Book Review: Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine by Liz Ireland (Mrs. Claus #6)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun mystery, great characters, charming and delightful

Cons: I’m not vicious enough to list cons

The Bottom Line:

Valentine wedding

Murder rears its vicious head

Book is pure delight

Who Penned a Real Poisonous Valentine?

It’s no secret how much I love the Mrs. Claus Mysteries from Liz Ireland.  I’ve raved about them since book one came out.  So, naturally, I was looking forward to reading Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine, the latest in the series.  As always, it was a delight.

If you haven’t yet found this series, yes, it does feature the real Mrs. Claus as the main character.  April Claus met Nick when he visited her bed and breakfast in Oregon, and the two fell in love.  Even now, several years later, April is trying to get used to her new life at the North Pole with elves and snowmen and talking reindeer.

This book opens a few days before Valentine’s Day, and April is getting ready for her best friend’s wedding.  Claire, a friend from Oregon, is marrying Jake Frost.  But as the bridal party is at a dress fitting, someone leaves them a note with a threatening Valentine in it.  April isn’t quite sure how seriously to take it.  That is, until someone dies the next day at the next dress fitting.  Can April figure out who the killer is?  Or will the mayhem destroy Claire and Jake’s special day?

That’s just one of many storylines that are juggled in this book, as always.  And, as always, the book does it expertly.  I never felt like the pace lagged at all, and I was hooked from start to finish.  I did key in on things a little early, but I didn’t mind since I was having such a fun time.  And yes, that means when we reach the climax, everything does make sense.

Over the course of the series, we’ve gotten to know quite a large group of characters, and we get updates on many of them here.  The suspects blend into the cast of characters well, and I found them entertaining.

I always love it when an author is able to take a storyline that’s been a subplot and bring it to the forefront of the series.  We’ve been following Claire and Jake’s romance for multiple books and novellas at this point.  I was so pleased that this book was leading up to their wedding.  So yes, I will recommend that you read the earlier books in the series.  But we get enough background that you could jump in here.

But why would you want to when this series is so much fun.  Obviously, there is a fantasy element to it, although it doesn’t overwhelm the mystery.  And the author has done such a great job of world building.  The elf’s names are perfect.  Then there are the businesses.  And the reindeer.  I even love the fact that snowmen don’t move quickly.  It’s just all these little details that make me smile and feel right as I’m reading.  I can’t imagine the North Pole being any other way.

And yes, there’s the humor as well.  April is still new enough that her observations can be funny.  Other times, the elves react is a way that makes me laugh.  Truly, this series is a delight.

If you like to read around a holiday if possible, the question would become, do you read this book at Christmas or Valentine’s.  Honestly, either would be just fine.  It gives off enough vibes for either holiday.  Personally, I couldn’t wait that long for either.  It’s hard to wait when I know I’ve got a new book in the series ready for me.

So yes, give Mrs. Claus a try.  If you are already a fan, you know what fun is waiting for you in Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine.  And you won’t be disappointed.

Get more merry vibes from the rest of the Mrs. Claus series.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

TV Show Review: Only Murders in the Building - Season 3

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Laughs and a good mystery.  Other elements work better than I expected

Cons: Wanders a bit in the middle of the season

The Bottom Line:

Actor killed on stage

A bit slow in the middle

Season is still fun

“At Least You Had the Decently to Keep the Body Out of the Building This Time.”

This year, my cable company has slowly been adding streaming services to their customers.  I’ve been hoping they’d add Hulu since it seemed to have the most I wanted to watched.  And they finally did, so I jumped right into the third season of Only Murders in the Building since I’d seen the first two already on ABC.  As expected, I enjoyed it.

Season three kicks off exactly where we left the characters at the end of season two.  It’s been a year since Oliver, Charles, and Mable (Martin Short, Steve Martin, and Selena Gomez) solved the second murder in their building.  In that time, Oliver has staged his Broadway comeback as a director, putting on a murder mystery called Death Rattle.  He’s cast Charles in a small part.  Opening night, Mable is there to support her two friends.

