Book 23, 2022

A Whisker of a Doubt by Cate Conte

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Storms chased me offline last night, but that enabled me to finish reading A Whisker of a Doubt by Cate Conte. It's the fourth book in the 'Cat Cafe' mystery series, featuring cat cafe owner Maddie James. Narrative is in her point of view.

The holidays should be a happy time, but Maddie is feeling blue over the implosion of her relationship with handsome dog groomer, Lucas. He left Daybreak Island for a short stint, and now she hasn't heard from him in a month. To keep her mind off of Lucas, Maddie throws herself into work. Since winter brings a lull in tourism, the cat cafe is undergoing renovations, and Maddie is keeping busy as a volunteer feeding and caring for a colony of feral cats. Unfortunately, the colony is in the woods just beyond an upscale neighborhood, and the residents have been at odds with the volunteers. When Maddie finds one of the residents dead in the snow and her friend Katrina is arrested, she sets out to clear Katrina's name. With the help of her grandfather, Leo (the retired chief of police), and her ex-boyfriend-but-still-friend, Craig (a current police officer), Maddie starts uncovering a wealth of conflict in the Sea Spray neighborhood. However, she also learns that Katrina has a history of being involved in a radical animal rights group. As if sorting out the crime isn't enough, Lucas returns and wants to "talk". Having been ghosted before in a previous relationship, however, Maddie isn't interested in hearing him out. More secrets come to light, putting not just Maddie's heart in danger, but also her life.

I liked the story, but I would have enjoyed it more had it not skipped around, time-wise. This is completely subjective on my part, but I really hate it when stories do that. I blame my OCD. I did like how so many people stepped up to help Katrina, including the island's eccentric Leopard Man. You know, I'd like to read a book wherein Leopard Man is the main character. He's a cult of personality unto himself! I didn't care for how Maddie's family tried to butt into her relationship issues with Lucas. If they knew something she didn't, why not tell her rather than simply imploring her to hear him out? Given her past history, I don't blame her for being stubborn about it.

Favorite lines:
♣ Tonight here I was, creeping through a stranger's yard in a snowstorm, about to sneak through a snow-covered hedge to get into the woods while dragging a forty-pound bag of cat food. All while talking to myself. I really had become the crazy cat lady.
♣ Our family had always done Christmas Eve big.
♣ All I knew is that the more I let people get away with stuff in my life, the more stuff they tried to get away with.
♣ "We cat people need to have each other's backs."

Overall, an entertaining and engrossing read. Four stars.