Alice Nestleton Books In Order

Publication Order of Alice Nestleton Mystery Books

The name Alice Nestleton refers to a series of novels written by Lydia Adamson. With more than a dozen of them in publication, the novels are rather unique, proving entertaining without exciting or engaging readers.

+The Story

The Alice Nestleton series falls neatly within the mystery genre. The novels, written by Lydia Adamson, chronicle the life of Alice Nestleton. An actress turned sleuth, Alice is as unique an individual as they get, very whimsical and fantastical, melodramatic in everything she does and heavily engaged with those hobbies she chooses to pursue.

Cats play a central role in the story. While wholly in love with the stage, Alice finds herself in a situation where she cannot support herself with her acting. This forces her to further engross herself into her adoration for the feline folk by cat sitting for other cat lovers.

And it is in the process of caring for her furry charges that Alice stumbles upon the various mysteries that litter the lives of those around her, many of them unexpected.

The Alice Nestleton series of novels play with mature elements such as sex, even delving somewhat into the seedy minutiae of murder but rarely exploring the sort of material that would make the stories explicit in anyway.

With a litany of charming characters, Lydia’s books have been compared to Lillian Jackson Braun’s work. Lydia Adamson writes the sorts of novels you will enjoy curling up with, but which are unlikely to leave you at the edge of your seat, positively curious about the happenings of the story.

You will understand and possibly even like the characters, the stories planted primarily within the field of mystery. Each novel makes a concerted effort to further develop the characters introduced in previous books. Those readers that enjoy consuming books lead by independent women are bound to enjoy Lydia’s work.

+The Author

The Nestleton Series is the work of Lydia Adamson. Born January 1936, Lydia Adamson is actually a pen name for Frank B. King. Frank is an American author that has also been known to produce works under the name ‘Frank King’, and can boast of novels such as the Deirdre Quinn Nightingale series.

Frank is also a freelance writer as a well as a copywriter.

+A Cat in the Manger

Alice Nestleton goes to a friend’s place in Long Island with one purpose, to cat sit; an actress doubling as a sleuth, she comes face to face with a bloody corpse. The experience thrusts her headlong into a dangerous conspiracy revolving around high stakes horse racing, her curiosity driving her towards danger she might find herself incapable of escaping.

A Cat in the Manger, the first book in the Alice Nestleton series, isn’t quite what most people expect. For one thing it isn’t nearly as cute as one would assume for a novel with such a strong feline presence. And the protagonist is hardly your typical heroine.

As a part time cat sitter, Alice Nestleton is an eccentric and quirky actress; enjoying the life only she can pursue and seeking out those most odd elements of living, the fact that Alice is such an out-of-the-box character plays a role in the delivery of such a unique story.

This is because the story is told primarily through her eyes; as such those elements of the plot that remain largely underdeveloped throughout the novel do little to hurt a narrative primarily focused upon only revealing to its audience what Alice sees, hears and knows.

The novel, on a whole, is a very short and simple read, a number of readers attesting to its entertainment value. Admittedly, the mystery is quite lacking and does little to engross readers. And for all the positive elements that Alice brings to the table, the plot has a tendency to generally wander off, this going to back to the rather weak mystery.

Some readers have complained about the weak role cats are afforded in the story, hardly the supporting cast boasting individual personalities that some expected; this cycles back to the unexpected nature of Lydia Adamson’s story, which emphasizes the mystery over any cat related shenanigans. Largely well written, A Cat in the Manger is the sort of story an animal lover might enjoy on a lazy weekend afternoon.

+A Cat of Different Color

Alice Nestleton is once more drawn into the realm of murder, this time by a mystery cat. The beautiful Off-Off Broadway actress is gifted with a beautiful Abyssinian cat from a student in her acting class. When the young student, Lothario, is killed in a Manhattan bar, his exotic gift is stolen soon after.

With her two cats, a regal bushy and harum-scarum Poncho, by her side, Alice delves into the world of love, revenge and murder, devising a trap that she hopes will corner the cat-napper.

The second of Lydia Adamson’s Alice Nestleton novels, A Cat of Different Color tends to attract varied reviews from readers. Most agree that the writing is hardly stellar, though it is passable.

And the mystery, as with many of Lydia’s mysteries, isn’t nearly as involved as it should be, many times more bizarre and obscure. That being said, A Cat of Different Color, like its predecessor, manages to entertain immensely despite its shortcomings.

This is primarily due to Alice Nestleton, whose characterization is wonderful and charming. Admittedly, the cast doesn’t receive nearly enough development and neither does the world that Alice inhabits, but, as with the previous novel, this is only because of Lydia’s decision to tell his story primarily from the perspective of Alice.

It is a decision that doesn’t exactly backfire, allowing us to acquire noteworthy insight into her psyche. Lydia’s second novel in the Alice Nestleton series is rather light and, as such, pretty easy to read.

While it might not measure up when compared to its considerably more complex rivals, A Cat of a Different color rarely fails to entertain. The book is bound to amuse a few people, especially with its fun change of pacing.

A cat of Different Color is as good a book as any to learn about and gain an interest in the rest of the novels within the Alice Nestleton series.