I held off on this one for awhile because 1. the last one wasn't great for me, and 2. I was waiting for the bestie to get it so we could read it together [since she is the one who forc...ah, I mean asked me to start these so I could read them with her] and all I can say is, I shouldn't have worried, because ohhhhhhh, this was good. MUCH better than the last one [for me]. It would have been a 5 star read for me if I hadn't figured out who the killer was early on and was working on the why when the killer was revealed. And what a reveal it was; that was one of the best I have read in any cozy in awhile. And I also had a lot of the other book figured out, so that really nailed the 4 star rating for me.

That said, the writing was very good, kept me engaged, even when I knew what was going on, and everything and everyone has just really gelled for me and I feel like that a pretty solid, fun, group and it made for a very enjoyable read.
Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Laurie Cass, and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Checking Out Crime by Laurie Cass is the 9th A Bookmobile Cat Mystery. It can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. Minnie Hamilton is a librarian in Chilson, Michigan who drives around the county with assistant librarian clerk, Julia Beaton and Minnie’s cat, Eddie. They deliver good cheer, treats, and cat cuddles along with books. After a long day in the bookmobile, Minnie is driving home when she rounds a corner and finds a man lying in the middle of the road. When Minnie learns the man was murdered, she begins investigating with help from a new friend. I just loved the addition of Detective Hal Inwood’s wife, Tabitha. She is a delight and pairs well with Minnie. The mystery was interesting. The reason for crime was unique (at least for me). There are a couple of suspects along with misdirection. I like how Eddie helps with the investigation by steering Minnie toward clues. Investigating the crime is interspersed with library duties, dates with Rafe, time spent with family, cuddling with Eddie, and worrying about where she is going to live before the snow flurries arrive. There is also much discussion about Minnie’s lack of an engagement ring. I like the cast of characters in this series. It was nice to catch up with Minnie’s family, her co-workers, friends, and the rest of the townspeople (Eddie too). I love how Minnie chats with Eddie and his adorable little responses. You can tell that the author is a cat owner. I enjoyed the heartwarming ending of Checking Out Crime that left me smiling. Checking Out Crime is a sweet cozy mystery with mysterious murder, a chatty cat, cycling cramps, a loquacious assistant, a housing predicament, and a bounty of books.

On the bookmobile, librarian, Minnie Hamilton, her co-worker, and her cat Eddie, swerve to avoid a speeding car and a short piece down the road discover the body of a bicyclist. Solving the murder gets added to Minnie's to-do list along with finding more staffing for the bookmobile and worrying if her house will be ready before the Minnesota weather forces her to move off the houseboat. Good characters and a lively plot will keep reading the latest in this enjoyable series.

Who doesn't want Minnie's job of driving the bookmobile with Eddie along fir the ride! When Minnie almost runs over a man in the road, she discovers he's already dead. Fast paces mystery with characters so real you'll fall in love with them. C'mon ride the bookmobile today! Thanks #netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. #Berkley

Checking Out Crime is the 9th book in the Bookmobile Cat cozy mystery series by Laurie Cass. Released 6th April 2021 from Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in large print hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This series has been a consistent winner in the librarian-cat-cozy-murder-smalltown-mystery sub-subgenre. The murders are off-scene and mostly bloodless, there's no graphic content, the language is clean, the characters are likeable and mostly intelligent. The narrative arc is well controlled and the plot moves along at a good pace. I never found my interest flagging at any point in the read. There are a number of side-plot and backstory threads which also progress in this book, so readers might want to read some of the earlier books or risk having some plot developments spoiled somewhat. It does work well enough as a standalone that readers won't have any trouble keeping the characters or their interrelationships straight if they read them out of order.

The climax and denouement are well done, but I admittedly found the murder motive pretty thin/unrealistic. That being said, it is a fun cozy and full of the things which we all love about small-town cozies (with cattitude!).

Four stars. Highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Minnie and Eddie are on the case again when the two of them and Julia find a body in the middle of the road when they are returning to the library. Later another body is found, but there isn't an obvious connection between the two bodies at first, but Minnie eventually finds the identity of the murderer. Looking forward to the next.

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Minnie and her rescue cat Eddie find a dead body while out on bookmobile duty. In Checking Out Crime Laurie Cass gives the reader a pleasant cozy with lots of suspects. In her real life she is trying to find someone to share bookmobile duty with no success. Will she find the murderer? Will her romantic life keep up? How will she solve her librarian's dilemna with the bookmobile?

