Claws Out
A Cat Café Mystery #9
By Cate Conte
ISBN 9781250883995
Author’s website: cateconte.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
The ninth installment in a charming cozy mystery series set on an island off the New England coast and featuring the cat cafe owner Maddie and her cat JJ.
After a long, snowy winter on Daybreak Island, Maddie and her cat café crew are finally ready to embrace the spring, though life is anything but calm. With Val and Ethan’s wedding taking center stage, Maddie finds herself juggling wedding plans alongside a new and unexpected venture—a generous donation has made her the co-owner of a traveling cat cafe truck. To kick off the new chapter, she seizes the chance to take the truck on its inaugural trip to a cat literary festival in Provincetown, accompanied by her family and some of the shelter crew.
The festival is organized by the renowned cat-romance author Jasmine Prescott, who also runs a beloved cat rescue foundation on Cape Cod. But when Jasmine’s longtime friend and fellow author Vivi St. Clair arrives with a boatload full of drama—everything from a dangerous ex-husband to an unwanted Netflix crew—tensions run high. At first, it seems like just another dose of celebrity chaos—until Vivi is found murdered. As new evidence ties Maddie and her cat cafe into the investigation, Maddie must dig deeper into the tangled web of secrets, rivalries, and feline-friendly drama to uncover the truth. The question what’s the connection between the cat cafe and Vivi’s untimely death? (from Goodreads)
Review:
Maddie James and her family and friends received a most unexpected expansion to their business, JJ’s House of Purrs, a cat café on Daybreak Island in the Cape Cod area. Grandpa Leo owns the home where he and several family members live and the cat café is located. Harry, a retired cop, is a friend of Leo, a retired chief of police. Harry and Adele, the manager of the café, are a couple, and he also volunteers regularly there. One day Harry arrived at the cat café with a huge food truck. Harry happily donated it to the cat café to be used as their cat café on wheels. He has the plan and people in place to remodel it to accommodate cats for adoption and a mini café.
The perfect maiden voyage would be the Provincetown Cat Lit Festival. Maddie had long wanted to attend it “someday”. It was a week away, and they would be ready. The festival included authors of favorite cat-focused novels, blogs, and podcasts as well as a huge cat rescue network.
Jasmine, author of romance novels with cats in central roles, is the primary organizer. Her best friend, Vivi, is also integral to the festival. Both ladies are best-selling authors, well-known by both romance readers and fans of cat rescues. Jasmine is the heart of the Prescott Companion Cats Foundation. Their new shelter would soon be under construction, as well as a building refurbishment for another, smaller shelter. They network with several cat rescues, each helping the other. Maddie hopes to partner JJ’s House of Purrs with the Foundation.
Val, Maddie’s sister, will soon marry Ethan, Maddie’s friend and business partner. The couple’s tension grows daily, and both are attending the festival, with Ethan offering his signature café specialties. Adele and Harry will work with and show the cats. Maddie’s other sister, Sam, is eager to meet the authors, of whom she is a total fangirl. Maddie’s boyfriend, Lucas, and her parents are attending.
Lucas and Maddie were walking outdoors the first night and overheard part of a shrill argument. It was Vivi, with a creepy guy Maddie had met in the hotel lobby earlier. It was clear the two knew each other in the past, and it was also clear that Mickey had a bone to pick with Vivi.
Vivi won first place for the book of the year, and most were thrilled for her. She and her friends celebrated late into the night. Early the next morning, Vivi was found murdered at the pier.
Maddie wants to catch the killer, as she has done in the past. She looked into a few things she heard before and after Vivi’s death. She met a couple who claimed Vivi owed them for “stealing” their romance for her novel. She had a bestseller, but they didn’t get even a mention. They also met a man who adored Vivi and had helped research for previous novels. Vivi’s “friend” Mickey was actually her ex-husband. Then, the past she thought was buried was in demand by Netflix, filming her secretly at the festival.
Each of the characters are seen through their conversations and behaviors. The regulars were true to what we’ve seen in the past except – they kept disappearing! Maddie was not her usual, responsible, self, being more consumed with the murder than her cat café. Leo was helping the local police with the investigation. The uber-responsible Ethan ran the café until he disappeared. Harry, excited about the cat café, could not be found. I missed JJ, who was not actively involved, except when carried by or walking with Maddie. Adele, Sam, and Maddie’s parents covered as best they could. Sam, however, may have found a career path that interests her.
This fast-paced, intriguing mystery was top notch. There were several plausible suspects. . . until eliminated one by one. The resolution, however, was completely satisfying. I highly recommend this to those who enjoy well-written “cat lit” cozy mysteries.
