Lawyer for the CatThomas Dunne books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, 2016
Sally Baynard is a divorce attorney in Charleston, South Carolina. She is known for being a tough and not easily pushed-around lawyer, always doing the best she can for her clients. A long-time friend, Judge Clarkson from Probate Court, asks her to be a trust enforcer for a troublesome case for a deceased elderly lady named Lila Mackay. Mrs. Mackay was definitely eccentric in her life, and now, she has set up a huge trust fund for her beloved black cat, Beatrice. She even named 4 different potential cat care-takers, each one with their own selfish reasons for wanting to keep an extremely rich cat. It is Sally’s job to interview the possible care-takers and make the best decision for Beatrice.
Sally takes the job, a little reluctantly because she also has to deal with her current contentious clients, a mother with Alzheimer’s disease, 2 very different and eccentric in their own rights nurse care-givers (for her mother), a secretary who’s in an emotional crisis and a boyfriend who is pressuring her to move in with him – not to mention the annoying ex-husband and his obnoxious new wife! Sally certainly has her plate full.
This book was a nice break from the usual murder mysteries and adventure novels we generally read. There are no murders, but there is a brief kidnapping episode and the only adventure Sally really goes on is in flying to New York City to interview one of the nominees. There is curse word or two, no graphic sex (just a reference to ‘love-making’), no real violence (just implied) but there are some tense moments and a bit of a mystery in wondering who will be chosen for Beatrice? The character of Sally is strong, smart, compassionate and yet still vulnerable when it comes to her personal feelings toward her mom and boyfriend. She struggles with keeping her life in balance between work, mom and boyfriend – something many women do in real life so it was easy to identify with her issues. I didn’t particularly care for the way the book ended regarding her boyfriend issue – I won’t state it here because I don’t do spoilers!!! I don’t mind cliff hangers but this was annoying to me because as cliff hangers go, it wasn’t a very good one. But that was the only downside to the whole book.
Rating 
Reviewer: BobbieSueWe read this book as a part of the Summer Reading Challenge!
Topic: Read a “Beach” Book
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Library of Cats 