FILE M FOR MURDER

This book was a gift from someone who knows I love 3 things in life. Cats. Bad Book Covers. MURDER. 

FILE M FOR MURDER: by Miranda James.

Expectations:

This pudgy cat is intense. He's looking through these books because someone got murdered and he's going to solve the case! The secrets are in the books! Please tell me this is a detective cat and he can talk like that Wishbone kids show or something. Probably not, but that would be cool. 

What I got:

Well. No. The cat belongs to the main character, a very affable widower called Charlie who is a librarian and has two very nice full-grown children and many charming friends in the community of Mississippi where he lives. He gets caught up in criminal cases a lot, and this time his daughter is in trouble and some jerk ex-boyfriend of hers gets murdered.  

The cat, "Diesel", is his big Maine Coon he takes everywhere and walks around on a leash. Diesel doesn't speak or solve murders exactly but he "warbles", "chirps", "mutters" and all kinds of strange descriptions of cats making cat sounds. He is also awesome and gets Charlie attention from all the ladies in town. Seriously, what I've learned is that women apparently love men with cats. So if anyone wants a date, get yourself a giant cat on a leash. BAM. The ladies can't resist it. I mean, I even had a soft spot for Charlie by the time the book was over. He was very charming and kind and clever and - SEE? SEE THERE? Works every time. 

My biggest issue with this book was how damn anticlimactic it was. They worked up forever to the end and then literally there was no fight involving giant cats or anything. I was totally expecting Diesel to go crazy and attack the murderer. I was disappointed. 

Cover Execution:

6/10

Meh. There was a cat and he does go to the library with Charlie but one of the biggest issues is that I didn't even NOTICE the butterfly on the book. It blends right in and explains the cat's doings about those books and his intense look. I call this a failure in legibility more so than a bad cover. But I also like cats and books so I'm biased.