Something Whiskered (Cat in the Stacks #17) by Miranda James Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via Edelweiss
Formats available: hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genres: cozy mystery, mystery
Series: Cat in the Stacks #17
Pages: 320
Published by Berkley on July 29, 2025
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads
A dead baron, an Irish castle, and an unexpected ghost . . . Charlie Harris, Helen Louise Brady, and their feline friend Diesel find themselves hot on the trail of a conniving killer in this delightful Cat in the Stacks Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Miranda James.
Charlie Harris and his wife, Helen Louise Brady, have arrived in Ireland for their honeymoon. After a few days in Dublin, they head to County Clare, ancestral home to Helen Louise’s extended family, the O’Bradys. Her cousin Lorcan runs Castle O’Brady as a bed-and-breakfast with his wife Caoimhe and their daughter and son-in-law. But upon arrival at the castle, the newlyweds are shocked to see a body falling from the roof.
The dead man is centenarian Finn, Baron O'Brady, Lorcan’s grandfather, which means that Lorcan now becomes the new Baron O'Brady. Was someone in a hurry for Lorcan to assume the title and ownership of the estate? Or is there another reason for wanting Finn dead? And why is a ghostly cat making an appearance in their room-is he trying to warn them? Charlie and Helen Louise must answer these questions and more as they realize the local garda can't solve the crime alone. And along with Diesel they will have to investigate themselves or risk something wicked coming their way…
My Review:
From the very first book in the Cat in the Stacks series, Murder Past Due, I’ve been here for Diesel, the very large and very sweet Maine Coon cat who owns the series’ amateur detective protagonist, librarian Charlie Harris. This SEVENTEENTH entry in the series is no exception.
But this entry takes Diesel, Charlie, and Charlie’s new wife Helen Louise Brady far from their usual stomping grounds in tiny Athena Mississippi to Helen Louise’s rather expansive childhood second home in Ireland.
At the end of the previous story, Requiem for a Mouse, Charlie and Helen Louise finally managed to get themselves to the altar after a several books – and years – long courtship. This trip to Ireland was intended to be a honeymoon – and a chance for Charlie to meet some of his old friend/new wife’s extended family.
The visit goes splat from the off. Literally, as the body of Helen Louise’s beloved Great-Uncle Finn crashes to the ground right in front of their car as they are pulling up the long drive to Helen Louise’s childhood home-away-from-home, her family’s ancestral Castle O’Brady, of which dear old Finn was Baron O’Brady – right up until he went splat.
Which puts Charlie right into his familiar shoes – even if they are brogues this time around – as an amateur detective. He overhears one disgruntled family member describe him as a nosy parker, but if the shoe fits… At least this time around Charlie will be poking his nose in where it may or may not belong at the request of his recently acquired family and the even more recently ennobled new Baron O’Brady.
Helen Louise’s cousin Lorcan needs someone to figure out who pushed his 100-year-old granddad off the castle roof, and he hopes that his new cousin-by-marriage will find the answer before it tears his whole family apart.
Charlie will find the answer – he always does – but the tearing apart is bound to happen anyway. No one’s secrets EVER survive a murder investigation – not even an amateur one.
Escape Rating B: In spite of the terrible circumstances, I couldn’t help but envy Charlie and Helen Louise a bit for taking Diesel with them on what should have been a glorious trip. We ALWAYS miss the cats something terrible when we travel, but the idea of taking Diesel along – as much as I adored the concept – did strain credulity just a bit.
That Diesel was so beautifully behaved on their trip read as a bit more unreal than the delightful ghost cat, Fergal, who haunted Castle O’Brady and showed up to commune regularly with his living counterpart.
In spite of the presence of Diesel the international traveler, this story does take Charlie Harris very much out of his comfortable home ground, giving the series as well as its amateur sleuth a chance to stretch their wings rather a lot.
The case is as twisted as any that Charlie has ever faced, as the victim and all the suspects are connected to his new wife’s family. He may not yet know all the players, but he’s aware from the beginning that no matter who turns out to be guilty, Helen Louise is going to be heartbroken over every stone he overturns in the case.
That Diesel comes under threat – even more so than his people – adds a frisson of dread to what is otherwise a cozy – if deadly – mystery.
But the heart of this mystery, just like the mysteries that Charlie can’t resist solving back home in Athena, is wrapped up in the relationships among the people who live and/or work in and around the Castle, many of whom are Helen Louise’s family and friends.
Baron O’Brady is dead. He died on his one hundredth birthday, so he had plenty of time in which to amass both friends and enemies. Everyone says they loved the old man, but no one is universally loved no matter how good they are. Either he stood in someone’s way, or he made someone angry enough to murder him. Or both.
But the setting for the murder is even more intimate than Charlie’s usual stomping grounds. Everyone knows everyone, everyone seems to tolerate or forgive everyone’s foibles, and everyone protects each other – often without meaning to. He’ll have to take the place – and its people – apart in order to put all the clues together.
There were parts of this story I absolutely loved. It’s ALWAYS great to see Diesel again, while Fergal the ghost cat was a very nice addition. I did find Diesel’s behavior in this circumstances to be a bit too good to be true, but I was still happy to see him.
The travel parts of the story were lovely, and brought back fond memories of my own trip just a few years ago even as it gave me a list of more places to see if we ever get back.
I was completely caught up in the mystery and the ties that bind and strangle – in some cases literally – among the people at Castle O’Brady. But I found the ending a kind of muted, a bit sad, and not nearly as cathartic a wrap up as I expected.
So many of those involved in the murder seem to have died ‘offstage’. We do know how it ends, but we don’t see it ending nearly as much as I had hoped for. I like a good gathering of the suspects and arrest of the killers but this story didn’t work out that way. But I did come into this hoping for a comfort read and I absolutely did get one!
Summing things up, I loved catching up with Diesel. I wouldn’t mind seeing Fergal again. But I’m looking forward to Charlie’s next adventure, back home in Athena where he – along with Helen Louise and especially Diesel – belong.
