Conrad quinted at her quizzically. 'You keep looking for a reason as to why I'm here,' he said.
'Because it's strange. It's not every day I get approached by a talking cat.'
'Don't overthink it, Lulu. Sometimes paths just cross, that's all there is to it.' [loc. 115]
Lulu (named after the singer) is a retired police detective who lives on a narrowboat in Little Venice, a quiet upmarket area of London. She used to live in her mother-in-law Emily's house nearby, but Emily's now in a nursing home and Lulu, recently widowed, couldn't deal with living alone in the house.
One day Lulu welcomes aboard a special visitor, Conrad the Calico Cat. (Most calicos are female, but not this one.) She knows Conrad's name because he introduces himself, very courteously and patiently, and finally gets her to accept that yes, talking cat. He rides on her shoulder when she goes to visit Emily -- and when Emily unexpectedly dies that night, Conrad (who can see auras, gauge health and guess what Lulu's thinking) agrees with Lulu's suspicion that Emily's death wasn't natural.
This is a charming and heartwarming cosy crime novel, with two very likeable leads and decent pacing. There were some aspects I would have found more bothersome in a less cosy book (the way both Lulu and Conrad love to infodump local history; the repetitive banality of tea-making descriptions; the occasional hint of Daily Mail sentiments; the fact that the villain is so very obvious from the moment they appear). But Conrad and Lulu's relationship, and especially their kindness to one another, turned out to be just what I needed. I also liked the setting, with Lulu's life on the canal, her friends in the community, and the sense of place. I was thoroughly charmed, and I look forward to reading more in this series.
Fulfils the ‘An Unlikely Detective’ rubric of the 52 books in 2022 challenge.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date is 27th October 2022.
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