The star of the play is Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd), a movie actor making his Broadway debut.  However, Ben has the ego that sometimes comes with being a huge movie star, and he’s been rubbing the cast the wrong way.  Still, no one expects him to drop dead on stage within minutes of stepping onto it for the first time.

Mable was a huge fan of Ben’s work on a TV show before he became a famous movie actor, so she is immediately invested in figuring out what is going on.  Oliver, meanwhile, is more invested in salvaging his play, even deciding to turn it into a musical, Death Rattle Dazzle.  And Charles is distracted by his relationship with makeup artist Joy (Andrea Martin).  Can Mable figure things out on her own?  Or will the others help her out?

This season also introduces Meryl Streep in a recurring role as Loretta, an aspiring actress that Oliver casts in his play.  She’s a suspect and a love interest for Oliver.  Getting to watch her performance and interaction with the characters was a joy.  I remember hearing when she was cast and thinking it might be an odd choice.  But she fit in perfectly.

Speaking of being perfect, we also have to talk about the play.  I really, really want to see it in both the straight play and the musical versions.  Yes, we get quite a bit of it during the season finale, but I want to watch it unedited and without the distractions of a climax going on around it.  I’m curious about what really was going on with the plot.  And the songs are much better than they have any business being.  I want to hear them in their entirety.  The two we heard uninterrupted over the course of the season were great.  It just captured my mystery lover’s attention, and I think there it is something I have to see for myself.

In case you are wondering, yes, this story does wind up fitting into the Only Murders in the BUILDING premise.  And that’s all I will say about it.  The twist was great and I enjoyed watching that play out.

Overall, I will say the season stalled a little in the middle for me.  Or maybe it was me watching the season over the course of a week instead of a month like I did with the first two seasons.  It helped make the stall in the middle more obvious.  The middle gets clogged down with Oliver and Charles’s relationships.  Poor Mable gets a potentially interesting storyline about having to move out of the building, but that gets buried as the season goes along, with just a few references.

I accidentally got spoiled on this season when I was just a couple of episodes in.  That made it a bit more interesting, actually, watching how the season unfolded.  I’d already noticed that they tend to focus on one suspect early on and then focus on different ones in different episodes.  So I found it interesting watching the process play out.  I did pick up on a couple of small moments I might have missed overwise.  But it didn’t dampen my enjoyment at all for the season as a mystery.

I get what the writers were going for having the guys being so distracted this season.  But I missed having the trio working together on the mystery.  Those relationships are the heart of the show.  Plus, the guys’ love lives tend to make me cringe, and that was the case again here.  But when the trio came together again to solve the case, I was smiling.

And this isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the season.  I did.  I’m just nitpicking some things that didn’t quite work for me.

What was still here in full force was the comedy.  There were so many lines that made me laugh or smile, and so many enjoyable moments.  The writers also worked a lot of in jokes and references to the cast’s previous work into the season, which I always love.

I already talked about Meryl Streep earlier, but the entire cast was great.  The show walks that fine line between comedy and mystery, and the cast balances it perfectly.  This includes the stars and the supporting players.  It’s hard to find any fault with anyone on screen.

When I’d watched the first two seasons on ABC, they had bleeped out the worst of the swearing.  Since I watched this on Hulu, they didn’t do that.  Honestly, I found the bleeping kind of fun, and I missed it.  Anyway, know that the TV-MA rating is there for this and other reasons before you sit down and watch it.

While this might not be as strong a season of Only Murders in the Building, season 3 still was entertaining.  If you enjoy mysteries and haven’t started watching it yet, I recommend you do so today.

Book Review: Essentials of Death by Kim Davis (Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries #2)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Characters, and a story that gets stronger the further you go

Cons: Carissa a bit passive easily on

The Bottom Line:

Nemesis murdered

Carissa again suspect

Great to revisit

Death of a Nemesis

Thanks to publisher issues, it’s been a few years since I read the first book in Kim Davis’s Aromatherapy Apothecary Mysteries. But with a new publisher, Essentials of Death has come out, and I’m glad. 

