Fights over Feral Cats Lead to Murder at Christmas
It’s been a long year waiting for A Whisker of a Doubt. The previous book left us with a cliffhanger when it comes to main character Maddie James’ life, and I couldn’t wait to find out what was really going on there. Because I knew it had to be more than it seemed. So I was thrilled to finally dive into this fourth book in the series.
This Christmas, Maddie is helping her friend Katrina take care of a feral cat colony near a rich neighborhood on Daybreak Island. Most of the residents don’t seem to be happy about the cat colony living in the woods near their homes, and they are making it as hard as they can for Maddie and Katrina to go in and leave food and water for them.
Just a few days before Christmas, Maddie is doing the evening feeding when she stumbles over the body of Virgil Proust. He and his wife, June, have been leading the charge about anyone caring for the cats. That’s why the police are quick to accuse Katrina of the crime. However, Maddie knows her friend couldn’t have done it, so she uses her time in the neighborhood to start her own investigation. What really happened to Virgil?
And the problem in Maddie’s personal life? That involves her love life, and we definitely get more on that as well. I was thrilled to find out what was happening there. I will say that I did get a bit frustrated with Maddie in those scenes at times, although I certainly understood where she was coming from.
The mystery itself is good. Maddie gathers information from any source she can, so she’s not just talking to the suspects but others who know them. It’s a bit of a different approach to the mystery, but it works. We get some nice twists on our way to the logical climax.
The downside to this approach is that we don’t always get to know the suspects super well. I had problems at times remembering what their relationships were to each other and to the victim. Before we were too far into a scene, there would be context to help me remember, however. Because we do get to know Katrina, I definitely cared about freeing her from suspicion in the crime.
And the rest of the cast are fantastic as always. Maddie has a great family and good friends. The Cat Cafe she has opened is a bit slow right now since Daybreak Island is a summer vacation location, but we get some cute scenes there as well. The Christmas setting works wonderfully to put us in the mood for the holiday.
The book flashes back a couple of time to help give us context to what is happening. Each chapter starts by letting us know exactly when it is taking place, so following the timeline is never hard (and you know how I feel about logical timelines). It’s a little different approach to telling a story in a cozy, and the author pulled it off perfectly.
Obviously, this book will be best if you are up to date on the series so you can understand what is going on in Maddie’s life. However, you get the background you need, so if this is your introduction, you’ll be just fine.
If you’ve been waiting to find out what happens next to
Maddie, you’ll find this book to be a Christmas treat. A Whisker of a Doubt is a cozy
Christmas mystery that you’ll savor.
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