teaching music and learning murder

Charlie Harris and his crime-solving companion Diesel have been called into action. The librarian and his Maine coon have solved more than a couple of mysteries in Athena, Mississippi. Now his exploits have made it all the way to Hollywood, and someone is coming to town to talk to him about them. It’s not for a movie though. Musician and composer Wil Threadgill is coming home and he’s worried that someone is trying to kill him.

Will went to school with Charlie and his best friend Melba, but he had been a few years ahead of them. He had quit school and ran off to California to become a professional musician before he could graduate, not telling anyone that he was going or how to get in touch with him. In the decades since, he has won accolades and the hearts of fans with his band and with his movie soundtracks. Wil and Melba had gotten back in touch while he was out there, and she’s very excited that he’s finally coming home.

The local college had invited him to come back, to offer him an honorary doctorate and to spend some time with the music students, teaching classes and offering instruction and inspiration. Wil asks Charlie to meet with him, so Charlie gets to meet the man and find out his concerns. Wil can’t put his finger on why he feels out of sorts about coming back to Mississippi, but he feels like he may be in danger. And he can only think of one person who might have it in for him—John Earl Whitaker.

Wil and John Earl had been in a band together as teenagers, and when Wil left suddenly, the rest of the band broke up. John Earl had married young and spent too many years at the bottom of a bottle. Wil is concerned that he might have saved up 40 years of resentments for the moment Wil comes back. And Charlie starts to believe that’s possible too, when John Earl shows up drunk just as about Wil’s band is about to take the stage. But when John Earl grabs the microphone before Wil can, he is hit with enough voltage to stop his heart.

Melba is almost hysterical, worried that Wil had been the target. And when there is another attempt the next morning, Charlie is worried that Melba may be right. He and Diesel start sniffing around to see who might want to end Wil’s music career, but will they be able to find the killer before the killer finds them?

Hiss Me Deadly is book 15 in Miranda James’ Cat in the Stacks mystery series. This charming cozy series set in a Southern college town is filled with small town friendships, family, and adorable pets. James is a smart writer, crafting solid plots along with likable characters (aside from the killer, clearly).

I really enjoyed Hiss Me Deadly, and not just because of Diesel. I loved the story line of the successful musician coming home was lovely, and I thought that the mystery was interesting and compelling. This is the first of the Cat in the Stacks books I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. I have read, but I’ve heard great things about James through the years. And I have to say, I was not disappointed. I loved hanging out with Diesel and Ramses, and the next time I need a good cat mystery, I will find myself wandering in the stacks again to hang out with them.

Egalleys for Hiss Me Deadly were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.