The Pawful Truth: A Cat in the Stacks Mystery - Softcover

James, Miranda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451491149 ISBN 13: 9780451491145

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2020

Inhaltsangabe

When Charlie Harris decides to go back to school, he and his Maine Coon cat, Diesel, find themselves entangled in a deadly lovers quarrel on campus in the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.

 In addition to his library duties and his role as doting grandad, Charlie has enrolled in  an early medieval history course offered by young, charismatic professor Carey Warriner. Charlie feels a bit out of place- his fellow classmates are half his age- except for Dixie Bell Compton, another ‘mature’ student. When Charlie hears an angry exchange between her and their professor, his interest in piqued. He’s even more intrigued when she shows up at his office asking for a study partner. Charlie turns her down and is saddened to learn just a few days later that Dixie has been killed.

 Charlie wonders if Professor Warriner had anything to do with Dixie’s death. Warriner is married to a fellow professor who happens to be a successful author. There are rumors on campus that their marriage was on the rocks. Was Dixie's death the result of a lovers’ triangle gone bad? Charlie soon discovers that the professor’s wife may have some secrets of her own and his suspect list is only getting longer.
 
As he and Diesel step further into the tangled web of relationships, someone else is viciously killed. Whose jealousy finally erupted into murderous rage? Was it a crime of passion or is there another  more sinister motive? Charlie  races to unravel this mystery: and to draw out the culprit, he may just have to put his own life on the line…

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Miranda James is the New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries, including The Pawful Truth, Six Cats a Slayin', and Claws for Concern, as well as the Southern Ladies Mysteries, including Fixing to Die, Digging Up the Dirt, and Dead with the Wind. James lives in Mississippi.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof***

Copyright © 2019 Miranda James

 

Chapter One

What did you get yourself into?

That thought had run through my mind several times for the past few days, but never so often as it had during the ten minutes I waited for class to start.

Staring at the eager young faces and listening to the chatter of voices rise and fall around me, I felt increasingly out of place. I had not failed to notice the covert glances, the occasional grimaces, and the what is he doing here tilts of the head in my direction. Not much subtlety.

Stop being so self-conscious, I chided myself. You have every right to be here, even if you are three decades older than the rest of the class. Focus on why you’re here and remember the excitement you felt when you finally decided to do this.

Good advice, I realized, and I felt the tension begin to ebb away. I had long been fascinated by medieval history and sometimes wished I had majored in history, rather than in English, during my undergraduate days here at Athena. I had heard great things about the young professor who taught this course on the history of England from the end of the Roman occupation until the Norman Conquest. He offered a second course that picked up with the aftermath of the Conquest through the accession of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII. When I saw the course listed for the spring semester, I decided to give myself a belated Christmas gift and sign up to audit it. If all went well with the first course, I would sign up for the second one the next time it was offered.

Dr. Warriner’s courses always filled quickly, I had learned. I managed to squeak in before the class closed admissions. I hope he lived up to his reputation because I was so interested in the subject and anticipated filling in the gaps in my knowledge.

A late arrival caught my eye when she slipped into an empty seat to the left a row ahead of me. A voluptuous blonde with a head of curly hair, she appeared to be in her thirties. Still younger than I, but at least there would be one other older student in the class. As if she felt my speculative glance on her, she turned to look my way.

A cool, assessing gaze met mine. She smiled briefly, then turned back to face the front of the classroom. That one glance revealed a stunning face, makeup so expertly applied that she appeared cosmetics-free. Perhaps Dr. Warriner’s reputation had drawn her in as well, I mused. Or she might be a graduate student.

Conversation ceased suddenly as a tall, muscular man strode into the room to the front of the classroom. Had I not already seen Carey Warriner around campus a few times, I would have been more struck by his appearance. I heard the slow exhalation of sighs around me, and I glanced around. The female students raked him with their eyes, and I understood why. Warriner was easily the most handsome man I had ever seen in the flesh.

Broad shouldered, he stood at least six foot four and had the dark hair and eyes often referred to as black Irish. His chiseled features brought to mind the stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Sleeves rolled up to expose bronzed forearms, he favored the class with an engaging smile as he surveyed the room. Perhaps it was my sometimes overactive imagination, but I thought the smile slipped briefly when his gaze rested on the attractive blonde to my left.

The smile quickly returned, however, and he perched on the corner of the long table at the front of the classroom. “Good afternoon, everyone. I am Professor Warriner. Welcome to my course on the history of early medieval England.”

His beautifully modulated baritone elicited a few more audible sighs from around the room, and his smile broadened. He appeared appreciative of this reaction. He reached for a folder he had laid on the table beside him.

“First things first, of course,” he said. “Let’s get the dull stuff out of the way. When I call your name, please raise your hand.”

He extracted a piece of paper from the folder and began to read the names. The blonde lifted her hand to the name Dixie Belle Compton. Talk about a Southern name, I thought. Dixie Belle. I noticed that Warriner did not look at the students when he called this name. Perhaps he already knew her? That would explain the brief change of expression.

So engrossed in contemplating this, I nearly missed my own name. I jerked my hand up, and Warriner nodded. He soon finished his roll call and laid the paper aside. He rose from his perch and went to the board. Here he wrote his e‑mail address. Turning back to face the class, he said, “You will use this to submit your written assignments. You will find the syllabus for this course, if you haven’t already, on my page in the history department website. This course requires a substantial amount of reading, some of it translations of primary sources, others are monographs by historians covering particular subjects.” He paused to the sound of a few subdued groans.

“This course is no sinecure,” he continued. “If you don’t know the meaning of the word, I suggest you look it up. You will have to work, and work diligently, if you expect to do well in this class. If you aren’t willing to work, I suggest you go ahead and drop the class today.” He paused for a moment as he assessed the class with a measuring glance. “I am passionate about my subject, and while I don’t expect my students to share my passion to the same degree, I do expect dedication to your work in this course. There will be no online instruction in this course. I prefer the old-fashioned methods, and that means I expect to see you in class at every scheduled meeting, on time, and ready to participate. Do not be late.”

Warriner’s uncompromising expression did not daunt me. In fact, I admired his standards, well familiar with them from my own college years here, thanks to several of my toughest professors. I had to admit to a certain amount of surprise, however, because of the prevalence of online education these days and the use of chat rooms and so on for group assignments.

I heard the rustle of movement around me. No doubt a few students were squirming a bit, and I wondered how many of them would return for the second class. Might as well weed out the less serious students right away.

“Now,” the professor said, “on to the scope of this course. We begin with the departure of the Romans in the fifth century of the Common Era. We will not discuss in detail why the Roman Empire abandoned its province of Britannia. That is the subject of a course taught by my colleague Professor Fischer.”

A hand shot up from the front row.

“Yes, what is it?” Warriner asked.

“Um, I was wondering, you know,” a lanky young man said, his words hesitant, “if you’re going to talk about King Arthur? I mean, you know, this is the period when he lived, right? Once the Romans left, you know.” He stammered to a halt, and he appeared to shrink under the now-harsh gaze of the professor.

Warriner stood and folded his arms over his chest. He surveyed the room before he again focused on the student with the question. “This is not a course on fantasy and myth. A professor in the English department teaches a course on English folklore. I suggest you take that if you want to read about Arthur and his knights.” He paused briefly. “Now, back to reality. There well could have been a warlord in the aftermath of Roman withdrawal who attempted to take control of parts of Britain, but if he existed at all, he was nothing like the legends that have grown up around the fantasy of Arthur.”

I felt the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0451491149
• ISBN 13: 9780451491145
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: GPSR Kontakt; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland