Showing posts with label A Cat in the Attic Mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Cat in the Attic Mystery. Show all posts

Friday 1 December 2023

**FELINE FICTION FIX** Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #259 featuring **The Mystery Before Christmas** by Kathi Daley **PLUS** Friendly Fill-Ins

Amber's Book Reviews ©BionicBasil® December 2023

Happy December Supurr Library furiends

and

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ

Many thanks for joining me in the stacks again, and this week I found a really cute throwback to December 2019, just after the P.A. made the Catmas Pudding bed with the catnip holly leaves, and yes I am still quite partial to a bit of catnip.

Amber's Book Reviews #259 ©BionicBasil® Amber's Catmas Flashback to December 2019

Mew know that pudding was so comfy to snooze on, I'm going to request that its put in my library for my use only this week! MOL

The P.A is going to rerun all the Catmas crafting posts throughout this month, so if mew feel like making some fun festive things for cats, we've got mew covered, so stay tuned for those popping up.

Anyhoo, let's look at what I read this week. 

Part of The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®
Amber's Book Review Library Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®
Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.
1. I feel like ___________________________________.
2. By the end of the year, I want to __________________________________.
3. December is the month that I _________.
4. My house looks _________ during the holiday season.

The P.A.'s answers are...

1. I feel like time has sped right up at the moment. It doesn't seem like two minutes since it was July! LOL

2. By the end of the year, I want to try and get the craft room tidied up a bit more, and that means that some stuff has to go. But Parsely told me that I'm not allowed to get rid of any of the crafting projects I've made, and they take up such a lot of space. I can't have them in the house as Smooch's in-built Feng Shui meter might take offence, and then then the Phantom-Widdler could possibly be unleashed, and I don't want that again! LOL

3. December is the month that I literally countdown, as I can't wait for the 21st and then the nights start drawing out again.

4. My house looks moderately festive during the holiday season. I don't tend to go mad, as the thought of putting it all away in January prevents that! Though I do make sure that all my festive decor matches, it's not a haphazard affair, and sometimes I even make my own decorations if I can't find what I want.

Holly Divider ©BionicBasil® December 2023

Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®

Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

Amber's Book Reviews #259 ©BionicBasil® The Mystery Before Christmas by Kathi Daley
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

The Mystery Before Christmas

A Cat in the Attic Mystery

by

Kathi Daley

 Here's a snippet of the book blurb:   

After a serious accident leaves Calliope Rose Collins unable to continue with the career that has owned her soul for most of her life, she returns to Foxtail Lake, Hollister House, Great Aunt Gracie, and childhood friend, Officer Cass Wylander, where she begins to rebuild her life from the ashes of what she once had.

In book 2 of The Cat in the Attic series - In addition to the time she spends at the animal shelter, Callie has a new sideline writing human interest stories for the regional newspaper. It is a job she loves and hopes to grow until she is asked to reveal the man behind the mask when Secret Santa comes to town and begins committing random acts of kindness.

Amber's Book Review Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®

This week I read the second book in the Cat in The Attic Cozy Cat Mystery Series.

And if mew have Kindle Unlimited this book is included in the catalogue, plus there are another four books in the series, and I've already reviewed books one and five, check out the links below.

So what did I think about book two? The plot centres around a Secret Santa who's been gifting expensive treats to certain townsfolk in need, and Callie keeps bumping against roadblocks in her quest as a news reporter for the town's local paper to unmask the generous benefactor, this combined with a murder of a local man who'd just inherited a substantial sum of money, and then a further murder complicates the situation even more.

Our heroine is on the case with Officer Cass (a maybe future love interest), as they try to uncover the killer and the Secret Santa.

The cats don't really feature so much in this book, they are more of just a mild distraction from the main plot. The book is filled with the usual red herrings and plot twists, though I did find that this one moved moderately slower than the previous two I reviewed.

A lot of the previous characters also pop up, as do places, so the world and character building are coming together really well, creating a real sense of place with a relatable cast.

While I enjoyed it, I enjoyed the other two more as they were slightly faster-paced, but that's not to say that the slowness detracted anything from the story at all. This is a great book for a lazy afternoon read in front of the fire when mew have all the time in the world to go at a leisurely pace.

Another Top Paw Read!

Here are the titles of the other four books in the series, with links to the ones I've already reviewed:


The Case of the Cupid Caper ~ 3

The Secret of Logan Pond ~ 4 


Audio:  4 hours 31 mins

Hardback: 175 pages
Amber's Book Review Library Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®
My Ratings Scale

Amber's Book Reviews Paw Rating Scale ©BionicBasil® Red

Holly Divider ©BionicBasil® December 2023

Ratings of:

The Mystery Before Christmas

Overall Enjoyment

Amber's Book Reviews 4 Paw Rating ©BionicBasil® Red


Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®
  
Other Fun Blog Hops to Join Today


   
Holly Divider ©BionicBasil® December 2023

I'm off to prepare for next week's review, as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time!

I always look forward to your company as I share a specially paw-picked book just for my epic readers!

Don't forget, if mew are looking for great books with cats, check out the Book Review page, just click the link here or at the top of the page, as that's the place to visit to get your feline fiction fix.

