Cat in the Stacks

FIRST IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING CAT IN THE STACKS MYSTERY SERIES! Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows Charlie Harris, the good-natured librarian with a rescued Maine coon cat named Diesel that he walks on a leash. He's returned to his hometown to immerse himself in books, but soon enough he's entangled in a real-life thriller... A famous author of gory bestsellers and a former classmate of Charlie's, Godfrey Priest may be the pride of Athena, but Charlie remembers him as an arrogant, manipulative jerk, and he's not the only one. Godfrey's homecoming as a distinguished alumnus couldn't possibly go worse: by lunch, he's put a man in the hospital. By dinner, Godfrey's dead. Now it's up to Charlie, with some help from Diesel, to paw through the town's grudges and find the killer before an impatient deputy throws the book at the wrong person. But every last one of Charlie's friends and coworkers had a score to settle with the nasty novelist. As if the murder wasn't already purr-plexing enough...

Librarian Charlie Harris and his cat Diesel must catalog a killer in this mystery in the New York Times bestselling “Cat in the Stacks” series. Suspecting that someone is stealing from him, the aging and eccentric James Delacorte wants Charlie to do an inventory on his rare book collection. Soon after they begin, Delacorte is found dead at his desk, leaving Charlie with the bigger task of solving his murder. Immediately Charlie is suspicious of Delacorte's own family and relies on the help of Diesel to paw around for clues. The cat and mouse game heats up after a highly valued copy of Edgar Allan Poe's “Tamerlane” goes missing and a second murder occurs. Now Charlie and Diesel must solve the case before the killer strikes a third time, and hope curiosity doesn't kill the cat...

In this mystery in the New York Times bestselling “Cat in the Stacks” series, librarian Charlie Harris and his cat Diesel must clear the name of someone near and dear to their hearts, Charlie's own daughter. Athena College's new writer in residence is a famous native son, playwright Connor Lawton, known for his sharp writing, and sharper tongue. After an unpleasant encounter, librarian Charlie Harris heads home to a nice surprise: his daughter, Laura, is visiting and will be subbing for another professor this fall semester. It's great news until he hears who got her the job: her old flame, Connor Lawton... Fearing competition for Connor's affections, one of his admirers tries to drive Laura out of town. And then, before Connor finishes the play he is writing, he is murdered, and Laura is the prime suspect. Knowing she's innocent, Charlie and his faithful sidekick, Diesel, follow Connor's cluttered trail of angry lovers, bitter enemies, and intriguing library research to find the true killer before his daughter is forever cataloged under ""M""- or murderer.

The Ducote sisters are in a tiff with Vera Cassity over the location of this year's library fundraising gala, and Charlie does his best to stay out of it. At the gala, Vera gives a public display of rancor aimed at anyone who gets in her way. But those bitter words wind up being her last. When Charlie discovers his housekeeper Azalea standing over Vera's dead body, it's up to him, with a little help from Diesel, to clear Azalea's name, and catch a killer before his last chapter is finished.

It's National Library Week, and the Athena Public Library is planning an exhibit to honor the centenary of famous novelist Electra Barnes Cartwright-creator of the beloved Veronica Thane series. Charlie has a soft spot for Cartwright's girl detective stories (not to mention an extensive collection of her books!). When the author agrees to make a rare public appearance, the news of her whereabouts goes viral overnight, and series devotees and book collectors converge on Athena. After all, it's rumored that Cartwright penned Veronica Thane stories that remain under wraps, and one rabid fan will stop at nothing-not even murder-to get hold of the rare books...

Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, has donated a set of Civil War.

Springtime in Mississippi is abloom with beauty, but the library's employees are too busy worrying to stop and smell the flowers. The new library director, Oscar Reilly, is a brash, unfriendly Yankee who's on a mission to cut costs-and his first targets are the archive and the rare book collection. As annoying as a long-overdue book, Reilly quickly raises the hackles of everyone on staff, including Charlie's fiery friend Melba, whom Reilly wants to replace with someone younger. But his biggest offense is declaring all four-legged creatures banned from the stacks. With enemies aplenty, the suspect list is long when Reilly's body is discovered in the library. But things take a turn for the worse when a threatening e-mail throws suspicion on Melba. Charlie is convinced that his friend is no murderer, especially when he catches sight of a menacing stranger lurking around the library. Now he and Diesel will have to read between the lines, before Melba is shelved under "G" for guilty...

Charlie Harris is stressed out. The Southern Academic Libraries Association is holding this year's annual meeting at Athena College. Since Charlie is the interim library director, he must deliver the welcome speech to all the visiting librarians. And as if that weren't bad enough, the keynote address will be delivered by Charlie's old nemesis from library school. It's been thirty years since Charlie has seen Gavin Fong, and he's still an insufferable know-it-all capable of getting under everyone's skin. In his keynote, Gavin puts forth a most unpopular opinion: that degreed librarians will be obsolete in the academic libraries of the future. So when Gavin drops dead, no one seems too upset... But Charlie, who was seen having a heated argument with Gavin the day before, has jumped to the top of the suspect list. Now Charlie and Diesel must check out every clue to refine their search for the real killer among them before the next book Charlie reads comes from a prison library...

Charlie Harris is busy enjoying his new grandson when a mysterious man with a connection to Charlie's family starts visiting the library, bringing with him troubling questions about an unsolved murder . . . Charlie may be a proud new grandfather, but he and Diesel still have work to do at Athena College and the small Mississippi town's public library. He's too busy to deal with true-crime writer Jack Pemberton, who wants Charlie as the subject of his latest book-and who won't take no for an answer. A more appealing proposition for Charlie is spending time helping a kind, elderly man navigate the library's genealogical database. But he's shocked when he learns that the visitor's search is focused on a member of his own family: his late aunt's husband. Charlie befriends the man and considers inviting him to stay in his home, but he's soon given reason to question that notion. Jack is certain that Charlie's new houseguest was involved in a shocking homicide that took place years ago in a small town near Athena. As this cold case heats up, Charlie and Diesel have to uncover a killer who may already be too close to home . . .

