The Silence of the Library

Cat in the Stacks, Book 5

By: Miranda James

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

It's National Library Week, and the Athena Public Library is planning an exhibit to honor the centenary of famous novelist Electra Barnes Cartwright - creator of the beloved Veronica Thane series.

Charlie has a soft spot for Cartwright's girl detective stories (not to mention an extensive collection of her books!). When the author agrees to make a rare public appearance, the news of her whereabouts goes viral overnight, and series devotees and book collectors converge on Athena.

After all, it's rumored that Cartwright penned Veronica Thane stories that remain under wraps, and one rabid fan will stop at nothing - not even murder - to get hold of the rare books....

©2014 Dean James (P)2014 Tantor

Keeps getting better with each book!

Any additional comments?

Miranda James has a very wonderful way of writing these mysteries that keep the reader wanting more! I highly recommend starting at the beginning of the series ... and be sure you have the next book ready to start because as soon as you finish one, you're going to want the next! Especially love Diesel! What a charmer!

Fervor over author and her books become themystery

Charlie Harris loves books, so it’s no wonder that he is a librarian at Athena College in Mississippi and also works at the public library. In this fifth entry in the utterly charming Cat in the Stacks mystery series, Charlie is preparing for National Library Week. The Athena Public Library is planning an exhibit of the books of famous local author Electra Barnes Cartwright and other juvenile mystery writers. Ms. Cartwright wrote the Veronica Thane series, a girl detective story.

Charlie has a soft spot for Mrs. Cartwright and owns many of her books, so is delighted to accompany the library director to visit the nearly one-hundred-year-old author and her daughter at her home when she agrees to appear at the library. Charlie brings his Maine Coon cat Diesel with him on the visit, since Diesel goes almost everywhere with him, and Mrs. Cartwright is charmed by the gentle albeit large cat.

The news of her impending visit spreads quickly. However, the entire event is almost cancelled when Mrs. Cartwright visits the library, at her daughter’s urging, to request an exorbitant fee for her appearance. Some zealous series collectors and readers request book signings before her official appearance. Some even offer huge sums of money to have entire collections autographed. At least one publisher is vying for the right to several unpublished Veronica Thane manuscripts.

The fervor over Electra Barnes Cartwright goes too far when an avid fan is found dead in her home, the long-time editor of a newsletter on everything to do with “EBC”. It is time for Charlie Harris to put on his detective hat and discover who was trying to silence the newsletter writer. Many of her files have been taken, and it is unknown if any books have also been stolen, especially the rare variant of the first Veronica Thane book. Charlie reads this entry in the series and shares the beginning chapters with the reader of this Miranda James book. Charlie gains insight into the series character and applies those insights to the current situation, ultimately solving this mystery.

It was very creative of the author to combine some old-fashioned sleuthing, or looking for answers the hard way, with creative searching on the Internet. Throw in some common sense and keen observations, and the reader is able to solve this mystery along with the main character. The pace was leisurely yet steady, always moving forward, while allowing visits with some ongoing characters from the series. Erin Bennett’s narration was straight forward, mirroring the steady pace of the novel with her voice. A very enjoyable read.

Great Mystery

Absolutely love these books. the storylines are fun to follow and usut there is a twist of some sort at the end. Diesel is a fun addition

great comfort ,read!

I enjoy All the cat in the. stack books! . you will thoroughly enjoy these cat tastinc stories!!

Disel and Charlie great duo!

I really enjoy this series very good stories without a lot of blood and unnecessary violence. good characters and narration is great

Love Diesel

This is my 5th on the series. I’ve enjoyed all of them and will be looking for book 6 tomorrow.

Love the series, but…

I have to agree with the person who says sex is best left in other people’s bedrooms. The professor and the cop need to back into the closet. Why is this our business? It doesn’t contribute to the story. Leaving their relationship vague would not take away from the plot.

The story is really good overall, though I still say that the lead should be read by a man, as Erin Bennett does not have the pitch for it. She does nicely now on Helen Louise and the other female parts.

What a great idea to center this story around teen fiction mystery heroine! A fictional fictional one is so cool. Glad the fictional writer was still living at the end of this story, too.

Basically really good stories! Not too taxing for relaxing. I would love it if our author would keep some things under wraps, but I know that sadly it’s about the money and trying to fit in with what’s popular at the moment.

great book

I liked it all, excellent cozy mystery with lots of great characters, especially diesel the awesome Maine coon cat 🐈.

The narrator

Although Erin Bennett is a good reader, her voicing the male main character, threw me off through the entire book. This male character, who drives the story, always sounds like a she. I thought the story might be interesting but couldn’t get into it due to that fact.
Plus, his name is Charlie and I’ve listened to so many books, where Charlie, is a female’s character and it was too confusing in my brain.

great book!

A book within a book! The language is a little hokey! but the story was good. I liked the narrator is good.