A CURIOUS AFFAIR - Melanie Jackson
Love Spell
ISBN: 978-0-505-52738-7
June 2008
Paranormal Romance

Irish Camp, Nevada - Present Day

Jillian Marsh has a whole boat-load of problems on her hands:

<> She was hit by lightning.
<> She was hit by lightning and now she can hear the local stray cats talking to her.
<> She has TMJ, which in simple terms means a locked jaw.

And if things aren't bad enough, it is the middle of winter, she has thoughts of suicide because she misses her husband Cal who died over three years ago, and those darn cats won't leave her alone! All Jillian wants to do is drink herself into oblivion because the thought of cleaning Cal's old clothes out her bedroom closet is too much to bear. But when Atherton, one of the pesky cats, comes to her about his owner being murdered, Jillian has no choice but to investigate.

Jillian finds Irving Thibodaux dead on the floor of his shack with his head bashed in. Jillian cannot figure out why someone would murder poor Irv, who barely had enough money to survive and enjoyed taking care of all the stray cats in the area. Atherton and his feline friends want Jillian to find the "Smelly-butt man" who murdered Irv. Jillian has no choice but to get the law involved, and that means the new sheriff, Tyler Murphy. Tyler thinks Jillian is a little kooky, maybe because she can hardly open her mouth to talk, but the story she tells about how she finds Irv is a little off, so Tyler takes over the case and promises to find the culprit.

Since Atherton won't leave Jillian alone, she still has to do some detective work and try and figure out who wanted Irv dead. There are rumors about Irv owning a gold mine, and then there is Irv's shifty looking nephew Peter Jordan Wilkes, who Atherton says is the Smelly-butt man. Jillian believes the cat, but she needs more proof than just the word of an animal. She also takes on the responsibility of trying to find homes for all these stray cats. And when Tyler wants to get to know Jillian better, she is at the point where cleaning out her closet is looking more appealing by the second.

Talking cats and murder make for some interesting reading in A CURIOUS AFFAIR. Melanie Jackson has written a quirky mystery with a paranormal slant told from the first person point of view by Jillian, a widow who has so many unbelievable problems, you would think she has the worst luck. Jillian is a wonderful storyteller who brings humor into her situation, and you can't help but laugh over her predicaments.

I especially liked the small town feel and how everyone has a label, from the recently deceased Irv who was a bit of an eccentric handyman, to his on-again-off-again lover, Molly, who becomes a good friend to Jillian. As Jillian tries to catch a killer, Sheriff Tyler is slowly courting Jillian, which she doesn't even realize until they start kissing and end up rolling around on her living room floor.

For a very different type of murder mystery and some very quirky characters and a twist at the end you won't see coming, pick up A CURIOUS AFFAIR, because in this tale, curiosity does not kill the cat!

Kate Garrabrant