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    Out of Circulation
    Out of Circulation
    Out of Circulation
    Audiobook8 hours

    Out of Circulation

    Written by Miranda James

    Narrated by Erin Bennett

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook


    The Ducote sisters are in a tiff with Vera Cassity over the location of this year's library fundraising gala, and Charlie would rather curl up in a corner than get into the fray. It seems everyone-even his housekeeper Azalea-has it in for Vera. And at the gala, she gives them good reason, with a public display of rancor aimed at anyone who gets in her way.

    But those bitter words wind up being her last. When Charlie discovers Azalea standing over Vera's dead body, it's up to him-with a little help from Diesel-to clear Azalea's name, and catch a killer before his last chapter is finished.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 29, 2014
    ISBN9781452688862
    Out of Circulation

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    Reviews for Out of Circulation

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      A fundraiser for Friends of the Library in Athena, Mississippi, is the site of a murder – of a Friends’ board member. Vera Cassity is an obnoxious woman who has no friends and husband with a roving eye. But she certainly didn’t deserve to die. The movers and shakers want Charlie Harris to solve the case, now that the sheriff who’s leading the investigation zeroes in on Miss Azalea, whose police-officer daughter Kanesha would normally be in charge of the murder case. Even she, normally antagonistic about amateur sleuths like Charlie butting into police business, wants him to help. Charlie’s willing to help. After all Miss Azalea is his housekeeper/cook, much to the chagrin of Kanesha.Things get complicated … and Charlie gets bogged down in town history when he thinks that may be an important cue. Of course, this book is part of the “Cat in the Stacks” mystery series and Diesel, the Maine coon cat is very much front and center. He’s a big ball of neediness, so he’s rarely away from Charlie’s side. I find Diesel annoying, but not enough to stop reading the series, which is among my favorites.
    • 3/5
      Another fun installment of the "Cat in the Stacks" mysteries, this time letting us meet some of the upper-crust of Charlie's hometown of Athena, Mississippi, as well as learning more about his housekeeper, the matronly Azalea and her prickly policewoman daughter Kanesha. I enjoy seeing the actual mystery and Charlie's life, friends, and family get about equal time in the book, and once more, many plausible suspects are presented to keep you guessing until the end.
    • 4/5
      Out of Circulation is the fourth Cat in the Stacks mystery. The cat is a rescued Maine Coon named Diesel for the loudness of his purr. His rescuer is a librarian named Charlie Harris. They live in fictional Athena, Mississippi.Our book opens in Charlie's house, where he's expecting something he finds unsettling: a confrontation. He joins under the orders of Miss An'gel Ducote, who has been ordering Athena's citizens around for most of her 80+ years. Vera Cassity is not going to let Miss An'gel tell her what to do. The object of contention is the same as it is every year the Friends of the Athena Public Library board members are discussing their fundraising winter gala. The Ducote sisters want it held at their 1823 River Hill mansion, which has been in their family since it was built. Mrs. Cassity wants it held at Ranelagh, the antebellum mansion she and her husband Morton ('Morty') bought 15 years ago. Vera is the grande dame wannabe. I'm not getting the impression that anyone else would like for her to obtain her goal. (Charlie, now 52, inherited his house from his Aunt Dottie. He spent much of his adult life in Texas, where his wife Jackie died. So he's part of the town, yet being away so long means he's not always up on the undercurrents.)We soon learn that Sissy Beauchamp, one of the board members, and Vera Cassity loathe each other. We're also treated to a morsel of juicy gossip about them, not long after a morsel about Vera's brother, Amory Hobson. Meow! Charlie and his boarder, Stewart Delacorte, are both new members of the board. Stewart is definitely on the Ducote sisters' side. No one likes Vera, so no points for guessing which side Charlie chooses. If you enjoy barbed conversation delivered in mock-sweet tones, you'll have fun with this scene.After that meeting, Charlie decides he and Diesel need a break at the delicious-sounding patisserie owned by their dear friend, Helen Louise Brady. There we're introduced to Sissy's brother, who has the high-falutin name Henry Ainsworth Beauchamp IV. (At least he has the sense to go by 'Hank'.) There's obviously tension between them, but they're not sharing in public.See book one, Murder Past Due, for more about Charlie's younger boarder, Justin Wardlaw. See book two, Classified As Murder, for the first meeting of Charlie's son, Sean, and the lovely Alexandra Pendergrast. (Book two is also where we were introduced to Stewart Delacorte and his champagne-colored poodle, Dante. Luckily, Dante and Diesel are friends.) We met Laura Harris, Charlie's daughter, in book three, Classified As Murder. She's dating one of the local professors, Frank Salisbury. Charlie is hoping Frank can persuade Laura to stay in Athena.Vera Cassity may not be popular in Athena, but someone who truly despises her is Azalea Berry, Charlie's housekeeper. She's African-American and works for Charlie by her choice, not her daughter's. Azalea won't tell Charlie what she has against Vera, but she tells him that if he lets that woman back in his house, his late aunt will haunt him and Azalea herself won't come back.Stewart and Justin give us more information about Vera Cassity in chapter four. She's Stewart's godmother because she and his mother were high school best friends. Vera doesn't approve of Stewart being gay, so they see very little of each other.
