been published, has already made The New York Times' best-seller lists. When I stopped in at MBTB to get a copy on Saturday, Dean was there and very graciously signed a copy for me. Since Deborah Crombie's new book has been pushed back to September, I may use my TBR-dare new-book exemption to read it instead.
This is the fourth book in Miranda James' "Cat in the Stacks" series. Miranda is actually Dean James, whom I have known for many years through Houston's Murder by the Book. The series features Charlie Harris, who moved from Houston back to his home town of Athena, Mississippi, after the death of his wife. He lives in the old family home inherited from his aunt Dottie, which he shares with his son and daughter, as well as two boarders. Another resident, the cat in question, is Diesel, a Maine Coon, a breed known for its size, intelligence, chattiness, and charm. Sometimes mistaken for a bobcat at first glance, Diesel goes almost everywhere with Charlie, even to work. Charlie is a special collections librarian and archivist at Athena College, and one day a week he volunteers at the local public library. Dean himself is a librarian, so the details of Charlie's work are always right, though I don't know any archives that would actually allow a cat in their stacks. In the acknowledgements for this book, he thanks two local archivists, colleagues of mine, "for their expert advice on archives and rare books."
This book is really all about libraries and archives. It opens at a difficult meeting in Charlie's home, where the board of the Friends of the Athena Public Library has gathered to plan their annual fundraising gala. One member, Vera Cassity, wants to wrest control - of more than just the gala - away from the Ducote sisters, Miss An'gel and Miss Dickce, the last of a prominent old Athena family. Quick-tempered and brash, Vera has made more enemies than friends in the town, and in the days leading up to the gala, she picks fights with people all over the place. She swoops into the college archives and tries to bully Charlie into giving her access to the Ducote family papers, obviously hoping to dig up some dirt on the sisters. Since it is a closed collection, he refuses, and she retaliates with threats to get him fired and Diesel impounded. I wasn't the least surprised when she is murdered during the library gala at the Ducote mansion, pushed down a steep staircase. Charlie's long-time housekeeper, Azalea Berry, becomes the chief suspect, and her daughter Kanesha asks his help in finding the real killer. A chief deputy in the sheriff's office, Kanesha is of course barred from the investigation while her mother is a suspect.
The library gala was a hoot to read about, at least up until Vera is killed. It is a costume party, with guests coming as their favorite literary characters - and I suspect some of Dean's. Charlie is Hercule Poirot, with his date as Ariadne Oliver (a character I had to google). The Ducote sisters are Elizabeth Peters fans. Miss An'gel dresses as Amelia Peabody Emerson, complete with pith helmet and tool belt, and her sister as Jacqueline Kirby. Charlie's daughter Laura and her boyfriend Frank come as Nancy Drew and Ned Nickerson, his son Sean with his girlfriend as Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. There are other guests dressed as Jack Reacher, Mma Precious Ramotswe, and Scarlett O'Hara (the victim Vera). I was giggling all through those chapters and trying to decide what my costume would have been.
As part of his investigations, Charlie reluctantly decides that he has to check out the Ducote sisters as well as other possible suspects, including Vera's husband Morty, who according to the town's grapevine has been carrying on an affair with a neighbor, Sissy Beauchamp. For the Ducotes, that means looking through the family papers in the college archives. There he discovers a diary, with a long-held family secret. The sisters themselves don't even know it's there, let alone what it might tell them. But it's in talking to people, asking questions and putting information together, that Charlie discovers the solution, and the murderer.
This is a fun series, and I enjoy both the characters and the setting. The fifth book, The Silence of the Library, which has just been published, has already made The New York Times' best-seller lists. When I stopped in at MBTB to get a copy on Saturday, Dean was there and very graciously signed a copy for me. Since Deborah Crombie's new book has been pushed back to September, I may use my TBR-dare new-book exemption to read it instead.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Death of a playwright
File M for Murder, Miranda James
This is the third in a series, the "Cat in the Stacks" mysteries (the first is Murder Past Due and the second Classified as Murder, which I posted about back last May). "Miranda James" is a nom de plume of Dean James, whom I have known for many years through my beloved Murder by the Book here in Houston, where he was previously a manager.
The series focuses on Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel, the cat in the stacks of the title. At the death of his aunt Dottie, Charlie inherited her house in the small town of Athena, Mississippi, and he moved there from Houston following the death of his wife. He volunteers at the local public library, as well as working two days a week as the special collections librarian and archivist at Athena College. Charlie is presently cataloging a fantastic collection of rare and early books that the college recently received through a bequest, which includes a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. Dean is himself a librarian, and it's a pleasure to note the details about work in archives and special collections, which many books and TV shows get so wrong.
Not all archives and libraries, though, would allow Charlie to bring in Diesel, though he is a perfectly-behaved cat. In the first book, he seemed to be Charlie's main emotional connection. But now his home includes two boarders, who each played a part in the earlier cases, as well as his son Sean, who has also moved back to Athena from Houston, and who helped his father solve the mystery in the second book.
In File M for Murder, Charlie's daughter Laura arrives in her turn to surprise her father. A rising young actress, she has accepted a temporary teaching position in the college's drama department. Connor Lawton, an Athena native and a successful playwright who is the college's new writer in residence, will be directing his own play featuring Laura's students. Abrasive and arrogant, trailing a string of affairs, he quickly stirs up trouble, and Charlie is dismayed to learn that he and Laura were once involved. When Laura finds Connor dead in his apartment, she becomes a suspect in his murder, and she herself the target of mysterious attacks. At the same time, she is hiding something, from her father and the police. Charlie and Sean, with Diesel, set out to protect Laura, clear her name, and find the real killer.