The series centers around Carissa Carmichael, who has moved back home to Oak Creek Valley in Southern California (which might bear a resemblance to Ojai) where she has opened Aromatherapy Apothecary, an essential oils store, to cater to locals and the abundant tourists that come to the small town. 

As this book opens, Carissa has a booth at the welcome event for a local playwright festival. Many of the local businesses are participating, but she is disappointed to find that her neighboring book is being run by Lacie, her childhood nemesis. The two have never gotten along, but it’s only been worse since Carissa has been back in town. True to form, Lacie makes the day unpleasant for everyone who encounters her. 

Later that night, Carissa finds Lacie’s dead body with some strange clues that seem to point to her as the killer. Since her father is the chief of police, he brings in some county detectives to avoid the taint of partiality on the case, but one of those detectives seems to have it out for Clarissa. Will she have to get involved to avoid being railroaded for murder?

If I remember right, I was a bit surprised that Lacie wasn’t the victim in the first book. So it wasn’t too surprising when Carissa found her in this book. I did find Carissa was a bit passive early in the book, but there was still plenty happening. The further I got into the book, the more I got caught up in the story to the point that I didn’t want to put it down. And the ending was satisfying and suspenseful. 

I loved getting reacquainted with the characters. I didn’t feel it was too long before I was right at home with them, and I didn’t struggle to keep them straight. They are a warm and welcoming group, and I loved getting to spend time with them. A couple of subplots allowed us to really get to know the series regulars, and the suspects were strong as well. 

This book has a couple of recipes at the end, one for an intriguing cookie and one for an essential oil. 

I’m glad this series found a new home, and I’m looking forward to book three. If you want a warm, cozy series, you’ll be glad you picked up Essentials of Death. 

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book. 

I'm reviewing this book as part of a blog tour.  Please stop by the tour's home page to see the rest of the stops.  

And please visit the tour wide give away below.

Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - The Vows We Have Made

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: More time with the POstables for another wedding

Cons: Pales in comparison to the last movie, the letter is a subplot

The Bottom Line:

A second wedding

Satisfying for the fans

Franchise still so good

“I Need a YooHoo.”  “I Refilled the Refrigerator This Morning.”

It looked for quite a while that Hallmark was done with their Signed, Sealed, Delivered franchisee.  If that had been true, it would have had a good run – a pilot movie, a TV season, and then eleven movies.  But three years after that eleventh movie, Hallmark surprised everyone by releasing a twelfth movie – The Vows We Have Made.

It’s interesting that we had two movies with weddings back-to-back in the franchise.  But fans who have been following along weren’t at all surprised.  And we would have been upset if we hadn’t gotten to see both weddings.

All along, we’ve followed the four members of the Denver Post Office’s Dead Letter Office.  Dubbed the POstables, we’ve watched them build solid friendships and pair up romantically.  As this movie opens, newlyweds Rita and Norman (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe and Geoff Gustafson) are looking at buying a house (with Ramon (Zak Santiago) as the realtor because what doesn’t this guy do).

But we are only days away from the wedding of Shane and Oliver (Kristin Booth and Eric Mabius).  Everything seems to be in order.  That is, until Shane’s mother, Sharon (Sherry Miller) shows up a day early.  Sharon is…interesting, and her unexpected arrival throws Shane into a tizzy.  Meanwhile, Eric is having his own issues coming to the forefront making him seem to be withdrawing from Shane.

And yes, they do have a new case to be solving.  In the midst of some mail stuck together after a syrup accident, they find a letter from a child in a hospital.  Can they figure out who he is?  And who might the letter be intended for?

There is a lot going on here.  Enough that the case of the week becomes more of a subplot.  But I’m not complaining because, let’s face it, we are all here for the wedding.  There is much less drama with the wedding itself than last time, which I was happy for.  The drama is all happening leading up to it, but I really truly appreciated how it was handled.  It came from what we know about the characters, which means longtime fans will appreciate the character growth.  It’s nice to see how this series has kept the continuity across so many years.

