Twelve Angry Librarians By Miranda James: Review/Giveaway

by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Twelve Angry Librarians. We also have a link to order it from Amazon, and from an indie bookstore where a portion goes to help support KRL.

Charlie Harris is acting as interim library director at the college, a job he thought he’d like. It takes him away from his research work which is a shame and involves way too much paperwork. He can still bring his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, to work with him which is a good thing. Saying no to the cat would be a deal breaker.

One of the most hated things about being interim director is making a speech at the Southern Academic Libraries Association annual meeting. Charlie thought he’d only have to introduce the college president, and then would be able to sit down. Apparently, they expect more.

The keynote speaker is Gavin Fong. If there’s a way to offend someone, Gavin does. In fact, he once was aggressively forward with Charlie’s girlfriend (later wife) and Charlie punched Gavin in the nose. He’s reminded of the fact when he receives a short email from Gavin saying he’s sure Charlie will recommend him as the new director because he wouldn’t want it to get around that he punched Gavin—even if it was many years ago. It seems Gavin has no friends at all. Anyone who speaks of him has a tale to tell, and none of them are flattering.

When Gavin gives his keynote speech, it’s on a hot topic, and he takes the contrarian side as always. Before he can make everyone angry, he signals for his bottled water, takes a drink, and then convulses and dies. There are very few people who are not in the suspect pool. Of course, the woman who handed Gavin the bottle of water is a prime suspect. Charlie is high on the list too, especially since they’d re-enacted the punched in the nose scene when Gavin got too Gavin-ish again.

On the home front, Charlie’s daughter is pregnant which is great news. On the other hand, since she won’t work for a while, her husband might take a promotion which would be out of town, not such good news. Charlie’s son and daughter-in-law are also expecting their first child. If Charlie takes the director’s job, he’ll work more hours and miss out on being Grandpa. Helen, Charlie’s lady friend who owns a bistro restaurant, says they need to talk too. That’s never a good thing. His job decision will affect her too. First, he has to be cleared of murder and make sure that none of his college friends did it either.

This is book eight in the Cat in the Stacks series which gets better and better. Charlie and Diesel are a delight. His boarders entertain and provide a listening ear as he dissects the case for motive, means, and opportunity. Charlie’s relationships with his adult children and Helen ring true and are enviable. As in real life, things keep changing, and it’s how one reacts to the change that makes all the difference.

James also writes the Southern Ladies mysteries, three so far, a spinoff of this series featuring the Ducote sisters who are Southern to the core, funny and feisty, just as older ladies should be.

To enter to win a copy of Twelve Angry Librarians, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “librarians,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 18, 2017. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

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Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Twelve Angry Librarians

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Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble and a Kindle. You can find several of Sandra’s short stories at Untreed Reads including her newest, “Arthur,” included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now. Look for Denali, in the anthology Dogs and Dragons.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.

Tagged as: books, cats, library, Miranda James, mystery, Twelve Anger Librarians