Six Cats a Slayin'

Finished April 28

Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James

I've read other books in this series (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery) and enjoyed them. I picked up this one at my local library. In mid-December, Charlie Harris is making his Christmas list, something he always intends to do sooner, but ends up last minute. This year he has a new neighbour, Gerry Albritton, who seems overly friendly, which makes him uncomfortable. She's having a party before Christmas and sent him an invitation. He doesn't want to go, but feels he should. She has a last name known in their town, but no one Charlie knows seems to be able to place her. He and the department secretary work together on trying to figure out who Gerry is.

It is also Charlie's first Christmas with grandchildren, something he is very excited about. Both of his children now have children, and his daughter is dealing with a colicky baby and facing exhaustion, refusing to get help. Both Charlie and others in the family are worried about her. 

When he answers the doorbell one day, he finds a box with five kittens and a note in obvious children's writing asking him to look after them as "he says he'll drown them." Having five kittens is quite a surprise and disrupts the household. His housekeeper Azalea is patient, but Charlie soon gets help on a way to contain them. Diesel, his cat, is very interested in these kittens, and takes an almost fatherly role in looking after them and trying to keep them out of trouble. Meanwhile Charlie tries to figure out who the child is and how he can help them. 

When the night of the holiday party arrives, Charlie and his girlfriend Helen attend, but things seem odd. Many of the partygoers seem nervous, and Charlie and Helen overhear a strange conversation. When the host suddenly collapses, they have another mystery on their hands. 

There is lots going on, and several storylines to keep the reader interested. The kittens are up to trouble, and so is someone else in the neighbourhood. I enjoyed the lighthearted parts, like the kittens, and worried along with Charlie about his daughter. But the neighbour's collapse is the central mystery that involves the police and this time the detective wants Charlie's help. 

I always enjoy this series and this one is a real pageturner with so much happening. 

Before You Were Born

Finished April 30
Before You Were Born by Deborah Kerbel, illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

This lovely book is a perfect gift for a new mother or father, and a perfect bedtime read for a little one, sending them to sleep with lovely images and the comfort of knowing how much they are loved. It tells through rhyming phrases of the parents' love for their child even before he or she arrived.
I loved this author/illustrator combination in a previous book Sun Dog, and this book was even better. The lyricism of Kerbel's words is beautiful, each phrase of anticipation leading you on to the next page. It just flows and the words are full of love. I loved the phrase "a mountain of promise, a valley of calm".
Del Rizzo's 3D illustrations using polymer clay bring everything to life, from the animals are birds, to the trees, flowers and other plants. And the details were just right: the lanterns hanging in the trees, the expressions of the faces of all the creatures, the feathers and fur and rubbery-looking noses, the surface of the moon, the bear's tongue, the raindrops on leaves,
One of my favourite is the scene of the birch forest, with a woman leaning on a tree, enjoying the world around her, with birds in the trees above, deer and foxes, and the water beyond. I wanted to step into it.
An absolutely beautiful picture book