    • 5/5
      When you are the town busybody and have antagonized so many people in your community, it’s a big job to narrow down the suspect list when you turn up murdered. This was Vera’s plight and Charlie’s quest. He is hard-pressed to find the real killer when his beloved housekeeper becomes a person of interest to the sheriff, her daughter having been taken off the case. There are some twists and turns in this cozy as well as some developments in the characters’ lives. This entertaining cozy has books, a cat, a dog, the murder of a scoundrel, and it’s Christmas - what more is there!
    • 3/5
      Charlie Harris is a librarian in Athena, Mississippi. He’s also on the board of the Friends of the Library, and one night while they are having a meeting at his home, he is privvy to an unfortunate conversation between the Ducote sisters, grande dames of Athena society, and Vera Cassity, an upstart who aspires to their position. Vera argued that her home, Ranelagh, would be the only one to hold the gala, as it had the largest dining room. But An’gel Ducote was nothing if not astute and sharp-witted, and managed to convey the fact that it would be difficult to ask people for money if they weren’t having fun - and there was nothing fun about a sit-down dinner. After this uncomfortable conversation, Vera left in a huff - once she realizes the rest of the board members agreed with the Ducotes.But Vera isn’t about to give up easily - she goes so far as to threaten Charlie and even his boarder Justin, who is the recipient of a scholarship from Vera; and even Diesel, his Maine Coon cat.. It seems she really will stop at nothing to get her way. Things get worse when Charlie’s housekeeper Azalea finds out she’s been in the house and threatens to quit if she shows up again - but won’t tell Charlie why she hates her as much as everyone else seems to do.When the library gala is held and Vera shows her usual asperity, the Ducotes have one more trick up their sleeve to stop her in her tracks. But when she storms off and Charlie later hears Azalea calling for help, he finds her locked in a room...with the body of Vera. It appears she either fell or was pushed down the stairs, and Sheriff Tidwell sets his sight on Azalea as the murderer - if only to make her daughter, his deputy Kanesha Berry, uncomfortable and look bad to the public.So Kanesha, who has always been aloof and professional towards Charlie, asks him to help clear her mother's name and find the true murderer. She knows that Charlie has a knack for putting clues together, and since he's sure Azalea is innocent, agrees to help her. But when Charlie starts digging into which person wanted Vera dead - and there were probably many - it comes down to who would be willing to commit murder in order to silence her forever...I've read four books in this series, and at least this one had not only the murder to consider, but a subplot or two to keep things fairly interesting. In this book Charlie's relationship with Helen is moving forward, along with those of his son and daughter's. They don't take precedence over the murder, however; and that's how it should be. We also learn a little bit more about Azalea's family, although nothing new on her dynamics with her own daughter.All in all, I have to wonder if there's any vegetables grown in Mississippi aside from green beans. They seem to have them with almost every meal (and on a side note, I detest them myself). Maybe Azalea can introduce everyone to the pleasures of eating corn or peas - or even carrots once in a while. I would also caution Sean to move out quickly, since every member of Charlie's household has been suspected in a murder case so far. Just a thought...Also, while Charlie might own a Maine Coon, he obviously doesn't know you can't give cats garlic. It's toxic. Yet he has no problem feeding this to his feline, while giving your cat a small amount of cheese won't hurt it. Yes, many cats are lactose intolerant, but not all. I'm a lifelong cat owner, and I've had plenty of cats that love cheese and it doesn't hurt them. But garlic? NEVER!In the end, when the murderer was found out it seemed to me slightly extreme of this person since they really gained nothing at all from the deed that I could tell. I would have liked to have seen a much better reason for the murder than what was given. However, since I've already gone this far into the series I will probably proceed, since I've read much worse books and survived. At least this was the best of the four so far, so there's hope yet.
    • 4/5
      Diesel is a beautiful, well-behaved Maine Coon cat that any feline lover would adore. Diesel accompanies Charlie, a librarian at a local college archive, while he tracks down the murderer of an ill-mannered socialite. The story mixes old style etiquette with interesting modern day characters in a quaint setting.
    • 3/5
      Another great mystery, as Charlie, and Diesel, of course, find themselves being pressed into investigating the murder of a well-known and well-despised socialite at a gala fundraiser for the library. Among the suspects is the not-so-grieving widow, who may have killed his wife when she wouldn't grant him an divorce; two aristocratic sisters who are protecting their family reputation; or a brother and sister pair who are desperately trying to hide their dwindling finances; and Azalea herself. Desperate to clear Azalea's name, Charlie and Diesel are back on the case!

