Hiss Me Deadly by Miranda James

 Hiss Me Deadly

Book Summary

Charlie and Diesel must catch a killer before he strikes another deadly note in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling Cat in the Stacks Mysteries.

Charlie Harris remembers Wilfred “Wil” Threadgill as one of the outsiders during high school in Athena. Although Wil was a couple of years ahead of him and his friend Melba Gilley, Melba had a big crush on Wil, who dropped out after his junior year. An aspiring musician, Wil hit the road for California and never looked back. Wil eventually became a star, fronting a band and writing award-winning songs. 

Coming back to Athena to work for two weeks with students in the college music department, Wil is now the big man on campus. Not everyone is happy to have him back, however. His entourage has been the target of several acts of petty harassment. At first, they are easy for Wil to shrug off, but the incidents escalate and become more troubling. When one of the band members is killed Charlie worries that Melba, now deeply involved with the man at the center of the attacks, could be in deadly danger. It is up to Charlie and Diesel to find out who hates Wil Threadgill enough to silence his song . . . forever!

My Thoughts

Hiss Me Deadly by Miranda James is the fifteenth A Cat in the Stacks Mystery.  It is hard to believe that we have had fourteen adventures with Charlie and Diesel.  If you are new to the series, I would recommend starting with one of the earlier books in the series.  Charlie and Diesel find themselves caught up in a mystery when musician and composer Wil Threadgill returns to Athena after forty years.  Wil has a bad feeling that something is wrong within his entourage.  He is hoping Charlie and Diesel will have some insights.  I found that to be vague and odd.  Then an old friend and high school bandmate of Wil’s end up dead.  Charlie is not very hands on in this investigation.  He does ask some questions (that’s it).  There are a couple of incidents that happen to other people, but we are not privy to them.  We are only told about them.  The whodunit can be solved before the reveal.   I felt the mystery was lacking.  There is no sleuthing and no action.  There was a subplot involving Wil that added nothing to the book.  The story moves along lethargically.  All our favorite characters are present including the adorable Diesel (love his warbles and chirps). 

We get to follow Charlie as he goes about his day-to-day life (getting up and having breakfast, feeding the cats, heading off to work, talking to Sean, etc.).  His son, Sean, has an issue with his wife regarding her coming back to work and their new home.  He seeks his father’s advice and so does Charlie’s daughter-in-law.  There is lots of talking and eating in this installment.  Melba acted like a lovesick fool. There was even a moment of jealousy which I thought was out of line.  Hiss Me Deadly is my least favorite book in A Cat in the Stacks Mysteries.  It needed some oomph (action, humor, sleuthing).  I was not a fan of the foul language in the book.  There was too much of it and it was unneeded.  I am glad that Charlie and Helen Louise are in a good place.  I am looking forward to their nuptials.  Hiss Me Deadly takes us back to Athena with a returning rocker, an electric killing, curious occurrences, a chirruping cat, a family fuss, a dwelling decision, and matrimonial determinations.  

Hiss Me Deadly will be out on Tuesday, June 27 and it can be preordered from from Amazon*.  You can find the other fourteen A Cat in the Stacks Mysteries here.  If you follow Miranda James on Amazon, they will send you an email when she has a new book release.  Thank you for joining me today.  On Tuesday, June 27 I will be featuring A Murder of Aspic Proportions by Amy Lillard.  It is the second A Sunflower Cafe Mystery.   I hope that you have a fun weekend.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader 

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