Scratch the Surface (Cat Lover's Mysteries)

by Susan Conant

[MurderByDeath]

I don't know how this book ended up on my TBR; at a guess it was a freebie a bookseller threw into one of my orders, but it's about cats and I'd read the author's dog series years ago, and remembered enjoying it.   At first I didn't think I'd get through it - the mc struck me as shallow - but there's a strong satiric vibe to the story; a lot of tongue-in-cheek fun poked at cozy mysteries, their authors, and the preponderance of cats involved in mysteries.  The flagrant use and acknowledgement of all the cliches, as well as serious name and title dropping, kept me going.  And the cats of course.  They don't talk, thankfully, but there are a few chapters told in the third person, but from the cats' perspective.  Nothing unreasonable, but contributing to the plot's resolution.   The mystery of who killed the dead guy ends up solved accidentally - although the cats' get some credit, or course - and the solution didn't feel all that plausible.  Or, maybe it felt plausible but too abrupt to work for me.  Regardless, it was a decent read and I enjoyed it, just probably not enough to make any wild efforts to buy any further books (if there are any).