Speaking of which, the movie does fix a potential continuity issue with Oliver and his mother, one I must admit I missed originally because of how long it was between when I watched some of the earlier movies before the binge I went on this year.

On the other hand, this movie seemed to forget that Norman and Rita were planning to build a large family by adopting.  Then again, their storyline allowed us to meet Charly, a new character to the franchise.  She is played by Rhiannon Fish.  I was happy to see her pop up here since I’ve been enjoying her in other Hallmark and Great American Family movies.  Her storyline is a little ridiculous at times, but I’m being a bit nitpicky.

I will say, coming off of To the Altar, the previous movie, this one wasn’t quite as good.  If I had waited three years for it, I probably would have appreciated it more.  But since I waiting about six days, this one just didn’t feel as emotionally satisfying on a fan level like the previous movie did.

Now, this isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the movie.  Yes, I teared up several times along the way, and the wedding was fabulous.  I loved the vows that Shane and Oliver had written.

And the actors, including the new ones I mentioned, were fabulous.

Fans will enjoy The Vows We Have Made.  It really makes me happy to find visiting these characters still so satisfying.

This movie is part of the Signed, Sealed, Delivered Collection Movies 9-12.

September 21st's Sunday/Monday Post

Happy weekend.  Time again for a Sunday/Monday Post, where I link up to:

Sunday Post
Sunday Salon
Stacking the Shelves
Mailbox Monday
It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

We got a little rain this week.  Apparently, the remains of a storm in the Pacific made it up my way, and we got about .6 inches of rain on Thursday.  I know that isn't much, but for us in September, that's unusual.  They were predicting thunder and lightning with it, but if we got that, I never heard it.  It was still humid (again for us) on Friday when I went for my run.

Other than that, a fairly quiet week here.  I hit my work deadlines, although I wasn't as far ahead as I normally like to be.  But it's behind me, which is a good thing since I need to get my normal second half of the month stuff done next week since another month end close will be here before we know it.  The joys of life as an accountant.

Joke of the Week:

What did the fish say when he ran into the wall?

Dam!

This Past Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Ornament Review - Ollie U. Halfpipe

Tuesday - Book Review: Claws Out by Cate Conte

Wednesday - Movie Review: Mystery Island - House Rules

Thursday - Book Review: Death on the Causeway by Caleb Wygal

Friday - Movie Review: A Carol for Two

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

This Coming Week on the Blog:

Sunday - Sunday/Monday Post

Monday - Movie Review: Signed, Sealed, Delivered - The Vows We Have Made

Tuesday - Book Review: Essentials of Death by Kim Davis

Wednesday - TV Show Review: Only Murders in the Building - Season 3

Thursday - Book Review: Mrs. Claus and the Very Vicious Valentine by Liz Ireland

Friday - Movie Review: The Christmas Charade

Saturday - Weekly TV Thoughts

Book Haul:

Just two books to tell you about again this week.

Up first is a Kindle deal on a book I'd been eyeing for a while.  Big Scream in a Small Town is the first in a PI series from William Ade even though it is published under the name Nic Knuckles.  Nic Knuckles also happens to be the main character's name.  Yeah, I'm intrigued, so I couldn't pass it up when it went on sale for 34 cents.  The publisher is hit or miss for me, so hopefully this is a hit.

The second is an ARC of Contesting the Wool by Diane Vallere.  I always enjoy her books, so I'm looking forward to this one.  This is in her Material Witness Mysteries.  The book comes out in a little over a month, so I'll be getting to it soon.

What I'm Currently Reading:

As I type this, I'm almost done with Murder Comes Home by Rosalie Spielman, and I'll be finishing it before the evening is over.  It's book three in her Hometown Mysteries featuring a woman who has retired from the army and returned to her small town in Idaho.  The plots involves a TV show crew who has come to town, and I'm very anxious to finally learn what all is going on.

