Lending a Paw: A Bookmobile Cat Mystery by Laurie Cass

               This book is so much fun.  I think the reason I find it so much fun is because of the relationship between the main character and her cat.  As someone who had cats for many years, I understood their interactions all too well.       

                Librarian Minnie Hamilton is excited to finally be on the road with her library’s bookmobile.  With so many libraries in the area being closed to save money, the bookmobile is the best way to give the community access to books.  Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with this thought.  Minnie’s boss sees the bookmobile as pointless and a waste of money.  He also happens to be the person behind the closing of the other libraries.  With this type of antagonism towards the bookmobile and libraries, Minnie knows the first day of the bookmobile has to go well.  She just doesn’t expect her cat, Eddie, to come along for the ride.

                Nor does Minnie expect to find a dead body.  Actually, it’s Eddie who finds it.  He escapes from the bookmobile (which he snuck onto in the first place) and leads Minnie to the scene.  Sadly, the person they find is Stan Larabee, the man who donated the money for the bookmobile.

                Minnie saw Stan as a good man and her friend.  That is not his reputation, though.  Most saw Stan as cruel, unkind, and not willing to give money to anyone.  Since this is not at all her experience with Stan, Minnie does not understand how people can see him this way.  It is when she starts to investigate his murder that Minnie learns about the side of Stan she never saw before.

                As I said before, I understand Minnie’s relationship with Eddie all too well.  I’ve never had a cat follow me home from the cemetery like Minnie did, but I have countless times told a cat to do (or not do) something and ended up being completely ignored.  When I read about that happening in this book, the scenes were all too familiar.      

                Of course, there are characters other than Minnie and Eddie, but I must admit some of them are a little annoying.  In particular the ones Minnie works with.  While they are annoying, only one can be seen as heading in the direction of being bad.  Although, I don’t expect him to stay that way.  Somehow, I have a feeling good qualities will come out about him in the end.

                In the meantime, I will look forward to reading about Minnie, Eddie, and the other characters in her life.  Minnie has a great deal of friends where she lives and her aunt runs a boarding house.  With so many people around Minnie at all times, there are going to be numerous stories to tell, and plenty of people to get themselves into trouble.