Mimi Lee Cracks the Code by Jennifer J. Chow

Mimi Lee Cracks the Code (A Sassy Cat Mystery, #3)

by Jennifer J. Chow

One of BookRiot's Best Upcoming Cozy Mysteries for the Second Half of 2021!

When murder follows Mimi Lee to her romantic island getaway, she puts on her best sleuthing hat with her sassy cat in tow in this adventurous cozy mystery by Jennifer J. Chow.
 
Mimi Lee just found an extra perk to being a pet groomer at Hollywoof (other than cuddling animals all day long, that is). Pixie St. James, one of Mimi’s clients and the investor behind Hollywoof, has offered her and her boyfriend, Josh, a getaway at her vacation home, nestled on beautiful Catalina Island. With the island just outside of Los Angeles but still far enough from the hustle and bustle, Mimi, Josh, and their cat Marshmallow (who, of course, wouldn’t be caught dead in a dingy pet hotel) are excited for their relaxing stay.
 
That is, until Pixie’s last renter, Davis D. Argo, turns up dead. Mimi and Josh’s romantic getaway immediately turns into an enormous buzzkill, especially when Pixie asks Mimi for help. The police suspect Pixie, and Mimi knows a thing or two about wrongful allegations. Mimi figures it couldn’t hurt to snoop a little since she’s already there, and soon discovers that a valuable item is missing. Except Pixie isn’t the only one in the neighborhood who has been robbed. There is something strange happening on the island, and Mimi won’t stop until she finds out what it is.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Mimi Lee Cracks the Code is the third Sassy Cat cozy mystery by Jennifer J. Chow. Released 30th Nov 2021 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 288 pages and is available in paperback, library binding, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a cute and whimsical series. Mimi Lee and boyfriend Josh are taking a weekend break with Marshmallow when the latest renter of their island accommodation turns up dead. Mimi has to get to the bottom of things, as always, accompanied by her furry Greek chorus - in the form of her genetically enhanced telepathic cat. He's got a sarcastic, wisecracking, old-guy schtick going on which some readers will enjoy (and some will not). He speaks to Mimi telepathically, but she speaks to him audibly, which leads to some inevitable "who are you talking to" scenes. Since it's a series, the unfolding information about how her psychic cat (and kitten, Nimbus) came to be, provide continuity from book to book. Although it's a series, it works well enough as a standalone read. The author is adept at providing the necessary backstory without info dumping to an annoying degree.

It's a very very light cozy and as such, there are a few slightly wonky scenes where Mimi's fluttering her eyelashes and being a damsel over her law enforcement officer nemesis defining "lividity". I know the author wanted to define the term for readers and needed a way to work it into the dialogue, but it could easily have been done without making Mimi get an attack of the vapors.

Overall, it's a silly, cute, very light murder cozy with cats. This would be a superlative candidate for an undemanding beach/pool read. There are three books extant in the series, making it a good choice for a weekend binge read.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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