Book 82, 2019

[chez_jae]

The Tell Tail Heart: A Cat Cafe Mystery by Cate Conte

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Stayed up late last night to finish reading The Tell Tail Heart, which is the third installment in the "Cat Cafe" mystery series by Cate Conte. Main character is Maddie James, who has recently opened a cat cafe on Daybreak Island.

Now that the tourist season is over, Maddie is taking advantage of the slow time to do some construction work on the home where her cafe is located. Her only regular customer at this point is a famous writer who comes in each day to hang with the cats and work on his latest project. Maddie's relationship with dog groomer Lucas is going well, and she's happy that her sister seems to be finding her own niche after a messy divorce. However, Maddie's rosy world starts to crumble when a strange woman appears at the cat cafe, claiming Maddie's cat JJ belongs to her. Not long after, the author is found murdered, and Lucas must leave the island for a convention on the mainland. Maddie is convinced the odd woman is somehow involved in the murder, but as she does her own investigating, she learns that people she's known all her life are keeping secrets of their own.

Not my favorite in this series. Maddie's behavior got a tad tantrum-y and childish at times. I don't like that the author can't seem to decide if Maddie will pair up with Lucas or Craig, her ex. Most of JJ's screen time was spent sleeping, which, ya know, cats, but it would have been nice to see him be more involved.

Favorite line: I knew cat people. We were all a little crazy.

I'd give this 3 1/2 stars if I could. Vexing enough for me to bump it down to a three.