Cat in the Stacks is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and, IHMO, one of the best.
I can say I preorder the books without reading the plot as I know I won’t be disappointed (never was).
All the books in this series are excellent but this one exceeded my expectations. It can happen I read till late in the night, it rarely happens I stop reading and keep thinking about the story and mentally composing a blog post.
I’m not the best person to categorize a book but I would define this one as borderline: there are plenty of cozy mystery tropes but there’s also a sense of unease and tension that it’s typical of a suspense mystery. And it can say that this darker tone is highly enjoyable and makes the plot more gripping.
I’m always happy to catch up with Charlie and the cast of characters. Charlie is clever, cultured and passionate man who must find solutions. He’s seldom reckless and he’s very good at connecting dots.
I like his relationship with Kanesha, the chief investigator, and how they collaborate and respects each other.
I don’t thing any review would be complete without talking about Diesel and Ramses, the two cats. Diesel’s everyone’s darling, a sweet and very big Maine Coon. He’s a good judge of characters and Charlie knows he can trust Diesel reactions.
Ramses is the younger cat, lovely and exuberant.
One thing I love of this series is the attention to historical and historical facts. I always learn something new and think that the richness of the historical details is one of the fascinating aspects of this novel.
Let’s summarize gripping and highly entertaining, excellent storytelling and character development, great world building.
I think this series can be appreciated by who loves cozy mystery but also by those who are into traditional mystery.
Even if this is the 14th instalment it could be read as a stand-alone but you will appreciate the nuances if you read the rest of the series.
Strongly recommended.