Checking Out Crime by Laurie Cass was just the right combination of cozy mystery story line, a book mobile librarian sleuth, a few twists and turns and relatable personalities. I am not much of a cat person, but Eddie the Cat was the perfect sidekick and sounding board for Minnie, the heroine. If you are looking for a whodunnit with spunky characters and a biker (not motorcycle biker) twist, this might do the trick! Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Laurie Cass for the opportunity to review this advanced copy.

This series has been a favorite of mine since book one and it hasn't disappointed me. Spending time with Minnie and Eddie (Minnie had named him Alonzo after she found him next to the headstone of Alonzo Tillotson but Eddie put a stop to that name) is always a fun reading escape. This time Minnie is a bit distracted due to the fact that Rafe has proposed but her finder remains bare of a ring and winter is coming and she needs to figure out her living arrangements - she can't continue to live on the boat in the cold weather. She is used to making the shift every year but this time her options have changed. Rafe is still working on their house but will it be habitable for them soon enough?
All of these thoughts are swirling in her head as she, Eddie and her assistant, Julia take to the road in the book mobile to deliver books and friendship to their patrons in the county. Julia and Minnie make a great team. When Julia retired from a very stellar career in acting, she came back to her roots and she is more than an assistant. She and Eddie have become best buddies and it's fun to hear her conversations with him. All in your average day working for the local library for Minnie. Even the occasional murder to solve is not unexpected so when Minnie comes across a dead body in the road and it turns out to be a homicide she decides to do her usual sleuthing. It isn't long before the body of his wife turns up. Strange indeed.
Minnie and the rest of my favorite characters are joined by a new person - Tabitha Inwood, Detective Hal Inwood's wife of 43 years and she is a delight. I hope she gets lots of time in future stories. The mystery is, as usual, well developed and satisfying with plenty of clues to keep me guessing wrong to the end. Ir works fine as a stand alone and is perfect for biblioholics and cat lovers.
My thanks to the publisher, Berkley Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Checking Out Crime is an entertaining cozy mystery. Great plot and character development. Mystery fans will love this book.

Librarian Minnie Hamilton enjoys days spent on the bookmobile with her cat, Eddie. The pair, along with co-worker Julia, are nearly run off the road one afternoon, and shortly after discover a body in the road.
This isn’t Minnie’s first attempt at crime-solving, much to the dismay of her former boyfriend, who is a policeman, but rather than shut her down, he just listens to her ideas, some of which are actually pretty good. And unlike most cops, he doesn’t mind the input.
Meanwhile, Minnie is living on a houseboat, just praying that her fiance Rafe will hurry up and finish the house they are supposed to move into before winter sets in.
Books, cats and a mystery: what’s not to love?

Title: Checking Out Crime
Author: Laurie Cass
Genre: Cozy mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5

Librarian Minnie Hamilton and her clever cat Eddie solve a purr-fect murder, in the newest installment of the delightful Bookmobile Cat Mystery series.

Minnie and her rescue cat Eddie can often be found out and about in their bookmobile near Chilson, Michigan, delivering great reads to grateful patrons all over the county. But they always brake for trouble, and when Minnie sees a car speeding away down the road, and soon comes upon a dead bicyclist, she assumes she just missed seeing a hit-and-run.

Minnie is determined to discover who was behind the wheel, but it soon turns out that things are far more complicated than they seem and there's more to this case than meets the eye. Luckily, this librarian is ready to read the killer his rights.

This was a quick, easy read. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, but that wasn’t a problem. I’d call this a standard cozy mystery, with the MC never in any danger and a quirky setting. Eddie was my favorite character, as his personality is bigger than any of the other characters. If you need an effortless read, this is it.

Laurie Cass is a bestselling author. Checking Out Crime is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Berkley in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 3/31.)

I love bookmobiles and they are a great memory of my childhood. I would love to climb onboard with Minnie and Julia, oh and we can’t forget Eddie. How much fun would that be? Come join them and see what interesting adventures they involve you in. I think you will enjoy meeting Tabitha. She certainly adds to the story. To me there a couple of storylines in this book. I enjoyed both of them. I think you will too. I hope to come back to Chilson soon and visit with my friends again. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

I have loved this series since book one! Checking Out Crime is the 9th book in the Bookmobile Cat cozy series. This time around Librarian Minnie Hamilton, and her kitty sidekick Eddie, witness the aftermath of what appears to be a hit-and-run. A bicyclist is dead, and Minnie is on the case to find the killer. Turns out, things are much more complicated than a cyclist ran down with a car....and the killer isn't going to stop at just one dead body!

