pagesofjulia

So I’m still working on Murder Past Due, by Miranda James.

First, about the author: Miranda James is a pseudonym for Dean James, Associate Director of Collection Development at the HAM-TMC Library (that’s the Houston Academy of Medicine – Texas Medical Center, whew), and he’s general manager at Murder by the Book, a local bookstore. Since I work in a library in the Texas Med Center too, we’re neighbors; he’s also a fellow alum of the University of North Texas Library & Information Sciences program. Aren’t you surprised he hasn’t come by to meet me yet? Maybe after I write about his book. Maybe if I say nice things. 🙂

Really, I am enjoying it. It’s decidedly a “cozy” mystery: our amateur detective hero is a retiring and kindly man, and a librarian (if you can believe it); his Maine coon cat, Diesel, who has been mentioned here before, adds a warm fuzzy note, almost literally. It’s a comfortable and, well, cozy story. I have to admit that compared to the last few book-related mysteries I’ve read, it’s more believable and realistic; more of a mystery novel, if you will, and less a novelty. I’m engaged in the story. I make my way happily along on my lunch breaks, all the while mourning over the stack of books piling literally up around me as I go about my daily routine… not enough time to read, as usual.

I haven’t even started Henrietta Lacks. The new Connelly isn’t here yet but you can bet that’ll move to the top of the stack! Also I finally came across a copy of A Darkness More Than Night the other day – the final Connelly novel that I haven’t read. So that’s in the stack, but I have some time to let that one rest, seeing as how it was first published in 2001! I’m racing my mountain bike this weekend and the next… pretty busy in general, in fact, also with the readers’ advisory class I’m taking right now and loving by the way. Be patient with me, forgiving reader, and I’ll keep you up to date as I move along. As I tell my patrons here at the library, there are too many good books in the world for anyone to read them all. But I do my best.

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: book mystery, mystery |