No Cats Allowed

"In the latest mystery in the New York Times bestselling Cat in the Stacks series, librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel must clear a friend when the evidence is stacked against her ... Springtime in Mississippi is abloom with beauty, but the library's employees are too busy worrying to stop and smell the flowers. The new library director, Elwyn Dillard, is a brash, unfriendly Yankee who's on a mission to cut costs--and his first targets are the archive and the rare book collection. As annoying as a long-overdue book, Dillard quickly raises the hackles of everyone on staff, including Charlie's fiery friend Melba--whom Dillard wants to replace with someone younger. But his biggest offense is declaring all four-legged creatures banned from the stacks. With enemies aplenty, the suspect list is long when Dillard's body is discovered in the library. But things take a turn for the worse when a threatening e-mail throws suspicion on Melba. Charlie is convinced that his friend is no murderer, especially when he catches sight of a menacing stranger lurking around the library. Now he and Diesel will have to read between the lines, before Melba is shelved under "G" for guilty.."-- "There's nothing Athena College librarian Charlie Harris likes better than curling up with a good book--except maybe curling up with his Maine Coon cat, Diesel. But when the library's abrasive new director is put out of circulation, both Charlie and Diesel will have to clear a friend when the evidence is stacked against her ... Springtime in Mississippi is abloom with beauty, but the library's employees are too busy worrying to stop and smell the flowers. The new library director, Oscar Reilly, is a brash, unfriendly Yankee who's on a mission to cut costs--and his first targets are the archive and the rare book collection. As annoying as a long-overdue book, Reilly quickly raises the hackles of everyone on staff, including Charlie's fiery friend Melba--whom Reilly wants to replace with someone younger. But his biggest offense is declaring all four-legged creatures banned from the stacks. With enemies aplenty, the suspect list is long when Reilly's body is discovered in the library. But things take a turn for the worse when a threatening email throws suspicion on Melba. Charlie is convinced that his friend is no murderer, especially when he catches sight of a menacing stranger lurking around the library. Now he and Diesel will have to read between the lines, before Melba is shelved under "G" for guilty.."--

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.