BLOOD IS THICKER… Sometimes a unique talent is inherited—and such is the case for Trouble, son of Familiar the black cat detective. Trouble’s rather indolent life in the sleepy town of Wetumpka, Alabama is upended when a serial killer arrives on the scene. Trouble begins to apply the skills he learned from his dad and his hero, Sherlock Holmes. When local bookseller Tammy Lynn is attacked at … Lynn is attacked at the site of an impact crater, Trouble realizes he must protect his human and solve the mystery of the Silk Stocking Killer. Aiden Waters, a local deputy, has tracked the SSK to Wetumpka. Since his wife’s murder, Aiden won’t risk romance, but when Tammy is endangered, everything changes. Especially their hearts.
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This was a nice few rainy day audiobook about a cat named Trouble who is the son of a familiar, “The Black Cat” and he acts and talks like Sherlock Holmes helping his owner and police find a serial killer.
All her books are great!!!
This is the first book in the cozy mystery series featuring Trouble, a clever black cat who helps solve crimes. The story was fast paced and had some great twists that kept me guessing. I love Carolyn Haines and her Sarah Booth Delaney series and am a fan of this one as well. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series!
I loved Familiar Trouble! This is an action packed mystery with so many twists and turns that it will keep you guessing until the end. This book has it all, mystery, suspense, action, romance and a cat detective. I love how the book alternates between the cat’s perspective and the peoples’. And the cat is a wonderful detective. The ending is perfect. I look forward to the next book in the series.
I started this multi-author series at the end instead of the beginning and knew I had to go to the start. I love Trouble, the black cat with a penchant for mysteries. His and I quote ‘biped’ Tammy Lynn is the hard-headed owner of the local bookstore. Tammy is an avid reader and loves the Indian lore that surrounds her hometown of Wetumpka. It’s that lore that has her trespassing on property to get a good spot to look for a foretold planet and the discovery of a body.
Fast-paced with plenty of chuckles thanks to Trouble. Aiden and Tammy both have some issues to work out and as the murderer escalates so does the danger to Tammy.
Of course she doesn’t help by putting herself in precarious positions when she should just stay put.
I’m really enjoying these books, Trouble is a piece of work and there’s the perfect amount of romance.
A good little mystery with likeable main characters and a sleuthing cat named Trouble. This book was a bit different than most cozy mysteries in that it dealt with a serial killer instead of one small town murder. It was well written and the pace was really good and kept the story moving. I am definitely curious to read the others in the series but wonder how they will be since they are written by several different authors.
A cat detective? Yes, seriously, Trouble to the rescue.
Familiar Trouble by Carolyn Haines is a great mystery filled with troubled characters, a southern setting and this adorably smart black cat. We have three points of view in the story. The charming couple and Trouble, the newest black cat detective.
Tammy Lynn
Our female lead is Tammy Lynn. She owns the local bookstore, which works out great as she is very well read. Tammy Lynn also seems to have this innate ability to be in the wrong place at the right time. She also doesn’t want to leave her hometown of Wetumpka, Alabama.
Things that I like about Tammy Lynn: she takes outstanding care of Trouble, her taste in books, and the way that she is part of her community. The one thing that would be considered a bad trait is her independence as she would go places and not tell anyone where she was going.
Aiden Waters
Our male lead is Aiden Waters, former FBI agent and currently a local deputy sheriff. Aiden lost his wife and isn’t ready to try the whole dating thing again. Although, he is interested in Tammy Lynn. Aiden however, is obsessed with the Silk Stocking Killer, and until he can put this man away, he won’t involve anyone else.
What I liked about Aiden: his need to help people, the way he takes care of Tammy Lynn, and his ability to follow orders but also to make snap decisions without checking with the sheriff. My dislikes for Aiden are insignificant little things, like him blaming himself for his wife’s death, that he wasn’t honest with the sheriff immediately after they found the second body.
Trouble
The only thing to say about Trouble is he is spectacular. I love his wit and the way he speaks like Sherlock Holmes, the Benedict Cumberbatch version, and his dry sense of humor. The fact that he protects Tammy Lynn from harm whenever possible is fantastic.
He steals the story at times. If Tammy Lynn could understand him, she might not have been in such danger. Oh, and Trouble’s food choices are perfect for a picky feline.
