Familiar Motivesby Delia James
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9780451476593
Series: Witch's Cat Mystery #3
Publication Date: October 15, 2017
Pages: 321
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Berkley
After learning that she comes from a family of witches—and adopting a familiar named Alistair—artist Annabelle Britton has made beautiful Portsmouth, New Hampshire, her home. Together with her coven, this good witch is trying to put a stop to magic and murder most foul.
When Anna takes Alistair to see local veterinarian Ramona Forsythe, they meet the most famous cat in town: Ruby the Attitude Cat, spokes-feline for a pet food brand. But then Ramona turns up dead, and Ruby goes missing. It seems like the murderer used magical means, so it’s up to Anna and Alistair to catch a killer and cat-napper as only a canny cat can.
I’ve been trying to make a dent in my TBR piles recently, mostly, if I’m being honest, because I’m waiting for the new books I’ve ordered to arrive. No matter my true motive, it’s a good feeling knowing there’s at least one or two fewer books languishing about.
This one had not only been loafing about on the hills of tbr, but it was the final book in a short-lived series, so the satisfaction of getting it read was doubled.
Unfortunately, that’s about the only real satisfaction I received from reading Familiar Motives. The story itself was another ‘meh’ mystery – or else it was just me. It really might have been me. I liked the characters, I loved the cats, and the plot-line wasn’t frivolous. But the pacing felt manic – not fast; manic – and the witty writing felt forced at times, adding to the manic feel. I skimmed large sections of internal narrative because the pacing left me feeling manic to get to the end.
When I did get to the end, I liked it. It was a good denouement, although the plot had too many pieces rather clumsily put together. But to be fair, that could have been a product of the skimming I did, so I’m giving that a pass.
While it wasn’t a winner, I’m ok with that; the completist in my is happy that I haven’t left a series unfinished, and the responsible adult in me is happy to see one more book off the TBR range. The reader thinks the book could have been better, but really, it didn’t suck either.