Claws of Action by Linda Reilly Review

NetGalley provided me with a digital advanced reader copy.

Claws of Action by Linda Reilly is the fourth offering in the Cat Lady Mysteries. I do not read a series without reading the previous books. But, the cover caught my attention. Covers are important to the cozy genre and I will buy any book that has an appealing cover.

Many cozy series can have several if not dozens of books in the series. So it is important that the reader can start with any book and not feel lost. I love the fact that the book begins with a cast of feline characters to tell you about all the cats. It would have been a helpful feature for the two legged characters.

The series follows Lara Caphart who runs High Cliff Shelter for Cats from her Aunt Flora’s home. As most cozies have themes, this one is themed around Lara and her cat shelter. There is also a supernatural aspect. As a cat named Blue that only Lara can see is important to the series. Blue is a patronus.

When the person who is threatening to close the shelter ends up dead Lara finds herself caught in the middle. I do not know the main character Lara. She has already solved a handful of murders and has established relationships. I felt a little lost. Oddly that did not detract from my enjoyment of the book.

What threw me was the choice of words for characters. I would immerse myself in the book and a word would come up and feel inorganic. Words that seems out-of-place like sitch, oh good gosh, or even bat in the wrong context. It was like these words or terms were not what I would expect these characters to say. Especially after following them for over a hundred pages.

Another example is when a character is swearing one minute and thanking the lord a second later. It may seem like nitpicking however as someone who is usually lax about such things it threw me off. I also feel like Lara gushed over her boyfriend a little much at some points. These two aspects threw me off.

I also figured out the killer or killers on my own before the book was even halfway done. I think the ending was a planned twist ending, but I caught on right away. The plot was fairly predictable. Despite this, I enjoyed the book. But I have read dozens of cozy series over the years. So that may account for my accurate predictions of who the killer or killers were.

The main characters were all likable. The book was a fun and easy read. Despite the narrative throwing me off a few times Claws of Action proved to be a solid cozy. Despite murder and the main character’s peril there was enough substance. The light hearted parts made a serious subject enjoyable.

I rated Claws of Action four out of five stars on Goodreads. I would recommend reading this book as it takes 2-3 hours to read depending on reading speed. It a great way to spend a lazy Saturday curled up with a book and perhaps a cat.