A librarian, who's rarely in the library, and gets to solve crimes in her spare time. What's not to love? I really enjoyed the first half of the story and then it felt too long and slow moving. I enjoyed the setting, the characters, and overall, the writing. I will definitely give Laurie Cass another try.

It has been a while since I read a book in this series and I think I will have to go back and catch up. It is not that I needed the backstory to understand the current one. It is just I realized how much I enjoyed Eddie and his human Minnie. Eddie, the bookmobile cat, may not have a vast vocabulary and Minnie often struggles to understand him (she is a mere human) but he is a good guy to have in your corner as Minnie discovers when she is in danger.

She is getting married soon but her wedding takes a back seat to investigating- first a poisoning that might ruin best friend Kristen’s restaurant and then a murder that might or might not be connected. Nothing is going to stop her from helping her friend, even when Kristen tells her to stop. She does not go out of her way to get into dangerous situations but she is persistent. Even before she twigs, the killer thinks she knows more than she does. And that can be perilous. Cue Eddie. He is not going to let his human down.

I enjoyed the read and give it four purrs and two paws up.

No Paw to Stand On: A Bookmobile Cat Mystery
By Laurie Cass
Berkely
2024

Review by Cynthia Chow

As the August temperatures soar to blistering levels in Chilson, Michigan, assistant director of the Chilson District Library Minnie Hamilton is looking for ways to cool off when the AC goes out on their beloved bookmobile. A stop on the shore of Lake Michigan is a brilliant idea, but her friend Kristen Jurek’s inspiration to battle the heat goes very wrong. Her London-inspired ice cream treats go very wrong when 8 customers have allergic reactions to her gluten-free waffle cones, sending the restaurant owner into a spiral of depression. Minnie is more than a little alarmed at her bestie’s uncharacteristic passivity, even though Kristen is understandably occupied by having to care for her new twins. Minnie believes that there’s no way her friend could have been careless enough to cause food poisoning, which means that it must have been a case of intentional tampering and poisoning.

Having already been involved in at least a dozen murders, everyone assumes that Minnie and her bookmobile cat Eddie will once again be involved in this case. Detective-in-Training Ash Wolverson insists that the police can’t intercede until it’s an actual case, which it becomes it’s discovered that an allergy-inducing ingredient had been added to the waffle cones. Minnie prods Kristen into giving up a list of those who might want her to go out of business, but it gets complicated when the Chilson Library is plagued by a series of parking lot vandalism. Eventually Minnie narrows her list of suspects down to a failed restauranteur, Kristin’s chef who is branching off on her own, and a nemesis linked to a high school track competition. A death -fortunately not one of Kristen’s poisoned customers – escalates the need for Minnie to find the culprit who may be targeting the town’s businesses and library.

This 12th in the series focuses on Minnie’s adventures through Chilson as she attempts to discover who is sabotaging their restaurants and Kristen in particular. Their friendship continues to evolve and grow now that Kristen is a fine-dining restaurant owner and now married with twins. Minnie herself is planning her upcoming nuptials to middle school principal Rafe Niswander, and the loss of their officiant is just one item on her growing to-do list. While there are fewer expeditions on the bookmobile that became her mission to reach the outskirts of her northwest lower Michigan town, Eddie the bookmobile cat continues to play a vital role within the library and Minnie’s life. Readers will enjoy spending time with these beloved characters who support one another as their lives change and their families grow. Library lovers and pet-friendly readers will find themselves at home in the latest installment of this reliably entertaining series.

I still can’t get enough of this library themed cozy series with perhaps the most intelligent cat ever. This installment was a flurry of activity with only a few weeks until Minnie and Raff’s wedding, vandalism at the library, a serious drama surrounding her BFFs restaurant and, of course, a murder. Poor Minnie needs a vacation after this, I hope she and Rafa go on a relaxing honeymoon.

The one part of the book that struck me the most was Kristen’s character. She just had twins and is trying to run her restaurant while taking care of two fresh infants. The author tried to show Kristen as frazzled but to me it seemed like she was suffering from post partum depression. I don’t know if that’s the author’s intent or not, but I hope things calm down for Kristen in the next book as well.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie


Hamilton is an assistant library director and manages the bookmobile in Chilson, Michigan. She is one of my all-time favorite librarians and cat ladies; it is always a joy to open a new cozy mystery in this series. Minnie and her fiancé Rafe are putting the final touches on their wedding plans, with no time to devote to solving criminal shenanigans. Helping the sheriff’s office solve murders keeps Minnie and Eddie on their toes in this summer tourist town. Eddie is the feline that adopted her shortly after she moved to Chilson, and she confides almost everything in him. This dynamic duo’s photo could be in an illustrated dictionary of idioms for “love me, love my cat”.