      I was pleased to find that Mr. Miranda James's writing has improved since the first three books - while never awful, his dialogue seemed a bit stilted in the first few, but here it flows much more naturally. The mystery, as well, seemed more thoughtful and included a scandalous, and intriguing, diversion to the plot.

      All in all, another charmer from one of my new favorite sleuthing teams!
    • 4/5
      So, after reading the last book in this series, I had pretty much decided it wasn't for me and vowed to stop reading the series and move on. But then I had already pre-ordered this book, so it languished on my TBR hill for awhile until I'd read everything else that even remotely interested me more. I finally picked it up last night and was delighted to find a much, much better story! I enjoyed the murder plot immensely and the pace kept the story moving along at a good clip. No moments where the author just rambles on in the voice of her main character simply to use up space/pages. This story held my attention from beginning to end. The characters are nothing to get excited about, but neither are they entirely dull as dish water. It's a nice, quiet, sedate cozy mystery for those that like their cozies completely in line with the definition: no language, no violence, no sex and everything homey and peaceful. Even the dead body. ;)
    • 5/5
      This time Diesel and Charlie have to find out who murdered Vera Cassity when Azalea, Charlie's housekeeper, becomes the prime suspect. I liked how Charlie becomes the one that Kanesha turns to for help when she is taken off the investigation because her mother is the chief suspect. She always has gotten mad with Charlie in the past but now she needs his skills to help keep her mother from being arrested. Once again I did not figure out the murderer. I love these characters. I also like seeing how Charlie and his children are relearning each other and living together. I loved the Ducote Sisters and their plan to negate someone who is constantly behaving badly. I look forward to the next installment
    • 5/5
      Out of Circulation is the fourth book in the A Cat In The Stacks Mystery series.

      I'm not really a cat person, but I love this series and really enjoy reading about Diesel and his owner, Charlie.

      The library board of directors is meeting to select where their annual Holiday event will be held. As usual it turns into an "old money"-"new money". Miss An'gel and Miss Dickcee, who pretty much have run the social events of Athena and feel their home should host the event. Whereas, Vera Cassity feels that her home is better suited. As always, Miss An'gel and Miss Dixie come out on top.

      As folks are gathering for the gala event, Sissy Beauchamp, who reportedly is having an affair with Morty Cassity, and Vera Cassity as seen in a discussion. Later, Miss An'gel calls everyone together to honor Vera with a plaque for her years of service to the community and adding that Vera will be retiring from her social activities. This is Misses An'gel and Dickee way to put to rest further confrontations with Vera.

      As the party is winding down, Charlie notices that Vera has been around for a while. As he is heading to kitchen to visit with his housekeeper, Azalea, he hears muffled yells and pounding. He finds the door and notices a doorstop wedged into the bottom of the door. Behind the door he finds Azalea and the body of Vera lying on the pantry stairs coming from the second floor.

      Even though there was some bad blood between Azalea and Vera, Charlie knows she couldn't have pushed Vera down the stairs. Earlier, Vera had asked Charlie to look at the family archive for Dickcee and An'gel family, he certainly hoped that there wasn't something in the past that the sisters wanted to kept secret.

      Charlie has been asked by the sisters to look into Vera's death and to find the murderer. So he is off to talk with his romantic interest, Helen Louise and his boarder Stewart, gathering information about the conflict between the sisters and Vera.

      But in the end, Charlie is able to realize who the murderer is.

      All the enjoyable characters are back to help Charlie uncover the guilty person. Kanesha quite naturally has to stay in the background, as her mother, Azalea, is person on interest. And Charlie gets a wonderful present from his daughter, Laura.

      Looking forward to book 5.
    • 3/5
      In James’ mystery novel, Charlie Harris the librarian with a very large Maine coon cat named Diesel is up to his ears in the planning of the library fundraising gala. Local residents the Ducote sisters and Vera Cassity are at each other’s throats in the mist of all the tedious planning. It soon becomes clear that Vera is not well liked by just about everyone in town and at the gala she instigates a very public display that cements that reputation nicely. Not long after the outburst, Charlie finds his housekeeper standing over Vera’s very dead body and immediately steps in to clear her name.A kindhearted librarian and gentle cat that will steal your heart and solve the case—a strong addition to the A Cat in the Stacks Mystery series.
    • 5/5
      Who doesn't like a feel good mystery with ghosts from the past to haunt you with a furry sidekick to help you unravel the clues? I just absolutely love these books, a quick read but I'm always drawn in immediately and my attention is kept to the very end. It definitely doesn't hurt that Diesel is the fantastic sidekick.
    • 4/5
      A good solid entry in the series. Light read. Figured out who did it. Nice development on the family relationships,
    • 4/5
      Fun reading-if you read mysteries, you will be able to figure out "who done it."