Lending a Paw: A Bookmobile Cat Mystery Mass Market Paperback – December 3, 2013

This is the first book I've read by this author, but it won't be the last. Minnie is such a fun person. She's tiny, less than 5 feet tall. She's smart, funny, pretty feisty, intrepid, and she gained my friendship immediately after finding a cat in a graveyard and then wanting to take that cat home and love him, no questions asked. And she named him Eddie. She talks to Eddie like it's the most natural thing in the world (and I think it is). When a friend is murdered, she needs to know who did it. All she has is a very curious mind that makes her a very good librarian, but does it make her a good detective? She admits that she doesn't know the first thing about being a good detective, but she seems to have a very curious cat pushing her in the right direction if she just pays attention. She finds out that even though she cared very much about her friend, not many other people did because of things that happened in the past. But she cared, so she's going to keep looking. Along the way, she carries on with her bookmobile, meeting new friends, making people happy and discovering (completely by accident, manufactured by Eddie), that people love having a cat in a bookmobile. I really liked Minnie and Eddie and this book. I think I'll read more!

I want an Eddie. Cute, cuddly, and furry. He can sleep in my bed anytime. He’s a cat! Of course he can. He steals the show in the first book of The Bookmobile Cat series.There were a lot of twists and turns within several storylines that make it exciting for the future books in this series.Perfect for book lovers and cat lovers set in beautiful Michigan.

I enjoyed this book. It's the first in the series and the first one I've read. I thought the mystery was suspenseful. There was a good pool of suspects to keep the reader, and Minnie, guessing. I did guess the killer before it was revealed in the book, but only about the same time Minnie suspected this person. It had good descriptions of the town and countryside and provided good flavor of the area. I also loved Eddie, Minnie's cat, who snuck aboard the bookmobile on its first trip and won over the bookmobile patrons before discovering the dead body. I'll definitely read more of this series.

If there were an annual award for the best book in a new cozy mystery series, I think I would want to nominate this book, Lending a Paw. It has all the features I enjoy in a new series: characters who are believable and have depth, a good sense of atmosphere (in this case, a small town in early summer), suspense, and a plot that keeps its focus. Eddie the cat is a great addition, and the idea of a cat who stows away in a bookmobile is both original and entertaining. Anyone who owns a cat or enjoys being around them will recognize the many typical ways that they communicate, and the protagonist, Minnie Hamilton, gives us plenty of opportunity to enjoy Eddie's antics with her.Minnie Hamilton, assistant librarian and operator of the bookmobile, is a dedicated librarian who not only loves books but also wants to help the people she serves. She also has a strong sense of doing her best and a positive outlook. The reasons for her to investigate the murder are reasonable ones, and the friends and co-workers she encounters are also interesting and full of contrast. The plot moves along well and holds its suspense to the end. Highly recommended!

Overall, I did enjoy it. The cat is cute and just the right amount of helpful, the bookmobile is cute, the community is cute if a little overbearing. The plot resolves well and surprised me.Really the only downside is the main character! And she’s mostly very nice, but her frustration with the cops for not openly listening to her rumors leads to her doing INCREDIBLY stupid things and then, at one point IMMEDIATELY AFTRR they have saved her life, she demands an apology from them because they didn’t TELL her they were quietly listening to her.She just really, REALLY overestimates her detective skills quite seriously, both in how she approaches her snooping and how she deals with everyone she suspects.Honestly, I was about to rave about this book because when the detectives saved her behind, I thought she’d be very slightly humbled and more collaborative and that’s character growth! And maybe she’d be a better detective in future! But, that didn’t happen. At all. And I’m left irritated at the MC.I will not read this book again, but I may try the next in the series in case the MC is improved.

Generally I like the series. I started in the middle and went back and picked up the first one. I like the characters and the town. Eddie is not overly anthropomorphized, and usually acts like a cat. The endings seem a bit repetitive to me. I do admit to being fond of bookmobiles. When I was a kid, one parked just outside my house. It was like having my own librarian, who brought me books I liked and let me check out more than the limit for my age.

I bought this book because I like cats and I like cozy mysteries. I enjoyed reading it. It was nice, temporary escape from the world.