December twenty-fifth is right around the corner, and Charlie is making his list and checking it twice. He is doing his best to show some peace and goodwill toward his nosy neighbor Gerry Arbitron, a real estate agent who seems to have designs on his house (and maybe on him, as well), while preparing for a very important role, indeed-his first Christmas as a grandfather. The last thing Charlie expects is to gain several new additions to his family. Charlie finds a box on his doorstep with five kittens inside and a note begging him to keep them safe. With Diesel's help, Charlie welcomes the tiny felines into the Harris household just as Gerry decides it is time to throw a lavish holiday party. Determined to make her mark on Athena, Gerry instead winds up dead at her very own party. Though attempts to dig into her past come up empty, Charlie and his girlfriend, Helen Louise, witness two heated exchanges involving Gerry before her death: one with a leading citizen and another with the wife of a good friend. Will one of these ladies wind up on the sheriff's naughty list? Charlie and Diesel have to wrap up the case before the special season is ruined by a sinister scrooge.

In addition to his library duties and his role as doting grandad, Charlie has enrolled in an early medieval history course offered by young, charismatic professor Carey Warriner. Charlie feels a bit out of place-his fellow classmates are half his age-except for Dixie Bell Compton, another "mature" student. When Charlie hears an angry exchange between her and their professor, his interest in piqued. He's even more intrigued when she shows up at his office asking for a study partner. Charlie turns her down and is saddened to learn just a few days later that Dixie has been killed. Charlie wonders if Professor Warriner had anything to do with Dixie's death. Warriner is married to a fellow professor who happens to be a successful author. There are rumors on campus that their marriage was on the rocks. Was Dixie's death the result of a lovers' triangle gone bad? Charlie soon discovers that the professor's wife may have some secrets of her own, and his suspect list is only getting longer. As he and Diesel step further into the tangled web of relationships, someone else is viciously killed. Whose jealousy finally erupted into murderous rage? Was it a crime of passion, or is there another more sinister motive? Charlie races to unravel this mystery: and to draw out the culprit, he may just have to put his own life on the line . . .

Charlie Harris has sworn off investigating murder and mayhem after a recent close call. Instead, he's delighted to cheer on his daughter, Laura, who's starring in a production of Careless Whispers. The theater department at Athena College is debuting the play written by a fledgling playwright with local connections and Charlie's son-in-law, Frank Salisbury, will be calling the directorial shots. Laura is upset to learn that Luke Lombardi, an overbearing actor she knew from her time in Hollywood will also be taking part in the production as a guest artist. Lombardi arrives with an entourage in tow and promptly proceeds to annoy everyone involved with the production. When he collapses and dies on stage, after drinking from a glass Laura handed him, she becomes the chief suspect in his murder. Charlie knows his daughter is innocent, and he's not going to let anyone railroad his little girl. So, despite his intentions to put his amateur sleuthing days behind him, Charlie has to take center stage, and with Diesel's help, shine a spotlight on the real killer.

Charlie and Diesel, along with Charlie's fiancée, Helen Louise Brady, are heading to Asheville, North Carolina, to spend a week at a boutique hotel and participate in a gathering of a mystery reader's club composed of patrons of the Athena Public Library. In addition to seeing the local sights, the members will take turns giving talks on their favorite authors. The always spry Ducote sisters, friends of the hotel's owners, are helping underwrite the expenses, and they've insisted that Charlie, Helen, and Diesel join them. Anxious to get Helen Louise away from her bistro for a vacation, Charlie readily agrees. While Charlie is looking forward to relaxing with Helen Louise and Diesel, other members of the group have ulterior motives, including a long-standing score to settle. When an intrusive, uninvited guest turns up dead, only one mystery club member with a connection to the deceased appears to have a motive to kill. But could the answer really be that simple? Charlie and Diesel, along with the detecting Ducote sisters, know that every murder plot has an unexpected twist.

When Charlie inherits a house from his grandfather, he and his cat Diesel discover some old bones that lead to a shocking new mystery in this latest installment in the New York Times bestselling Cat in the Stacks Mysteries.

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. Some are protesting his music on moral grounds, and Wil and his entourage have been the target of several acts of petty harassment. At first they're 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's up to Charlie and Diesel to find out who hates Wil Threadgill enough to silence his song... forever!

Librarian Charlie Harris and his ever-intuitive feline friend Diesel must catch a killer in a deadly game of cat and mouse where no one is who they seem to be... At last, Charlie and Helen Louise's wedding is only a month away. They're busy preparing for the big day, and the last thing Charlie needs is a new mystery to solve. Enter Tara Martin, a shy, peculiar woman who has recently started working part-time at Helen Louise's bistro and helping Charlie in the archive. Tara isn't exactly friendly, and she has an angry outburst at the library that leaves Charlie baffled. And then she abruptly leaves a catered housewarming party Charlie's son Sean is throwing to celebrate his new home in the middle of her work shift. Before ducking out of the party, Tara looked terrified and Charlie wonders if she's deliberately trying to escape notice. Is she hiding from someone? When Tara is viciously attacked and lands in the hospital, Charlie knows his instincts were correct: Tara was in trouble, and someone was after her. With the help of his much beloved cat, Diesel, Charlie digs deeper, and discovers shocking glimpses into Tara's past that they could never have predicted. Will they catch the villain before Charlie's own happily ever after with Helen Louise is ruined?