Thursday, March 26, 2020

Cat About Town (A Cat Cafe Mystery #1)

Author:  Cate Conte
Genre:   Mystery

Mass Market Paperback; [Audio CD]; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781250072061; [9781541469471]
St. Martin's Publishing [Tantor Audio]
295 Pages
$6.19; [$16.25]; $6.99 Amazon
August 1, 2017

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Maddie James has arrived on Daybreak Island, just off the coast of Massachusetts, on family business.  The last thing she expected to find her was a stray orange tabby -- one so cute and cuddly that Maddie is struck with the idea to open a cat café.  But little does Maddie know that she's in for something a lot more catastrophic when her new furry companion finds the dead body of the town bully.  Now all eyes are on Maddie:  Who is this crazy cat-whisperer lady who's come to town?  If pet-hair-maintenance and crime-fighting weren't keeping her busy enough, Maddie now has not one but two eligible bachelors who think she's the cat's pajamas..and will do anything to win her heart.  But how can she even think about happily-ever-after while a killer remains on the loose -- and on her path?

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Maddie James has arrived on the island where she grew up, to attend her grandmother’s funeral.  She now lives in San Francisco and owns her own business, but has taken a leave of absence.  However, when talking with her mother, she learns that her mom thinks her grandfather, Leo, might be getting forgetful about certain things and asks Maddie to keep an eye on him.

While at the graveyard she comes across an orange cat that seems to like her, and Maddie does her best to make friends and get the cat to come to her, but people keep interrupting and the cat skitters away.  Also, while at the graveyard, a man approaches Leo and Maddie later learns that Frank O'Malley wants him to sell his home — the home her mother grew up in, where she lived until she was nine with her parents, and where her grandfather grew up. Maddie’s appalled, and Leo insists he doesn’t want to talk about it.  But Maddie when Maddie learns that Frank went so far as to threaten Leo, she decides to speak with Frank  herself and tell him that there’s no way her grandfather is going to sell and he needs to back off.  While the talk didn’t go well, Maddie isn’t going to give up and have her grandfather lose his home. 
Dejected, she goes to the cemetery again to visit her grandmother’s grave and the cat once appears, and this time he follows her home.  After walking with him throughout the day, he's been named  JJ; and she takes him with her to the food festival that evening.  But JJ skitters away again, and she follows his tail to one of the tents and sees him under a table — when she raises the cloth to get him, she comes across the body of Frank O’Malley, who’s been stabbed.  Now her grandfather is a suspect in the death, and Maddie is determined to stay and find out who killed Frank...and hopefully the killer won’t come after her, too...

This is the first in a new series, and like all new ones, I'm always a bit skeptical of what might be inside the pages.  But I was pleasantly surprised in the fact that this book is actually very good.  The plot is delightful, I love JJ's personality, and also the fact that Maddie doesn't allow him outside alone.  (I don't even believe in cats being outside at all, but I do understand that JJ is crucial to the story so it wouldn't make much sense otherwise; and the fact that Maddie has him on a leash when he's with her mitigates it for me).  I like Maddie, since she's not broke, didn't come running home with her tail between her legs, and actually has intelligence.  This book would have been five stars for me but for two things:  I really did feel that the way Maddie was asking questions was intrusive to other people.  I get that she was trying to find answers, but she was pretty much cornering people and demanding them at times.  That bothered me.

The second is the obligatory love triangle.  While there isn't one yet, I will say (as I've always said) that I absolutely detest them.  Let's put it this way: if it were a man and he was stringing along two women, you'd think he was a dog, or worse.  So why is it okay when a woman does it?  Now, as I've said, there's really no love triangle going on.  But the potential is there, and I, for one, hope it doesn't come to fruition.  A book can be just as interesting without two guys hating each other and trying to outdo each other.  They don't need to put on their chain mail and joust for fair maiden in this century.

That being said, I was pleased with the rest of the book.  It was written well, the plot was interesting, Maddie and her family definitely has potential, and I like the secondary characters as well.  I do love the idea that she's going to open a cat café, which makes all the more enticing to read the next in the series.  As an owner of several cats, this series appeals to me; the author is a pleasure to read, being able to create definitive characters and descriptions of the area; and I will continue on with the series.  Recommended.

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