Up next for me will be Shady Hollow by Juneau Black.  Yes, it's a mystery, but the cast of characters are animals who live in a forest.  I've heard lots of good things about the series, and I've had this book for almost two years.  Think it's time I got it read.

Hope you have a great week!

September 20th's Weekly TV Thoughts

The fall TV season is slowly rolling out.  Two new shows for me this week, but more coming back over the next couple of weeks.  I don't think I'm going to try to start any new shows this year.  And I'll just have a couple of sitcoms and reality shows, at least on the networks.  Says something about the state of TV these days, doesn't it?

Marlow Murder Club – As expected, I wasn’t happy with how this story ended.  Not because it wasn’t well plotted.  I just didn’t want any of the suspects to be the killer.  And they changed up Beck’s secret, but that was still a fun scene when it was revealed.

Celebrity Weakest Link – Since I never watched Glee, I didn’t really know most of the cast.  But still, knowing Jane’s connection it was fun.  There were some I definitely didn’t know, but quite a few they missed that I did.  I feel like there were more of those than usual, but I’m probably just deluding myself.

Dancing with the Stars – The judges seemed to be especially tough tonight.  Yes, I get that the stars need room to grow, but there were more 5’s than usual, and I thought the dances were better than that.  I think I see one of next week’s to go, but we’ll see who the other one is.

The Challenge – Talk about an event designed for CT.  Yeah, it was fairly obvious early on he was coming back.  I do feel sorry for him since he really was trying during that challenge.  But I can see how others wouldn’t trust him.  I’m guessing after the next elimination we get the permanent partners for a while.  It will be interesting to see how that falls out.

Movie Review: A Carol for Two

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Great renditions of Christmas carols from talented performers

Cons: The plot is more cringe than fun

The Bottom Line:

Small town to Broadway

Script lets performances down

You can skip this one

“Maybe You’ll Get Yourself a Hometown Christmas Miracle.  I’ve Never Seen One, but I’ve Heard Stories.”

When I was looking at Hallmark’s Christmas movie offerings, A Carol for Two caught my attention, not because of the stars, but because of the fact that singing was going to figure prominently in the plot.  I thought it sounded fun for that reason.  Unfortunately, the actual plot disappointed.

Violette (Ginna Claire Mason) has landed her dream, a part in a Broadway touring production.  So, just before Christmas, she leaves behind her small town in Idaho to head to New York City to start rehearsals.  However, when she arrives, she learns the production has been canceled.  No idea where to turn, she approaches her aunt’s best friend, Hazel (Charlotte d'Amboise), who owns a restaurant.  It’s filled with Broadway hopefuls, and she regularly gives her staff chances to shine.

It's there that Violette meets Alex (Jordan Litz), a fellow waiter who is upset by the preferential treatment that Violette is getting.  But she’s caught the eye of Alex’s cousin, Brad (Gino Anania), who enlists Alex’s help in winning Violette over.  What could possibly go wrong?

Yes, I did have to laugh at this twist on the Hallmark formula.  While Violette isn’t leaving anyone behind her, the small town girl going to the big city to find true love was fun for something different.

And, as expected, the singing was wonderful.  The cast is filled with some Broadway stars.  Okay, I didn’t recognize most of their names, but they definitely brought their talent to the production.

Sadly, they aren’t supported by a solid script.  First, there’s the fact that the writing is just poor overall.  Some of the dialogue is cringe inducing.  The cast makes the most of it, but I feel for them.  And some of the characters are introduced so haphazardly, it’s hard to follow who they are all until well into the film.

Then there’s Brad.  Obviously, we have a Cyrano de Bergerac love triangle going on here.  I thought that could be fun, but it wasn’t, and it was because of Brad.  He’s obnoxious.  Honestly, how Violette didn’t see through him in two seconds stretches credibility.  He’s supposed to be funny, but he just isn’t.  I’m not blaming the actor.  Again, it’s the writing.  I spent much more time cringing.  It even gets in the way of me enjoying the true romance between Alex and Violette.

