Cat Me If You Can

Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series, Book 13

By: Miranda James

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Charlie and Diesel, along with Charlie's fiancee, Helen Louise Brady, are heading to Asheville, North Carolina, to spend a week at a boutique hotel and participate in a gathering of a mystery reader's club composed of patrons of the Athena Public Library. In addition to seeing the local sights, the members will take turns giving talks on their favorite authors.

The always spry Ducote sisters, friends of the hotel's owners, are helping underwrite the expenses, and they've insisted that Charlie, Helen, and Diesel join them. Anxious to get Helen Louise away from her bistro for a vacation, Charlie readily agrees. While Charlie is looking forward to relaxing with Helen Louise and Diesel, other members of the group have ulterior motives, including a long-standing score to settle.

When an intrusive, uninvited guest turns up dead, only one mystery club member with a connection to the deceased appears to have a motive to kill. But could the answer really be that simple? Charlie and Diesel, along with the detecting Ducote sisters, know that every murder plot has an unexpected twist.

©2020 Dean James (P)2020 Tantor

The location...I love Ashville

So far I have listened to and enjoyed this entire series. I like it because it's a murder mystery involving a cat. Also, I like the characters.
But, I don't have any desire to hear anything about gay men and gay bars. So this particular book is a disappointment to me. That is the reason for the 3 star rating for the story.
And, yes, I am aware there is a gay couple in this series.

Dame Agatha would have been proud

I loved this story. The plot was excellent and kept me guessing until the end. I loved all of characters and I can't wait for another one.

Asheville, Biltmore, Books and Murder

I continue to LOVE this series with Charlie, Diesel and the entire crew of folks from Athena, Mississippi. The mystery reader's book club from the library goes on the road to Asheville, North Carolina in Book 13 and its a fun . . . and deadly . . . trip. Helen Louise, Charlie's fiancé joins Charlie and Diesel for the trip, and they have special permission to take Diesel along to visit Biltmore Estate. 😊 The trip is organized and partially underwritten by the elderly Ducote sisters, who are just a hoot 😂. Things get dicey though when an outsider shows up at one of their meetings, gets into an argument with a woman who he has been stalking, and quickly gets a punch by one of the men. The next day, the man is discovered dead. Even though Charlie was hoping for a break from murder 😔 on this trip, he is soon pulled into the investigation despite Helen Louise's caution. Then he has another murder to consider, when Cora, one of the hotel's housekeepers is found dead. With both Charlie and Helen Louise doubting than any of their fellow Athenians could possibly be guilty of the murders, the investigation heats up. This is one of my favorite in the series. A lot of back stories add to the tale. Excellent build up to the conclusion and an ending well worth the wait.

Diesel is a hoot

I only have one more book to read and hate to see the series end.

Great Book

Love the author and all her books! always keeps you guessing to the end of the mystery!

So Intriguing

while I read & lived & enjoyed each book of the Cat in the Stacks series, this particular book involved a huge cast, lots if subjects and many twists & turns.was truly NOT an easy to figure out in 3 chapters who dunnit by ANY means! an excellent choice in cozy enjoyable mysteries. you won't go wring with this class read!! enjoy!

love this

Charlie and Desiel and all the characters make this a great series waiting impatiently for the next book

Loved Having More of My Beloved Charlie and Diesel

I thought I had read all of the books in the “Cat in the Stacks” series by Miranda James and was lamenting that there were no more. In desperation, I was going through the stories one by one and listening to each a second time between other books, when to my delight, I discovered I had somehow skipped this one in the series!

I pounced on it like Diesel on chicken! It was an enjoyable story as always, but it was not set in Charlie’s and Diesel’s hometown of Athena, but rather at a boutique hotel in North Carolina.

Each story in this wonderful series has always felt like a family reunion to me. Therefore, in this story, I greatly missed Azalea’s character. Her mother, Sheriff Keenesha Berry appeared at the hotel to assist the sheriff in North Carolina, but she had a much smaller, secondary role. I also greatly missed the flamboyant character of Stuart and his witty conversations with Charlie. There were a few phone conversations between the two, but there was none of the usual lighthearted banter on Stuart’s part.

Overall, this was a good story; a little different than the others, but good nonetheless, and it was worth the credit I had spent for it. I got my time in with Charlie and Diesel (and Helen Louise, although her cool personality has never been my favorite). Miss Angel and Miss Dickce were there too — Miss Angel in charge of the Mystery Readers Convention. So, a few things the same, a few things different.

If you are a diehard Charlie and Diesel fan like me, I I think you will enjoy the book. I am waiting anxiously for Ms. James’ next book (which I believe is coming out November, 2022)!

Surprise Ending!

Love Diesel So Much!! Makes me miss my super intelligent playful, understanding Main Coon ZeeZee! He's been gone so long and missed everyday!

Perfect Cozy Listen

Another captivating story by Miranda James skillfully narrated by Erin Bennett. Love this series! Hopefully, many more to come.