Dear reader, perhaps you, like me, are craving some relief from the awfulness of the news. If so, here are two stories with intrepid heroines facing down dangers, somewhat aided by cats, that are cozy enough to be a relief while still enouraging you to keep caring for the world.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society
by C.M. Waggoner

Ace, 2024

ISBN 9781984805881

Read from a library copy.

60-something library director Sherry Pinkwhistle lives a quiet life in a small town in upstate New York, small enough that she’s able to get by without a car. She has a sweet if demanding cat, Sir Thomas More, a waif-like next door neighbor, Alice, regular dates with the distinguished-looking Alan, and a best friend, Janine. Sherry is also regularly called on or pulled into solving the many murders that seem to take place, much to the local sheriff’s chagrin. (I was quite surprised when a murder came up and was solved within the next two chapters!)

Sherry had never questioned this – until someone very close to her is murdered and she decides she just can’t. Then, suddenly, everyone around her – including her cat – is talking to her in voices not their own, telling her that she must investigate. Now Sherry must decide what to do – clearly something supernatural is going on, something that will require very careful handling to figure out just what that might be without putting herself in further danger. Further refletion also begs the question – just why are there so many murders in one tiny town, and why do all the residents still consider it a quiet and peaceful place despite this?

The writing here is hysterically funny, leading me to read or want to read aloud passages every time I read it. A couple of incidents felt a little too dark for a typical cozy, but it is generally a very cozy story. Fairly early on, I started looking for clues as to when the story might be set – something that made me feel quite clever when it was revealed. And though the story is funny and cozy, with a good range of characters, there is a deeper message here of the importance of listening to yourself when you feel that something is wrong, even if no one else really believes you.

The Teller of Small Fortunes
by Julie Leong.
Read by Phyllis Ho

Penguin Audio, 2024.

ASIN B0CVSD89MB

Listened to audiobook through Libby.

Tao has been a happy and solitary traveling fortune teller for many years now, always moving on before people realize that her fortunes really do come true and come after her – for people of Shin ancestry are rarely welcome in the kingdom. That’s also why she sticks to telling only small fortunes, ones that don’t contain anything life altering. She’s always been happy with just her donkey for company – until two rough-looking men help clear a fallen tree from her path instead of attacking her. Mash is a retired mercenary and Silt is at least trying to be a reformed thief, rather than an active one. When Tao repays their help by telling their fortunes, Mash recruits her help in finding his missing four-year-old daughter, whom he believes has been kidnapped. As they travel, they’re also joined by Kina, a pretty young baker who wants to see the world and who bakes delicious if not beautiful treats, and of course the cat shown on the cover.

As they search for Mash’s daughter, they also run across more and more displaced people, running from unrest on the other side of the mountains. But what could be happening, and why is someone looking for Tao in particular? Questions are adding up much less pleasantly than the new friends they have scattered across the countryside.

This is a meandering sort of cozy story, more focused on the characters and their developments than on the plot. There are definitely tense moments, but many more of exploring people and their attitudes, especially towards outsiders and non-coforming women. It builds to an ending with much higher stakes than seemed initially possible.

I listened to the audiobook with some mixed feelings. Phyllis Ho does a wonderful job giving accents to different people and being able to pronounce the Chinese-derived Shin words. I did find it necessary to increase the playback speed, and I had trouble distinguishing between the characters as she didn’t give them distinct voices. If you have an easy choice, I might recommend reading this in print, but I’d still give it a shot on audio if that’s your best medium.