The town of Athena, Mississippi, is the site of a small college. It's also where Charlie Harris lives with his Maine coon cat, Diesel. Charlie has trained the big guy to walk on a leash, so the two of them can be seen walking around the town together, especially on days when Charlie is heading off to work in the college library's archives. Diesel is welcomed almost everywhere, including in Charlie's office.

The big news in this first episode is that native son Godfrey Priest is returning for a visit. Godfrey is a best-selling author now. He writes mysteries and thrillers but, back in the day, he wasn't exactly well-loved by his fellow classmates. He had been arrogant and self-involved. And now, he's back.

The list of folks who had or still have something against Godfrey turns out to be rather long. Charlie sure doesn't think much of him ... even though this particular celebrity is going to donate his papers to the college. When the inevitable happens -- because this is a mystery story, after all -- Charlie helps deputy sheriff Kanesha Berry figure out who among the Athenians had the MOST to benefit from offing Godfrey. The perp may turn out to be someone you had not quite expected.

These stories revolve around a nifty set of characters. Charlie is a widower with two grown children, Sean and Laura. They often appear on the scene or at least keep in touch. Charlie always has a few regular boarders, too. His housekeeper Azalea Berry is fully in command of the place. Additionally, she is the mother of the deputy sheriff. (It IS a small town.) Melba Gilley is the administrative assistant to the head of the college library, as well as being a long-time friend to Charlie. Helen Louise, a new baker in town, is becoming a new friend. And then we have Diesel himself, who seems to own any room he enters.

Fans of Lilian Jackson Braun's Cat Who mysteries will find informal connections and comfort here. Charlie Harris and Jim Qwilleran (Braun's main character) would have enough in common to be able to talk for hours, if they ever had a chance to meet. Their cats would be able to do the same.

Kudos to the publisher for NOT including recipes at the end of every book. Since Azalea is a good cook, it would have been all too easy to "enhance" the story's conclusion with selections from her kitchen. No. Let's stop this silly trend now.

I started reading the books in this series when they were first released. For some reason, I gradually lost track of them. I am pleased to have re-discovered how wonderful they are. Now I can start over and can catch up. Author James is still creating more of them. As I write this review, the 16th book is due out next month.

No, I'm not going to write about each one of them. Suffice it to say that I highly recommend the whole series to cozy mystery fans, to library aficionados and librarians, and to cat lovers of all kinds.