Finally, I have to ask, is a Broadway musical about Christmas really something people are going to put on?  Yes, I know, the entire thing is really fantasy, but that kicked me out of the movie.

In the end, I think this is a movie to skip.  Yes, if you want to hear great renditions of Christmas carols, you’ll find something to like.  But, overall, I don’t think A Carol for Two is worth it.

This movie is part of this Christmas movie DVD collection.

Book Review: Death on the Causeway by Caleb Wygal (Myrtle Beach Mysteries #4)

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Clark and the setting

Cons: Pacing to the mystery is off

The Bottom Line:

Helping a stranger

Uneven story pacing

But setting still shines

Chance Encounter Embroils Clark in Another Murder

I always enjoy reading cozies that take place in resort or summer settings, so I keep returning to the Myrtle Beach Mysteries. It also helps that I’m intrigued by the overarching story involving the death of Clark’s wife. Unfortunately, the pacing betrayed Death on the Causeway, the fourth in the series. 

Our main character is Clark Thomas, who has found himself caught up in some murders over the last year and a half or so. By day, he owns a bookstore on the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, a dream he’d shared with his late wife. He also has ghost written books and his first novel under his own name has just come out. 

When this book opens, he’s returning from a book signing to promote that novel, but he’s stuck in Memorial Day Weekend traffic. That’s why he notices a young woman in obvious distress on the side of the road. When he stops to see if he can help, he discovers her name is Shelly, and she’s been traveling the country with her fiancé, Brian. But Brian has just abandoned her. 

The two set out to retrace Brian and Shelly’s steps in the last couple of days, hoping to determine what is going on with Brian. Can they catch up with him? Why did he take off? And what does that dead body they find along the way mean?

While I was originally intrigued by the premise of this book, I found the first half rather repetitive. We have the same thing several times, and I was more than ready for something different to happen. 

When it did, I was intrigued again for a while, but I spotted a key part of the plot early on, leaving me waiting for Clark to catch up. Yes, I did find the ending answered my questions. 

I do still like Clark and the other characters we’ve gotten to know along the way. Having said that, I wasn’t happy with one of the twists in Clark’s love life. 

And I find the setting fun, including the bookstore Clark owns. Reading these books really make me want to visit Myrtle Beach. 

I mentioned earlier that we have an ongoing mystery of what happened to Clark’s wife. As usual, we got a new twist at the end of this book. I’m happy to know this storyline has been resolved. I just need to get to the book where Clark figures it out. 

If you are looking for a light read set in a resort community, these books will fit the bill. Even so, pick up Death on the Causeway once you are already familiar with the series. 

Here are the rest of the Myrtle Beach Mysteries. 

Movie Review: Mystery Island - House Rules

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Strong and entertaining mystery

Cons: Romantic subplot felt a little forced

The Bottom Line:

Expanding business

Did new team bring a killer?

Best of the franchise

“We Never Know How Many Days We Have.” “Especially on This Island.”

As I’ve been saying, I didn’t see how Mystery Island could become a franchise, and I’ve honestly struggled with all of them.  So I wasn’t exactly excited when I sat down to watch House Rules, the latest in the Hallmark mystery movie series.  Fortunately, it turned out to be quite entertaining.

 Before we got further, a word of warning.  This movie spoils the introduction of these characters.  So, if you haven’t seen the original Mystery Island, don’t just sit down to watch this one.  But that first movie was from 2023, so my guess is if you are interested in it, you’ve seen it by now.

Mystery Island is expanding.  They’ve been partnered with Mystery Mountain, a company that does the same thing but in the mountains of Colorado.  So that the new team can gain experience, they are coming to Mystery Island and putting on a mystery for the Island crew to make sure the mysteries they are writing are good.

All of this is happening as Dr. Emilia Priestly (Elizabeth Henstridge) is finally moving over full time from England.  She’s hoping to see where things go with her partner in writing, Jason Trent (Charlie Weber), although she’s still hesitant about fully committing to a relationship with him, much to the disappointment of their boss, Jane Alcott (Kezia Burrows).