Random things that I liked about the story
• The setting of Wetumpka, Alabama and the history that we learn of the area
• The way the townspeople took care of each other
• The Silk Stocking Killer’s story and part of the mystery
• Tammy Lynn’s friend Amelia Weatherford
• Everyone’s love of books and the thriving independent book store
• Trouble helping others in his feline way
• The touch of romance
5 Stars for Familiar Trouble by Carolyn Haines
My rating for Familiar Trouble by Carolyn Haines is five stars. The mystery was superb, add in the romance and Trouble, and this takes this book over the top. If you haven’t read this book and you love mysteries, with a love story, then this book is for you. I highly recommend it.
This story is a stunning start to what I hope will be a fabulous series. I can’t wait to read the next installment Trouble in Dixie by Rebecca Barrett.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Familiar Trouble by Carolyn Haines.
Anyways, until next time, enjoy this review brought to you by,
Karen the Baroness
Happy Reading!
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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Tammy Lynn owns the Book Basket bookstore in Wetumpka, Alabama. Tammy’s companion is her cat, Trouble, the son of Familiar, the black cat detective. She also loves history and is very interested in an old Choctaw legend of “The Spider in the Sky.” The legend is what brought her to Rook’s Vantage on this dark night. But tonight is not just some ordinary night. While Tammy is there with her cat she hears a noise and goes to investigate. Before she can react, she is tackled by a person dressed all in black and knocked out. Without realizing it, Tammy has encountered a serial killer and managed to survived. The killer had just finished hiding the body of his first victim in Wetumpka, Debby Caldwell, a teller at the local bank.
Aiden Waters, a new deputy sheriff in town, is on the trail of the Silk Stocking Killer (SSK). The SSK is a serial killer who preys on small towns, wreaking fear and havoc, them moving on. Will Trouble be able to protect Tammy? Will there be more deaths? Will Tammy and Aiden be able to stop the serial killer?
This is a great start to a new series. The story is told from the cat’s perspective with plenty of wit and humor. There is also an element of romance in the story, but it does not detract from the main story line.
Carolyn Haines has created a new romantic mystery series along the same lines as her very popular black cat detective of the 1990s, Familiar. Trouble, son of Familiar, comes to the rescue of his human, Tammy Lynn, as a serial killer stalks the small southern town of Wetumpka, Ala. The local sheriff, Aiden Waters, has been tracking the Silk Stocking Killer since the murder of his wife.
When Tammy is attacked and knocked out on the rim of an impact crater near Wetumpka as she attempts to star gaze, mayhem seems to spread throughout her safe, small town. A dead body at the crater leads to more deaths and Tammy soon finds herself the target of a murderer.
With the help of Trouble and Aiden, they are able to uncover the viper hidden the the heart of her beloved town and bring the murderer to justice.
Trouble not only protects his biped but he helps her open her heart and reclaim a sense of security in the place that has been her haven from the greater world.
Carolyn Haines is an amazingly imaginative writer, with a gift for sly humor, and a definite talent for writing great scenes and sentences. She is perhaps best known for her Bones series, featuring Southern Belle turned private eye, Sarah Delaney, and her sidekick, a smart-mouthed, bossy antebellum ghost. Carolyn is also a busy writer (more than 70 books to date) and recently revived her series about Familiar, the black cat detective. In July, she launched a natural spin-off from the Familiar series, with Trouble, son of Familiar. In so doing, Carolyn sets the bar higher for imagination and cleverness.
In Familiar Trouble, the first book in the new series, Carolyn spins a tale sure to please fans of cozies and romantic mysteries—and cat lovers. Tammy Lynn, a bookstore owner in Wetumpka, a small, pleasant town in central Alabama, trespasses on property owned by a local recluse so that she can pursue a scientific interest. Alas, she finds the dead body of a young woman. A local police officer warns her that the dead woman might be the victim of a serial killer. He also tells her to stay out of the remote landscape where she found the body. Of course, being headstrong and independent, Tammy returns—oh, she also needs to recover the expensive telescope that she left on the ridge. Things spin out of control from there.
Tammy, who loves Wetumpka and thinks of it as a modern Mayberry, has to face the fact that crime has come home to her town. Other women are soon found dead. Tammy herself seems to be a target. From the first to the last page, her faithful companion and helpmate is Trouble, the black cat detective. Trouble actually finds clues and figures things out a step ahead of the law enforcement crew, but he has difficulty in communicating what he knows because his people don’t speak cat language.
This is a clever, fun, fast moving book. One of the things I liked best is the scene where Tammy uses a car door as part of her self-defense. Read it, please, to see what I mean.