Crazy, VA (Lil & Boris #1) (Lil & Boris Mysteries) (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Littlepage (Lil) Eller doesn’t have an easy time of it and that’s exactly how her life began. Her mother was part of the “old money” Littlepage family and her father was part of the “nouveau riche” Eller family. The problem with that is that the Littlepage and Eller families have been feuding since the beginning of time. Neither family accepted her parents and neither accepts her. Oddly enough she’s elected as sheriff of Crazy, Virginia, despite the fact that she’s so hated by most of the town. The town definitely earned its name Crazy.Since she’s not well liked, nobody will work for Lil out of fear of going against both families. Therefore, she has no deputy and works alone until she runs into a feral cat. As often happens with cats, the cat chooses to be part of Lil’s life but he has no intentions of staying home and waiting for her. He wants to go on patrol. Since she has no other candidates anyway, Lil names him Boris and deputizes him. He’s more than happy to sleep next to her in her patrol car as she makes her rounds. He, also, has no problems biting or scratching anyone who tries to hurt Lil. The bad guys better beware of cat!Murder hits Crazy for the first time in decades. The victim is the Littlepage’s daughter Lisa. A cousin that Lil was never allowed to know. Lil and Boris investigate and their investigation leads them through an eccentric family with more secrets than Lil ever expected to find. She just hopes when this is over, she doesn’t add to the family feud by arresting one of them.This is the first of four books and it’s off to a great start. There is humor laced throughout the book and it complements the mystery aspect very well. Boris is a delight. He doesn’t talk or have any magical traits, he’s a cat and acts like one. The author knows how a cat would behave and writes it to perfection.I’d like to see Lil get more of a personal life, but hopefully that’s coming in future books. She’s a strong, capable character and someone I grew to care about as the pages flew by on my Kindle. The story itself was a rollercoaster ride and I kept changing my mind about the culprit. We were left with a bit of cliffhanger but it just makes me excited to read the next one. This was a really cool book and the promising start to what appears to be a great series of crime mysteries with captivating and unusual multidimensional characters, original plots, and natural and smooth-flowing dialogue. Add to that a cat--a contrary Tom who is smarter than the humans whom he graciously condescends to abide among--you know, reality. I must say Lil needs to get him a little muzzle because if Boris keeps biting and scratching bad guys, the little town of Crazy is overdue for a serious lawsuit. The ending may disappoint some readers, but to me it comes under the category of that-is-just-the-kind-of-crap-that-would-happen-in-reality. It is clear that the enmity between the Littlepages and Ellers will carry forth much further intrigue into future books and that, sigh, the path of Lil's love life will run neither straight nor smooth--more intriguing stuff to come.
What do You think about Crazy, VA (Lil & Boris #1) (Lil & Boris Mysteries) (2013)?
I really enjoyed this story and Boris and the quirky female Sheriff!
—Nissy27
Cute, but I didn't really feel like they finished the story.
—tillylovelife
