Kittens Can Kill - Clea Simon

A mystery with talking animals.  They seem to be popular these days so every so often I try one.  And then remember that I don't like them.  I guess I keep trying to see why they appeal to readers but I've yet to see it. 

Pru is an animal behaviorist that can hear what animals are saying and talk to them.  She's been called in to deal with a kitten that was given to a retired lawyer as a gift and needs to be taken to the vet.  When she arrives, the lawyer is dead and the kitten is playing next to him.  The lawyers three daughters all get accused and, in turn, seem to accuse each other of killing him. In the end, of course, the animals provide the clues for Pru to solve the mystery.

The mystery plot, taken on its own, is not bad.  The book is well edited.  The dialogue is believable.  If you into talking animals, this will probably be ok, but I did not care for it at all.  Pru is bitter and fairly unlikeable in many ways.  She has a great disregard for normal human activities which reminds me of Kinsey Milhone at her worst.  She seems to think that animals are smarter than people and everyone who doesn't understand them is just an ignoramus.  She's dismissive of her boyfriend.  I just generally didn't enjoy her character at all.  But the final nail in the coffin is the way she investigates the murder.  She has absolutely no standing to do so.  The family doesn't ask her to.  She didn't know him.  She's not being accused of anything.  All the normal reasons that amateurs investigate crimes are non-existent.  She's just super-nosy and not in a fun way.  What makes it worse is that people tell her stuff. Stuff that you would never tell a stranger.  It's nonsensical.

This is the fifth in a series and the first I've read so maybe that has some bearing on how ridiculous this book seemed to me but I won't be reading the others to find out.  This was provided to me through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.