File M for Murder

This is the 3rd installment in Miranda James' "Cat in the Stacks" mystery series, and obviously I like them since I have been on a bit of a binge, starting with Murder Past Due and then on to Classified as Murder. Our protagonists are Charlie Harris, a rare books cataloger at tiny Athena College in Athena, Mississippi, and his 30 pound Maine Coon cat, Diesel. But along the way we have accumulated several other recurring characters who enrich Charlie's life and the stories. Characters from both of the first two books, Justin and Stewart, have now become boarders in Charlie's big historical house, inherited from his departed aunt Dottie. Then there are Charlie's children. First his son Sean quit the high-powered law firm in Houston and returned home (in Classified as Murder), and in this book, his daughter Laura, a budding actress, moves home temporarily to take a teaching position in the theater department at the college. Unfortunately, Laura got the position with the help of former paramour and Athena native son Connor Lawton, a brilliant but also drunken and abusive playwright who is the current writer-in-residence at the college. When he is murdered, Laura becomes the prime suspect initially. That is, until threats start being made against her. As before, Charlie feels that Deputy Sheriff Kanesha Berry could be moving a bit faster finding the culprit with a little help. Start with the first book and enjoy the evolving relationships between these interesting characters. Great cozy read for lovers of books and cats!