Requiem for a Mouse by Miranda James

Available: June 25, 2024

Rated: 5 stars

Charlie Harris has a new assistant. Tara Martin is kind of rude and more than a little anti-social, but she's a good worker and Charlie is willing to overlook her odd behavior as long as she continues to do good work at the archives for him and at the bistro for Helen Louise. But when a catering job goes wrong and Tara is subsequently found murdered, Charlie decides to dig a little deeper into who Tara Martin really is.

This series hit a bit of a funk a few books ago but it is going strong again! I love Diesel and though I'm still not super crazy about the rascally Ramses, he is growing on me. Charlie and Helen Louise are sometimes a bit sickeningly sweet but I know a few couples who are exactly like that, it's adorable. The investigation in this book focuses mainly on the archives and I thought that was interesting. We do finally get to see the fully remodeled Harris family farmhouse but apart from that Charlie sticks close to home.

The ending was a bit disappointing at first read, but when I thought more about it I realized that it relates back to Agatha Christie, which Charlie reads in this book. So though it might have been a bit of a let down when viewed as a regular, current-day cozy, it's actually kind of perfect considering the references made in the book.

This series is a classic and a must read for cozy fans.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.