Until next week...

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 









Holly Divider ©BionicBasil® December 2023

Follow me at @BionicBasil® on Instacat

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another review! 

Holly Divider ©BionicBasil® December 2023
 graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

Friday 30 October 2020

Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #142 **HALLOWEEN EDITION** featuring **The Magic of Halloween Night** by Kathi Daley PLUS Friendly Fill-Ins

Halloween Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®

Hello gorgeous library guests 

and 

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ 

Thank mew for joining me in the stacks today, as mew can see I got Melvyn to decorate the library and I got my best witches hat out for the occasion too, well it is my favourite holiday.

Also today, I'm so excited to share the October **Feline and Fiction box with mew.

Melvyn was on paw to make sure it was displayed propurrly, and it was a bumper haul.

Book Reviews with Amber  #142 ©BionicBasil® Feline & Fiction October Box Reveal

We loved everything and Melvyn had his eye on the cat food, MOL, so typical of him. 

Another extremely gorgeous box full of lovely, lovely things; the P.A. has always wanted some sparkly cat ears, so she's thrilled to bits, and she's got some candy and a squeaky pumpkin toy too, oh no wait that's for us! MOL  

Now I'm not reviewing the book from the box, A Friend Like Ben today, as I've had a fab Halloween book waiting in the wings to share with mew for months now. So I'll review A Friend Like Ben at a later date, it's been added to the pile, which I must say is growing almost daily right now, if I didn't know better, I'd say I've got a rather benevolent book fairy, and this is what I think to that, "About fluffing time and keep adding those lovely new books to that pile next to my desk."  In my humble opinion, one can never have enough books.

(**This is not an affiliate link)

Part of The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®
Amber's Book Review Library Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®
Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.

1. I keep _________, but _________.

2. I don't need a_______, but I want _________.

3. I would want _________ to be etched onto my tombstone.

4. If I heard something go bump in the night, _________.

The P.A.'s answers are...

1. I keep trying to write my books, but life keeps getting the way. No sooner do I get some time, then something crops up to ruin my plans.

2. I don't need a new house, but in my dreams, I want a beautiful, big old farmhouse with lots of land and a bunker just like The B Teams with 16 levels of pawesomeness. 

3. I would want 'moderately eccentric cat lady' or 'what the fluff!' to be etched onto my tombstone.

4. If I heard something go bump in the night; if it was a paranormal bump, I'd roll over and go back to sleep. If it was a threat to my life, like a zombie, vampire or werewolf bumping about I would get my shotgun.

Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®

This week's top book pick is...

Book Reviews with Amber ©BionicBasil® The Magic of Halloween Night
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

The Magic of Halloween Night

A Cat in the Attic Mystery Book 5

by

Kathi Daley

       Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:      

How is one to start again after losing the one thing that speaks to your heart and fuels your passion? After a serious accident leaves Calliope Rose Collins unable to continue with the career that has owned her soul for most of her life, she returns to Foxtail Lake, Hollister House, and Great Aunt Gracie. After solving the murder of a local girl she begins writing freelance articles for the local newspaper. This turns into a full-time career and a new passion and inner healing is found.

Amber's Book Review Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®

Sorry about Fudge photobombing the pic above, he just loves to be involved in everything!

This is the 5th and final book in the Cat in the Attic Mystery series; I know I'm working a little back to front right now, so many apologies for that but it's Halloween, and mew know I always share a suitable offering for this spooky event.

Here are the titles of the other four books in the series:

The Curse of Hollister House ~ 1

The Mystery Before Christmas ~ 2

The Case of the Cupid Caper ~ 3

The Secret of Logan Pond ~ 4


 I will be reviewing all of the above in due course, they are on the to read/review pile! MOL 

Anyhoo on with the review, so what did I think to this; the story is centred around Callie, who due to an accident had her career as a pianist cut short and she finds herself moving in with her Great Aunt. As Halloween comes to Foxtail Lake, so does murder once again, and Callie is on the trail to get to the bottom of this cozy mystery. The token feline in the book is called Alistair, he's a lovely grey kitty and belongs to her Aunt. 

There are a lot of fun characters, plots twists, a curse and occasional red-herrings as mew would expect from any well-crafted cozy mystery.  If mew like your cozy mystery books and are looking for a new series, this is definitely for mew.

A purrfect Sunday afternoon in front of the fire read.

  • Paperback: 181 pages
  • Publisher: Independently published
Amber's Book Review Library Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®
My Ratings Scale
Amber's Book Review Paw Ratings Scale Pink ©BionicBasil®

Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

Ratings of:

The Magic of Halloween Night


Overall Enjoyment

Amber's Book Reviews 5 Paw Rating ©BionicBasil®

Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®

I really hope mew enjoy the book as much as I did if mew decide to read it.

Don't forget mew've still got time to enter my birthday giveaway from last week if mew haven't already.

But sadly it's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'll be back next week with another specially paw-picked book just for mew, and don't furget that all my previous reviews can be found on my Book Review page.

Until next time...

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 


Amber's Book Reviews Pink Review ©BionicBasil®





Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another review! 

Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®
 graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com