If you like your murder mysteries with a side of Southern charm, a giant Maine Coon cat, and a college-town library, the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries by Miranda James are exactly your speed. The series follows Charlie Harris, a widowed librarian who moved back to his hometown of Athena, Mississippi, and his enormous (and surprisingly well-behaved) cat, Diesel — who goes everywhere on a leash, like a very large, very calm dog.
Seventeen books in, the series is still going strong, with new entries continuing after author Dean James’s death in 2022 (the “Miranda James” name is a pen name, and the series has continued under his estate’s arrangements). Here’s the complete Cat in the Stacks reading order, from the first book to the latest.
Cat in the Stacks Books in Order
- Murder Past Due (2010)
- Classified as Murder (2011)
- File M for Murder (2012)
- Out of Circulation (2013)
- The Silence of the Library (2014)
- Arsenic and Old Books (2015)
- No Cats Allowed (2016)
- Twelve Angry Librarians (2017)
- Claws for Concern (2018)
- Six Cats a Slayin’ (2018)
- The Pawful Truth (2019)
- Careless Whiskers (2020)
- Cat Me If You Can (2020)
- What the Cat Dragged In (2021)
- Hiss Me Deadly (2023)
- Requiem for a Mouse (2024)
- Something Whiskered (2025)
Do You Need to Read Them in Order?
You’ll get the most out of the series reading in order, since Charlie’s relationships — with his daughter Laura, his eventual love interest, and the rest of Athena’s cast of regulars — develop gradually across the books, and a few plot threads carry over. That said, each book’s central mystery is self-contained, so a new reader who starts mid-series won’t be lost on the whodunit itself.
Where Should I Start?
Murder Past Due (2010) is the natural starting point — it introduces Charlie, Diesel, and Athena, and sets up the found-family dynamic that carries through the rest of the series. If you’d rather sample a slightly more polished entry first, The Silence of the Library (book five) is often cited by fans as one of the strongest early mysteries, once the series has found its footing.
FAQ
Is Diesel a real type of cat behavior, or is he exaggerated for fiction?
Maine Coons are famously large, dog-like, and sociable, and some do walk on leashes — Diesel is an exaggerated but not wholly unrealistic version of the breed’s reputation.
Are the Cat in the Stacks books cozy mysteries?
Yes — no graphic violence, an amateur sleuth, a small-town setting, and a low-key romance subplot are all classic cozy hallmarks, and this series checks every box.
Is the series still being written?
Yes. Following Dean James’s death in 2022, new Cat in the Stacks books have continued to be published, with Something Whiskered releasing in 2025.
Looking for more cozy mysteries with a cat sidekick? Check out our roundup of the best cozy mystery series with cats, or browse more cozy mysteries set in bookshops and libraries.