I have enjoyed all three books in this series, especially the small-town Southern setting, and the characters. Charlie is a good guy, a loving and protective father, and he has great taste in books (at a particularly stressful moment, he settles down with Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy). I'm already looking forward to his and Diesel's next adventure.
This is the third in a series, the "Cat in the Stacks" mysteries (the first is Murder Past Due and the second Classified as Murder, which I posted about back last May). "Miranda James" is a nom de plume of Dean James, whom I have known for many years through my beloved Murder by the Book here in Houston, where he was previously a manager.
The series focuses on Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel, the cat in the stacks of the title. At the death of his aunt Dottie, Charlie inherited her house in the small town of Athena, Mississippi, and he moved there from Houston following the death of his wife. He volunteers at the local public library, as well as working two days a week as the special collections librarian and archivist at Athena College. Charlie is presently cataloging a fantastic collection of rare and early books that the college recently received through a bequest, which includes a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. Dean is himself a librarian, and it's a pleasure to note the details about work in archives and special collections, which many books and TV shows get so wrong.
Not all archives and libraries, though, would allow Charlie to bring in Diesel, though he is a perfectly-behaved cat. In the first book, he seemed to be Charlie's main emotional connection. But now his home includes two boarders, who each played a part in the earlier cases, as well as his son Sean, who has also moved back to Athena from Houston, and who helped his father solve the mystery in the second book.
In File M for Murder, Charlie's daughter Laura arrives in her turn to surprise her father. A rising young actress, she has accepted a temporary teaching position in the college's drama department. Connor Lawton, an Athena native and a successful playwright who is the college's new writer in residence, will be directing his own play featuring Laura's students. Abrasive and arrogant, trailing a string of affairs, he quickly stirs up trouble, and Charlie is dismayed to learn that he and Laura were once involved. When Laura finds Connor dead in his apartment, she becomes a suspect in his murder, and she herself the target of mysterious attacks. At the same time, she is hiding something, from her father and the police. Charlie and Sean, with Diesel, set out to protect Laura, clear her name, and find the real killer.
I have enjoyed all three books in this series, especially the small-town Southern setting, and the characters. Charlie is a good guy, a loving and protective father, and he has great taste in books (at a particularly stressful moment, he settles down with Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy). I'm already looking forward to his and Diesel's next adventure.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
A cat in the stacks
Classified As Murder, Miranda James
Miranda James is actually Dean James, a former manager at Houston's outstanding Murder by the Book. This is the second book in his "A Cat in the Stacks" series, following last year's Murder Past Due.
There are two main characters in the series. The first, Charlie Harris, is a librarian who recently moved from Houston to Athena, Mississippi. There he works part-time at the local library, and part time in the archives and rare book collection of Athena College. The second main character is Diesel, a Maine Coon cat. Like most Maine Coons, Diesel has an outsized personality, exceptional intelligence, and overflowing charm. Diesel goes everywhere with Charlie, including the libraries (except to church on Sundays), and he seems to be Charlie's main emotional connection.
The story centers around an elderly eccentric, James Delacorte, who has amassed an amazing collection of rare books, which he hires Charlie to inventory for him, in part because he believes someone may be stealing from it. The prime suspects are his extended family of Southern gothics, which includes a hoop-skirted belle with a tenuous hold on reality but also includes a perfectly Jeevish butler. Charlie has his own family issues to deal with when his son Sean arrives unexpectedly, with a poodle in tow. At first morose and withdrawn, Sean gives his dad a personal mystery to unravel, one whose denouement and conclusion are very satisfying. I hope Sean will stick around.
The mystery, which revolves around a body in the library, kept me turning the pages. But I was also fascinated by the (fictitious) collection, which includes a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. By the terms of Delacorte's will, the collection goes to Athena College, where Charlie will get to pore over every volume. If he wasn't firmly established as a good guy from the first book, he have a heckuva motive for murder!
Miranda James is actually Dean James, a former manager at Houston's outstanding Murder by the Book. This is the second book in his "A Cat in the Stacks" series, following last year's Murder Past Due.
There are two main characters in the series. The first, Charlie Harris, is a librarian who recently moved from Houston to Athena, Mississippi. There he works part-time at the local library, and part time in the archives and rare book collection of Athena College. The second main character is Diesel, a Maine Coon cat. Like most Maine Coons, Diesel has an outsized personality, exceptional intelligence, and overflowing charm. Diesel goes everywhere with Charlie, including the libraries (except to church on Sundays), and he seems to be Charlie's main emotional connection.
The story centers around an elderly eccentric, James Delacorte, who has amassed an amazing collection of rare books, which he hires Charlie to inventory for him, in part because he believes someone may be stealing from it. The prime suspects are his extended family of Southern gothics, which includes a hoop-skirted belle with a tenuous hold on reality but also includes a perfectly Jeevish butler. Charlie has his own family issues to deal with when his son Sean arrives unexpectedly, with a poodle in tow. At first morose and withdrawn, Sean gives his dad a personal mystery to unravel, one whose denouement and conclusion are very satisfying. I hope Sean will stick around.
The mystery, which revolves around a body in the library, kept me turning the pages. But I was also fascinated by the (fictitious) collection, which includes a first edition of Pride and Prejudice. By the terms of Delacorte's will, the collection goes to Athena College, where Charlie will get to pore over every volume. If he wasn't firmly established as a good guy from the first book, he have a heckuva motive for murder!
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