I love the characters in this series, especially Eddie. :) The plots are always entertaining, and I enjoy how the characters develop more in each book. The mystery in this newest book is engaging....plenty of sleuthing, the murder happens early getting the investigation rolling from the start, and just enough small town intrigue rounds out the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with Minne and Eddie! Can't wait for the next book in this series!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Berkley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Librarian Minnie Hamilton and her rescue cat Eddie can be found out and about in their bookmobile near Chilson, Michigan bringing great reads to grateful patrons all over the county. One day while driving Minnie sees a car sped past her and soon comes upon a dead by cyclist in the road. She assumes she just missed seeing a hit and run. Minnie wants to find the person behind the wheel but it soon turns far more complicated then they seem. Later she finds another body of a bicyclist Emily so she needs to find out how the two might be connected. Minnie comes up with 5 suspects Bob, Arielle, Warren, Cody, and Drew(Andrew). Maybe retirement is connected to Brown and Emily’s deaths since both recently retired. Turns out the killer was killing off retirees-to help balance the city’s budget in order to save his job, save his reputation, to save his career, he needed to reduce the city’s budget fast. A very fun exciting story trying to solve the mystery and keep the bookmobile going.

This was exactly the cozy mystery I needed. Starting a mystery solving librarian and her adorable cat I really couldn't ask for more. I thought the mystery was well plotted and the characters had good connection and depth. I look forward to seeing what Minnie and Eddie get up to next.

Minnie, Julia, Eddie, and the bookmobile are nearly run off the road! Then, after they collect themselves and drive on, they find a body - a bicylist who has been hit. Did the speeding car kill him? Well, Minnie, our intrepid protagonist, and her nifty cat Eddie (along with her sister Julia) find themselves investigating what turns out to be more than one murder. Yes, I said cat but don't worry- he doesn't talk exactly, only contributes a meow now and then. Minnie's got a personal problem as well- her finance Rafe hasn't finished working on the house and she's sure what's going to happen foe the winter. I don't know how I've missed this series, especially since I have such fond memories of a bookmobile that visited my neighborhood when I was a kid. It was a delightful standalone for me and I bet fans will be satisfied as well. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. The mystery is nicely twisty, the characters are spritely, and it's a fun read.

I love a visit to Chilson, Michigan with Minnie Hamilton and her bookmobile. Minnie is the town librarian and drives the bookmobile. She is driving the bookmobile back to the library when she comes across a body in the road. She tries to save the person but is not successful. She looks into the murder with a new friend of hers, I have to say I loved the addition of Tabitha. She is Detective Inwood's wife and it was so great to finally meet her. I loved her personality. I thought she fit in so well with the town and all its quirky characters. The mystery aside there were so many wonderful moments in this book. The mystery was well done and didn't figure out the killer until the end. Also as always, Minnie's cat, Eddie, steals the book. He is such a character. I love how Minnie talks to him. I can't wait to read more in this series.

Minnie and Julia are out on a bookmobile run when Minnie has to dodge an upcoming car traveling way too fast. When they nearly run over a body in the road, they're sure the fleeing vehicle was somehow involved. Minnie, with help from her friends – and Eddie – is determined to figure out the reason behind the attack and who is responsible.

This is the ninth book in the Bookmobile Cat series, which I have enjoyed from the very first book. The setting reminds me of where I grew up, both the climate and the small town-ness. I like the recurring cast of characters, and even some of the newer additions are starting to grow on me. I would love to visit Chilson for a few days, preferably in the spring or summer, and spend time meeting the people and browsing their shops. There were plenty of potential suspects in the story, including a few obligatory red herrings, and I was convinced I knew the identity of the villain – until I was proven wrong in the reveal at the end of the book! I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

The adventures of Minnie Hamilton ( book mobile driver and librarian. )and Eddie the cat continue in this latest book. Minnie teams up with Tabitha Inwood. They are looking into the deaths of 2 victims from the local bike club. Did the victims have anything in common or were their deaths just random events? Together Minnie and Tabitha are a strong force but can they solve the murders without becoming victims themselves?.