The Cat, the Collector and the Killer (Cats in Trouble Mystery, #8)

by Leann Sweeney

In the latest mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Cat, the Sneak and the Secret, a cat collector is suspected of murder.
 
Jillian Hart and police chief Tom Stewart are enjoying peaceful, newly wedded bliss in Mercy, South Carolina, until a woman is found wandering the streets one night. She's in her night clothes, disoriented, and carrying a kitten in a tote bag. A search of the woman’s house reveals many more cats, a maze of cardboard boxes—and a dead man.

 
Although the evidence suggests the frail woman is the killer, Jillian doesn’t believe she’s capable of such a crime. The dead man had many enemies in town, which means finding the real murderer may prove to be its own cat and mouse game...

• ISBN10: 0451477405
• ISBN13: 9780451477408
• Publish Date: 2 August 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: New American Library
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451477408

Reviews

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

I received this book for free from Obsidian in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I liked how the crazy cat lady was done in this. And how she wasn't actually a hoarder, even though she had so many cats. I also liked the police investigation, and the details that went into it.

The cats themselves were adorable, and I liked how they weren't central to finding clues. You can tell the author knows a lot about cats by the realistic way she wrote about them. There are a number of cozy mysteries I like or love with cats in them, but a lot of them make the cats smarter than credible. And they tend to lead the characters right to clues. Not so in this book, the cats behaved like normal house cats who were loved by their humans a great deal. And I loved seeing that. I'm kind of curious about the cat cam that Jillian uses to watch her cats at home while she's out and about. It sounds like something that would be fun to set up for my own cats.

I liked Minnie as a character, she was fun and sweet, even though she was confused for most of the book. I also really liked Jillian. I didn't know who the killer was until about a third or so of the way in. And even then, it was just a suspicion not really a "that person did it!".

The way the various mysterious happenings all tied together, and how they figured out what had happened was well done. I loved how Jillian took down the killer at the end! She didn't go looking for them, they came after her. Which is another huge plus. I really like when the main character doesn't do silly things like go after the killer without any back up.

I really enjoyed this book, and will be looking for the next one in the series. And quite probably the prior books as well since I haven't read any of the others. If you like cats, and smart main characters, as well as reading about police or crime scene investigation, you need to try this book.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon