Kathleen Paulson moved from Boston to Mayville Heights, MN, to become the librarian of the small town's library while it was undergoing renovation. It's been about a year, the renovation has essentially been successfully completed, and she has a year left on her two-year contract. She's starting to consider whether Mayville Heights will ask her to stay, and whether she will want to accept if they do. The little town is very different from her prior live, but she's enjoying it, and making friends.
She's also acquired two cats, Owen and Hercules, whom she found as kittens, last winter at Wisteria Hill, the local feral cat colony. They're rather unusual cats; Owen can become invisible, and Hercules can walk through walls.
When Kathleen's friend Ruby finds a dead body, and quickly becomes a prime suspect in what proves to be a murder, we know the cats' abilities will be important.
Of course Kathleen talks to her cats. She worries constantly that if people hear her doing so, they'll think she's crazy. Yet, don't most of us talk to our pets--including the ones that don't turn invisible, don't walk through walls, and (if there are any such) don't act like they understand more of what we say than experts tell us they can? It's a tiny, mild annoyance.
The bane of Kathleen's early days in Mayville Heights, handsome police detective Marcus Gordon, who regarded her as a potential suspect in the murder of the body she found in the first book, is of course a major presence. On the one hand, she finds him very attractive, and likable in many ways. For instance, they both volunteer with the group caring for the feral cat colony, and share a cooperative and pleasant outing to the feeding station. On the other hand, she's sure he's decided Ruby is guilty and won't follow up on any evidence that doesn't support that. So she keeps digging on her own, going everywhere and asking questions. It doesn't seem to worry her that she might start to look like a problem to the actual killer.
And I will say that I spotted the killer fairly early, though it took a little longer for me to be sure.
I like Kathleen and her friends and neighbors, and of course her cats. This was a fun little book, but it does have some distinct weaknesses, and not just that Kathleen doesn't know how common talking to one's cats is. But, still, a fun little read.
I bought this audiobook.
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