**Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, are back and investigating the murder of a new, nosy neighbor in the latest installment of the *New York Times* bestselling series.** Christmas is only a couple of weeks away and Charlie is busy looking after his two grandkids, Charlie and Rosie, and the five kittens someone left on the front doorstep. Diesel is always hovering nearby to lend a paw during babysitting duties. During this time of peace and goodwill, Charlie is trying hard to fend off the attentions of a new neighbor who has designs on his house...and maybe on him as well. The neighbor is a real estate agent who, despite Charlie's lack of interest in selling, wants to sell Charlie's house for him. She has also taken on the role of the neighborhood busybody and throws the most lavish holiday party in Athena. But, before the night is over, the new neighbor is found dead at her own party. Several guests overheard Charlie's girlfriend Helen Louise having a...
MURDER PAST DUE
CLASSIFIED AS MURDER
FILE M FOR MURDER
OUT OF CIRCULATION
THE SILENCE OF THE LIBRARY
ARSENIC AND OLD BOOKS
NO CATS ALLOWED
TWELVE ANGRY LIBRARIANS
CLAWS FOR CONCERN
SIX CATS A SLAYIN’
BLESS HER DEAD LITTLE HEART
DEAD WITH THE WIND
DIGGING UP THE DIRT
FIXING TO DIE
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 2018 by Dean James
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: James, Miranda, author.
Title: Six cats a slayin’ / Miranda James.
Description: First edition. | New York: Berkley Prime Crime, October 2018. |
Series: Cat in the stacks mystery; 10
Identifiers: LCCN 2018023377 | ISBN 9780451491091 (hardback) | ISBN 9780451491107 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Murder—Investigation—Fiction. | Librarians—Fiction. | Cats—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Traditional British. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3610.A43 S59 2018 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018023377
First Edition: October 2018
Cover art by Dan Craig
Cover design by Lesley Worrell and Katie Anderson
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, as always, thanks to my amazing editor, Michelle Vega, and the team at Berkley who do so much for me: Jennifer Monroe, Tara O’Connor, and Elisha Katz. Rock on, ladies!
Thanks also to my agent, the inimitable Nancy Yost, and her team: Sarah E. Younger, Natanya Wheeler, and Amy Rosenbaum. My career couldn’t be in better hands. Y’all rock on, too!
Without the wonderful friends in my life who support me on a daily basis, I wouldn’t get very far doing anything. So many of them to thank: Julie Herman, Patricia Orr, Terry Farmer, John Kwiatkowski, Carolyn Haines, Don Herrington, Sally Woods, McKenna Jordan, Brenda Jordan, Megan Bladen-Blinkoff, Sandy Wallesch, my fellow Femmes Fatales, and my sisters in the Cozy Mystery Share a Palooza on Facebook: you’re all a privilege to know.
Finally, a special thanks, as always, to the readers who have taken Charlie and Diesel to their hearts so fervently. My appreciation for your enthusiasm and support is tremendous. Every book I write, I write for you.
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
ONE
I opened the envelope and read the enclosed invitation. After the import of it had sunk in, I balled up the stiff card and threw it across the kitchen. I muttered a curse to myself.
Diesel, my Maine Coon cat, saw this action as an invitation to play. He darted after the wadded-up card and started batting it around the floor. I watched, my mind busy trying to come up with polite ways to say
“What’s Mr. Cat playing with?”