One thing I appreciate about this novel is how well the author demonstrates Minnie, Eddie, her fiancé Rafe, and all other characters through realistic conversations and behaviorsMinnie . They grow and change as most people do while their basic characteristics remain the same. Minnie still believes she has the very best job in the world. Minnie converses with Eddie to help her work through challenges, even though most of his responses are Mrrr. I enjoy Minnie’s game, when the library is closed and silent, of listening to her favorite literary characters talk throughout the stacks. Not to be outdone, the director, Graydon, demonstrates his sense of humor even through the stress of recent vandalism at the library.

It was a hot, humid August day when the A/C on the bookmobile stopped working, so when Minnie got a desperate call from her best friend, Kristen, they finished their work early. The new mom of twins and owner of an upscale local restaurant could usually handle anything but today, she sounded as if she lost her last friend. Kristen’s restaurant staff had just called to tell her that a new treat they began to serve had gone horribly wrong. On hot days, they offered ice cream in gluten-free waffle cones to customers as they left. Cones were made from a recipe Kristen designed. So far, eight people that afternoon had gotten ill, two seriously enough to go to the hospital. She called the health department, devastated and worried that she would get shut down or worse, lose the restaurant she had poured herself into for several years.

Three Seasons would, indeed, be shut down for the course of the investigation. Minnie is determined to make this better for her best friend. Shouldn’t it be much easier and safer to solve than a murder? After learning of two people who might dislike Kristen enough to make patrons ill and ruin her business, Minnie was ready to roll. When she visited Cherise, the manager of another upscale restaurant, they got into a heated argument until Minnie saw the just-murdered body of Remi, Cherise’s key staff member, in the back room.

Kristen no longer wanted Minnie to be involved in any way to discover what, or who, went wrong with the ice cream cones. Kristen was not herself, acting as if all the fight had gone out of her. Negative online reviews hit most restaurants and smaller eateries throughout Chilson. An embittered former restaurateur staged a one-man protest against Kristen’s restaurant, and tourists were concerned about where to eat.

During the investigation Minnie continued to secretly conduct, several challenges arose. The minister who was going to officiate her and Rafe’s wedding had an accident that prevented him from doing so and they couldn’t find an available replacement. Kristen, exhausted from the demands of two infants, learned that a poison had been in the ice cream waffle cones. When the health department allowed her to re-open Three Seasons, very few patrons returned. Minnie and her trusty feline sidekick, Eddie, were at a loss of how to help Kristen.

There were enough suspects to keep me guessing throughout. One consideration was whether the poisoning at Kristen’s restaurant and the murder of a key staff member at the other restaurant were connected. Thankfully, Rafe and Minnie are a perfect team, as he, like Eddie, is a good listener. When she gets too intensely involved with a case, his support and sense of humor are life savers. The end was more than satisfactory after every challenge had been resolved, and Eddie did his part to help his human when it seemed all was lost. I highly recommend this cozy mystery and its series to those who love cozy mysteries, libraries, cats, long-time friendships, and romance.

I always love a good Eddie Mrrr in this series. The conversations between Minnie and Eddie are always my favorite. It reminds me of myself talking to my cats.
 
The storyline started different than the previous books but it works well. It made the story more interesting. We did not get to see a lot of Hal Inwood in this one and it made me wonder why. A part of me did want to know why Kristen was a little distant when Minnie was trying to help solve the mystery of the ice cream cones. It just seemed a bit off considering we have seen Kristen’s dominating personality in previous books.
 
I love how the endings wrap up with this series. Minnie always has me guessing how she will get out of the situations she finds herself in.
 
 
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for my review.

After having reading a few heavy, dark psychological thrillers I was looking forward to a light, cute mystery and that’s exactly what this was.

No Paw To Stand On is the 12th in a series but I didn’t feel that I needed to have read the previous books to know what was going on. I will say is that there were A LOT of side characters to keep track of.

This book reminded me of one of those Hallmark Movies And Mysteries movies, in the best way. I happen to love Hallmark so that was great. It was very simple and not dark at all. Even the murder was pretty light. The characters weren’t really fully fleshed and you didn’t get a good grasp on them or their backstory. Normally I wouldn’t like that in a book but it was fine to me in this one.

While I wouldn’t say this was a page turner, it was interesting enough to keep my attention. Even being a mystery I just felt very warm and cozy when reading this. All in all this was a nice palate cleanser and I did enjoy reading it.

Thank you Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book. The mystery kept me guessing. I like the town and the characters. I appreciate that the characters move forward in the series.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

No Paw to Stand On is book #12 in the Bookmobile Cat Mystery series by Laurie Cass.

It was such a treat to catch up with Minnie, Eddie, family and friends. Minnie is so relatable to me as I have the same type of discussions with my cats. The characters are wonderful. I like how they are there to help each other. The mystery was interesting and kept me guessing until the end. Definitely an intense wrap-up! The ending was so sweet and it brought tears to my eyes. I recommend this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

4.5 stars

Minnie Hamilton, bookmobile librarian extraordinaire and part-time amateur sleuth, is preparing her for her wedding when she is tasked with finding out what happened at her best friend's restaurant. Several people have gone to the hospital and Minnie suspects a poisoning but happens when one of the suspects turns up dead? Minnie has to figure it out while finding the person vandalizing the library, investigating the bad reviews being left all over town, and planning her wedding.