But, as these things tend to do, a real murder takes place on the first evening the Mountain team is on the Island.  Worse yet, they get cut off from the mainland.  Can Emilia and Jason figure out what is happening?  Or will more murders happen?

I had to laugh at a line early on that gave us a number of the successful mystery weekends that the crew has hosted that were real murder free.  I mean, they’ve got to be getting some kind of reputation, right?

This movie does have the usual issues that plague this series.  We meet all the suspects and potential victims at the same time, and it is hard to keep their relationships straight.  I’m not sure if it helped or hurt that the movie tries to match them up with their counterpart on Mystery Island.  Honestly, I can only keep the three leads straight here.

Also, the movie didn’t really pull off the romantic subplot for me.  Those scenes felt forced in the writing.

I’m not blaming the actors for this.  The cast was uniformly good at bringing their characters and the dialogue to life.

The mystery itself was really well done.  I’ll admit, there are parts that only work in a fictional setting, but I am willing to go along with it.  I was impressed when we reached the end about how it had been pulled off and how the main characters figured it out.

House Rules is the best Mystery Island movie to date.  If we get more of them in the future, I’m hopeful that this will be a sign of better things to come for the franchise.

Book Review: Claws Out by Cate Conte (Cat Cafe Mysteries #9)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Creative way off the island for lots of characters and a solid mystery

Cons: Several small things added up

The Bottom Line:

A cat and lit fest

Is fun off island setting

With a strong story

Taking the Cafe on the Road for a Cat Lit Fest

I’ve often said that books that take a series outside the usual setting walk a fine line. Claws Out did that wonderfully for me, and I appreciated the creativity in the set up as well. 

This is book nine in the Cat Cafe series, which is usually set on the fictional Daybreak Island. But in this book, Maddie James and her family and a couple volunteers are taking the show on the road, literally. They’ve been given an extra-large food truck they are turning into a mobile cat cafe and heading to Provincetown, Massachusetts. They are heading over to a literature festival that features authors who write books that prominently feature cats. The weekend is benefitting a charity that helps cat shelters. Seems like a good fit, right?

When Maddie and the rest arrive, Maddie finds herself in the right place at the right time to hear bits and pieces of things that lead her to believe there is drama around one of the headlining authors. But she never imagines that the author will be found stabbed to death on the second morning of the festival. Will she figure out what is going on?

This book took its time getting to the actual murder. However, in this case I didn’t mind because the book was doing a good job of setting up the suspects and motives so that once the victim is found, we are off to the races. There are some nice surprises and red herrings on the way to a logical climax, although I did feel like Maddie was abandoning her responsibilities to investigate. I know it’s a feature of cozies, so I’m not sure why it bothered me more here than usual. I did feel the ending was rushed, leading to lots of exposition to explain everything.

I must praise series author Cate Conte for figuring out a way to take the characters on the road without completely leaving the cat cafe part of the series behind. I loved that creativity! I also had to smile at the talk of these cat books. The focus is on some romance authors, but we did get a couple mentions of a cozy mystery author who was also attending. 

On the other hand, I was really bothered by a couple of very misandrist comments that were in the book, both in Maddie’s first-person narration. They didn’t add to the book, but instead took away from it, at least for this male fan of the series. Especially since taking those lines out of the book wouldn’t have impacted the story at all. 

There were also a few things that I couldn’t quite tell if were poor editing or some rushed writing.  Either way, it threw me out of the book.

In addition to the creativity in bringing the characters off the island, I also appreciated that so many of the characters made the trip. Of course, one subplot involving two of them seemed to get forgotten for much of the book. Still, it was great to spend so much time with them in a fresh setting. And the suspects came alive for the page time they got. 

There were enough small issues with Claws Out to keep it from getting my full recommendation, but I did enjoy the book overall. If you want a mystery filled with cute cats, you’ll be glad you picked it up. 

Check out the rest of the Cat Cafe Mysteries.