Nora Charles and her trusty side-kick Nick, a highly intelligent tuxedo cat, are back and ready to jump back into the PI world. After successfully solving cases for the police in the past, Nora was gifted a PI course to learn the ins and outs of the profession. Though she is comfortable with her job as owner of Hot Bread, she doesn’t feel she can turn down such a generous gift. After one of the classes, she is approached by the guest teacher to help solve a case. He believes that one of his fellow PIs was murdered, even though the death was ruled a suicide by the police. With her keen observational skills, he believes Nora may be able to help him discover the truth. The question soon becomes, can Nora juggle her job, her romantic life, and a new case all at the same time?
Nora and Nick turned out to be a very fun team to follow as their case develops. Nick’s ability to spell out words with scrabble tiles added such a fun, unexpected element. Having never read any of the other books in the series, I loved that Nick ended up being a character in and of himself, rather than just a house cat. One of the things that I appreciated most about Nora was that she knew how best to utilize her talents. She was confident in her own abilities and surrounded herself with people she trusted. Her relationship with her sister felt very real and it was interesting to watch it begin to change in nature.
The atmosphere of the novel was a great balance of Noir vibes mixed with the modern age. Following Nora from location to location allowed for the timeline to feel realistic. The novel was well paced and allowed for moments of character development, even in the midst of a complex case. I absolutely loved Ollie, and any time that he and Nora were working together. Whenever they worked together, it helped the timeline also feel more cohesive.
My only issue with the novel was the sheer number of characters. Now, I am coming into this series in the middle, so I expected to be a bit behind on the characters’ back stories, but I had a hard time even keeping track of who was who. The mystery itself was complex and I think that added to some of my problems. Such a complex case called for a bigger cast of characters. By the time the book ended, I was still questioning who a few of the characters were. The dialog also felt very forced a few times, but that was balanced by nice scene transitions.
I would have enjoyed having more focus on the mystery and less focus on Nora’s love life. It was probably the nature of this particular book, but I did not feel much chemistry between Nora and either of the men that were interested in her. She was such a strong character, that it felt strange to see her having such a hard time choosing between Daniel and Samms.
I enjoyed the book and would consider continuing with the series, even if it is simply to see more of Nick. I also have a great deal of curiosity about the what Nora’s life is going to look like after that ending!
3.5/5
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.
The Novel Llama 