I had an excellent time reading this book. I love getting to visit with the town of Chilson. Minnie is such a fun character to read about and the mystery was so entertaining. I really enjoyed that there were multiple mysteries happening at once. But I do have to say, it was a little easy to figure out and I felt like Kristen's personality shift was never quite explained or resolved to my satisfaction so I deducted half a star for that. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes cozy mysteries and people who just like reading a nice cozy book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Laurie Cass for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

We are back to northern Michigan and smack in the middle of the summer. Minnie and Eddie are taking the library to patrons all while trying not to melt in the heat. That is until Miinie's best friend, Kristen calls. In addition to working for the library, driving the bookmobile, keeping her cat, Eddie, out of trouble, and planning a wedding Minnie is pulled into an investigation at just who could have sabotauged Kristen's restaurants and are they the same person that is leaving scathing reviews about restaurants around town.

I enjoyed this mystery. While I never fully warmed to Minnie I like the rest of the characters (especially Eddie) and the Bookmobile world. However, this is a slice of life cozy mystery which means there is a lot of non-mystery related information and the pace is a little slower. This makes it a bit more difficult to just jump into the mystery mid-series. I'm just not invested enough in the characters to thoroughly enjoy time just spent in their lives.

I did like the mystery and was with Minnie on worrying about Kristen and trying to figure out just what was going on. While this isn't perfect I enjoyed it enough that it confirmed that I want to read the rest of the series - starting at book 1. I'm looking forward to meeting Minnie, Eddie, Rafe, and everyone else at the beginning!

Small town middle-aged librarian
Ms.Cass pens an interesting collection of characters thrown into a frightening situation. People are getting sick, nasty reviews are popping up on beloved restaurants and more than one body is found. Who is responsible and why is this happening in their friendly tourist driven town? Nicely plotted with a few twists, It's a very enjoyable read. I'd recommend to any cozy lover.
I requested and received a NetGalley Arc to peruse gratis and offer my opinion in the same.

It's hot hot hot in Michigan and the bookmobile s ac decided to quit. But it's Kristen who seems to be in hot water. Several people took sick after eating the free ice creams she'd been giving out. Was it just a fluke or was there something sinister going on ? Would the health dept close the restaurant once word got out that there was an outbreak of food poisoning?.Of course Minnie has to investigate. And then there's the vandalism of the sprinkler heads at the library. Was it just a consequences or were the two event tied together? Lots of action and another great one in this series...

The restaurant owned by Kristen, Minnie’s best friend, is shut down after several customers got sick on her specialty ice cream treat. While digging around to learn what happened, Minnie learns that another restaurant’s employee is found dead. It looks like someone has a vendetta against restaurants in the area, and Minnie is determined to figure out who it is.

This is book #12 in a series I have counted among my favorites since the very first book. I love Eddie, the bookmobile cat, who is one of my favorite book pets. The other recurring characters feel like old friends by now, and I enjoy catching up with them. A lot of the story in this book is centered around Minnie and Rafe’s wedding, with a side story of library vandalism, so the murder investigation isn’t the primary focus, but there were still enough suspects to make it a bit of a puzzle. I figured out the most likely killer relatively early, which turned out to be correct, but it took longer to determine the motive.

I look forward to returning to upper Michigan to read about Minnie and Eddie’s next adventure.

Minnie and bookmobile cat Eddie face library vandalism, murder, and food poisoning in this recent visit to Chilson. Check out my complete review on www.reviewingtheevidence.com

Another fun installment in the A Bookmobile Cat mystery series. I love that Minnie and Rafe had their wedding.

I was able to guess who the killer was but that did not keep me from enjoying the story or the reveal. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I really enjoy this series! I read more for updates on the characters than the actual mysteries. Minnie is getting to that place of being a little too noisy, but this is still a series I like reading. Looking forward to the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this title. Minnie is back. She's trying to plan her wedding, and people are dying in the restaurants of her town in Michigan. Minnie has a vested interest because patrons of her friend, Kristen's restaurant, were poisoned, and bad reviews will ruin her business. Who is out to get the restaurants in the village? In addition, there seems to be no one to officiate Minnie and Rafe's wedding. What a summer! Add a little library vandalism by some very unlikely suspects, and you have the newest lighthearted installment of the Bookmobile Mysteries.

I’ve read all, of the books in this series and really enjoy them. This one was a little sadder because of the murder victim. There were a few viable suspects and I wasn’t totally surprised by who the culprit was. At one point in the story, Eddie the cat channels Lassie. It had a satisfying ending.

I have a read every book in this series and enjoyed them all. This one was a little different than the others it seemed to focus more on Minnie's life and less on the mystery. Still and enjoyable read.