A Case of Cat and Mouse
Magical Cats Mystery #12
By Sofie Kelly
ISBN 9780440001164
sofiekelly.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
A reality TV crew has come to town and brought librarian Kathleen Paulson and her two magical cats more than their fair share of real-life drama, in the newest installment of this New York Times bestselling series.
Spring has come to charming Mayville Heights, and with it, some Hollywood glamour. The little town is abuzz because the reboot of a popular baking TV show is filming there. Librarian Kathleen Paulson is working as an advisor on historical facts for the show, local restaurants are providing catering for the camera crews, and Kathleen’s faithful felines, Hercules and Owen, are hoping there is a cat treat challenge.
But then Kathleen finds one of the judges dead. She has solved many-a-murder with help from the supernaturally gifted Herc and Owen, and with the whole town on tenterhooks, the talented trio will have to have all paws on deck to chase down this killer. (From Goodreads)
Review:
Take one cat who can walk through doors or walls and knows where the birthday candles are stashed. Stir in one cat who can disappear and reappear at his discretion. Add a librarian who is an expert with information, including how to build a bomb, and mix all ingredients with a TV reality show bakeoff, great friends, and a killer or two, and you have A Case of Cat and Mouse. It is very well-written with a mystery that has many suspects and folks who want the librarian, Kathleen, to discover who the killer is. It is just another spring day in Minnesota!
Kathleen is the daughter of two actors. She misses her family since moving from Boston a few years ago for what she thought was a two-year position. She found a whole set of friends who are like her second family, the best boyfriend ever, two feral cats with unusual talents that adopted her, and a feral cat colony that she helps care for. Kathleen has remained in Mayville Heights, become a full-time librarian, and somehow gets sucked into solving mysteries to keep innocent friends out of prison.
A modern remake of The Great Northern Baking Showdown is underway at the community center. A couple local people, one being a close friend, Rebecca, have won places on the show. Kathleen works part time for the production company doing research for information about the town and various aspects of each day’s baking challenge. There are two well-known people co-hosting the show, two who are judges, and six of the original twelve contestants are left.
The contestants have been good about helping each other with various challenges. Things are heating up, as only three of those six contestants will finish. One evening, Kathleen had to return to the community center. Instead of the person she needed to meet with, she found one of the judges dead.
The main suspect is a father figure to a close friend of Kathleen’s. The woman pleaded with Kathleen to help find who really did it, even though evidence points to the executive producer. The more questions Kathleen asks, however, the more people come to her with secrets they were afraid to tell the police, or ideas for more suspects. The love of Kathleen’s life is a detective, and while he can’t share his information with her, she is happy to pass along what she learns to Marcus.
This town has some of the best people ever! They are so well defined, I could almost picture them. There is Kathleen, who loves Mayville Heights enough to stay there and become part of the community. Marcus, her boyfriend, is the perfect guy for her. They met under rocky conditions when she was a murder suspect, but he knows she is going to ask questions and solve puzzles and give him the info she gathers. And who couldn’t use a vet for a friend? Roma and her husband are great friends and have been preparing a real surprise for the feral community this time. The contestants and people involved with the baking show, both locals and visitors, fit right in. Well, almost everyone, except Kassie, the judge that was murdered. I adore Owen and Hercules!
There are some incredibly laugh-out-loud funny scenes and a few very intense scenes. Then there are the scenes that make the bakeoff rival the daytime drama that Kathleen’s mother occasionally guests on. This series simply gets better with each novel. If Fred the Funky Chicken is real, I need one for my cats! Or a bagful of them. I have tried so hard to picture him over the years. I did not figure out the solution to the murder; the bad guy is someone who I may not have even considered. That’s the kind of mystery I enjoy most, one that I can’t solve and wish it didn’t end. I highly recommend it!
