chez_jae

Meow or Never by Nancy C. Davis

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I completed reading the ebook Meow or Never last night. It's the third installment in author Nancy C Davis' "Vanessa Abbot" mystery series, featuring crazy cat lady, Vanessa.

Vanessa is with Detective Pete Wheeler when he's called to an industrial accident. He takes Vanessa along, and they arrive at the scene of a fatality. It quickly becomes apparent that this was no accident. As Vanessa and Detective Pete wonder if the victim was the intended target, other incidents soon make it clear that an old nemesis is at work, and that they are on the hit list. They don't know whom they can trust, except for Vanessa's cats, who seem to sense the danger all around them. Will the cats be able to help bring a killer to justice?

Sigh

These stories are inane, for lack of a better word. There's no actual plot; rather, the narrative is just one random scene after another that culminates in a confrontation. Some scenarios are so implausible that I was left rolling my eyes. No police officer is going to take his girlfriend to a crime scene and ask if she wants to help investigate. A criminal mastermind with tentacles all over the country isn't going to waste his time on a small, po-dunk town in the middle of nowhere when there are bigger fish to fry in large cities. And, can we please stop referring to Vanessa's love interest as Detective Pete Wheeler? He's a detective; we get it. Introduce him as such and then refer to him as "Pete" throughout the rest of the book.

Favorite line: "I've got thirteen cats waiting for me who haven't been fed all day."
I can relate to that...

Appropriate reading for a tween. It lacks the sophistication and polish that is the hallmark of adult fare. Two stars.