Lending a Paw

Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Laurie Cass

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

With the help of her rescue cat, Eddie, librarian Minnie Hamilton is driving a bookmobile based in the resort town of Chilson, Michigan. But she'd better keep both hands on the wheel, because it's going to be a bumpy ride....

Eddie followed Minnie home one day, and now she can't seem to shake the furry little shadow. But in spite of her efforts to contain her new pal, the tabby sneaks out and trails her all the way to the bookmobile on its maiden voyage. Before she knows it, her slinky stowaway becomes her cat co-pilot! Minnie and Eddie's first day visiting readers around the county seems to pass without trouble - until Eddie darts outside at the last stop and leads her to the body of a local man who's reached his final chapter.

Initially, Minnie is ready to let the police handle this case, but Eddie seems to smell a rat. Together, they'll work to find the killer - because a good librarian always knows when justice is overdue.

©2013 Janet Koch (P)2017 Tantor

A Cat Named Eddie

I enjoyed this rather easy-to-follow book. It’s a shame that Eddie didn’t have a greater role to play.

Well worth the wait.

I spotted this book some time back on the pre order list. As soon as I could today I downloaded it. I have always had a fascination with bookmobiles so finding a book series with them in audio format was a real treat
I was expecting a simple cozy but discovered a nice complex story. This one had a surprise ending for me. About mid book I thought I had the killer identified. The last chapter was a big shocker for me when the killer was revealed. What a treat.
A big bonus for me was the cat. Unless you have had a cat decide to move in and adopt you it is hard to believe the things a cat will do. Eddy reminded me of our Kitty Tom. The cat would ring the door bell to be let in and throw up at the sight of a mouse.
I can't wait for the next big adventure in this series.

Loved it

Going for the next one! Cute, good for a cozy fireside read along with my cat in my lap.

Discovered a Fun Cozy

The narrator does a fine job of putting different tones to the cat’s many meows. The behind the scenes details of running a bookmobile was intriguing.

Relaxing, Light-Hearted Read

This series is similar to that of Sophia Kelly’s “Magical Cat’s” series, but not quite as good. Both main characters are single librarians, the stories are set in small towns where everyone knows everyone else (and just about everybody is a suspect), both have cats with unusual abilities, both librarians somehow manage to get wrapped up in murders, lots of townspeople are involved, the librarians stick their noses where they neither belong nor are welcome and get into trouble before ultimately solving the murder.

The big difference is Ms. Kelly has two cats in her story who are very magical —- one can walk through walls, the other can appear and disappear at will. In this story, the very relaxed, almost lazy Eddie, is very intuitive.

If you can overlook the implausibility of some of the factors, this is a relaxing, enjoyable, lighthearted read. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the story and it’s characters enough to get through to the end, but the determined 4’9” Minnie Hamilton (I liked her spunk) and her sweet, sneaky kitty Eddie, grew on me. By the end of the story I really wanted to know “whodunnit.” I believe I will indeed read the second book in this series. (: