Orange as Marmalade — Fran Stewart

There aren't many secrets between folks in small old Southern towns like Martinsville, Georgia. But when someone is found murdered in the local library, even the biggest gossips are speechless. First on the scene in the wee hours is a curious cat named Marmalade, followed later by the new librarian, Biscuit McKee. She finds the victim--Harlan Schneider, a young, good-looking nature photographer--stabbed through the heart.

Everyone seems genuinely puzzled as to why the man was in the library, and how he came to draw his last breath on the second-floor landing. Between getting ready for her upcoming wedding to the town's only police officer and poking her nose into Martinsville's colorful history, Biscuit--with help from her tenacious feline companion--manages to identify the surprising motive, means...and murderer.