Tag: cat main character

4 out of 5 Hoots!

I picked this book after reading the author’s new series Killer Focus. I love the way Victoria writes and when I saw that she had a paranormal cozy I couldn’t pass it up! I love the paranormal just as much as I love a good cozy mystery, so buying this book was a no brainer for me.

In whispered voices you meet Mackenzie Aldkin, a woman who after being struck by lightening was able to hear voices. Not just any voices, but the voice of someone what was after her best friend Peter. At first Mackenzie thought that maybe this voice was a hallucination caused by being struck by lightening but soon she would find out that this voice was real and it was very very dangerous! This point was driven home when one of Peter’s dates was found murdered.

Luckily for Mackenzie she was not alone when it came to facing this new gift that she had. While in the hospital she met Moira, a nurse and healer, who was able to tell her fairy tales from her home land that kind of explained what was happening. Moira also was able to help Mackenzie to learn how to focus and begin to try and use her gift as a form of protection. You see, this voice that she was hearing was not done after this first murder. This voice wanted Peter and was willing to do whatever it took to get him.

With this knowledge Mackenzie told Peter and her uncle, a lawyer, what was happening and they formed a plan to try and lure the person behind this murder out into the open. How did they expect to do this you ask? Well, by having Peter and Mackenzie pretend to be a couple of course! This was actually a very fun portion of the book for me. We got to hear Mackenzie’s internal struggle of her feelings for Peter and also got to feel her frustrations when they kept trying to find the killer with no luck. Just when everything seemed hopeless the voice reappeared leaving you, once again, struggling to figure out who this killer was!

The reveal was perfect. I did have my suspicions and when they killer was revealed I was excited to see I was right! There was even one section in the final confrontation that had a touch of magic! I really enjoyed the magical element in this book and I hope that there is more magic involved in the next books of this series. Oh! and before I forget, there was a magical kitty named Shaylee, she is just adorable and I hope we get more of her as well.

Overall this book was really enjoyable! I really enjoyed how the story unfolded and how the author chose to reveal who the killer was. The relationships between all of the character was great! I love that there was trust and respect for each other. There were no judgments when Mackenzie told them that she was hearing voices. Pretty much, they knew and trusted her enough to know that she would not say something like that unless it was true. The only reason that it didn’t get 5 stars was because there were some slight typos and there was one small portion that I felt went a little slow……BUT that did not stop me from loving this book! Typos happen, I have found them with major published books so that never has a major impact on how I rate the book. This book was a fun and short read, I 100% recommend it!

4 out of 5 Hoots!

If you have not had the chance to read a cat in the stacks mystery you really need to either go buy it on amazon, or rent it from your local library. This series is incredibly well written and the main character and his Maine Coon cat are written well. No, the cat does not help solve any mysteries, but he is pretty awesome.

File M for Murder is book 3 in the series and once again Charlie, the local librarian, finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. How does a librarian get involved with yet another murder investigation you ask? Well, technically he isn’t, it turns out that his daughter is a suspect so naturally he wants to try and figure out who the actual murderer is!

Miranda James (this is actually a pen name) does an amazing job catching new reader up on who each character is just in case they haven’t read the other books. Even Diesel, the cat, has his time in the spotlight. But what really makes this book stand out is how much of a southern gentleman Charlie is. It really seems like it is a whole different world when you read it. I mean all of the men actually stand up when Kanesha, the police chief, walks into the room because that is the respectful thing to do. Plus there is the focus on family which is so sweet! Seriously, the southern charm of this book is honestly irresistible.

The pace of this book was excellent as well. Just as you think you are getting something figured out something else happens to throw you for a loop. There are so many layers to the murders in this book and Charlie doesn’t necessarily solve every piece of the puzzle. That is another reason that I enjoy this series! The police are never the last to know things. Yes, Charlie is able to provide some information to Kanesha, but she solves the crimes. She is actually a very good detective which is not always the case in some cozy mysteries.

As far as cozy mysteries go, this is one of my absolute favorites. The only reason it did not get 5 stars is because Charlie’s daughter was a little annoying. She was a bit manipulative and put Charlie in a bad situation. Granted, without her stealing something from the crime scene we wouldn’t have found out the while story behind why the one character was murdered. All in all the book was great, you just have to tolerate Charlie’s daughter for a portion of the book, but it was worth it.