Cat Caliban has decided to start a new career after her children have grown and become parents. As an independent woman who had never had the opportunity to be so independent because of the times she lived in, she decides to go for detective work. Because that’s the sort of book she likes to read! While studying up for it, a crime happens in the apartment complex she owns and she has her very own murder case on her hands. However, it is less a matter of her wanting to prove herself (though it is true she does) and more of how the police aren’t putting enough manpower into solving the crime of a old homeless woman.
I’m more surprised I hadn’t heard of these books beforehand. Cat is an amazing protagonist. Her children have lives of their own and her husband has passed away, leaving her to her own devices. She moves into a new place and is ready to spend all the time preparing for what she has decided to be when she grows up (a detective) when the crime to solve comes to her. She certainly doesn’t know everything, but she is resourceful and stubborn. I like how much she likes other books and shows about being a private eye.
The biggest issue I have is how the very end of the book felt rather sudden, as if I was expecting something else to happen. Yet I can’t complain about it either, because it made a lot more sense given the reality of people’s reactions, even if others might not think the situations themselves to be realistic (but it’s a book and even still reality isn’t always all that expected is it?). It segues well into another book and as there is an entire series out there I should get on that.
I enjoyed it immensely and am looking forward to picking up the next one – if it continues to be as entertaining I will have no qualms picking up the entire series.
A. A. MacConnell 