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Cat Thief : A Collection of Short Stories
The new collection is diverse, dark-humoured, and deliciously bite-sized. A compelling collection of 7 thought-provoking and humorous short stories to keep the reader reading long into the night. You’ll find some of the stories have been previously published in magazines and anthologies. The collection is engaging, the characters linger in your mind and are the perfect companion for any fiction lover.
1. Cat Thief: When a witch's love potion goes wrong, she doesn’t want to put it right. But why?
2. Forty Years Too Late: We all keep secrets from loved ones but sometimes skeletons don't lay hidden forever.
3. Seventeen Pound and Thirty-Four Pence: An act of kindness from the last person you expected.
4. Lonely-Hearts: Love hits when you least expect it.
5. Glimpse into the Future: A young Romany gypsy has foresight. After dreaming the murder of a young woman, can Rosa decipher the clues in time to save her life?
6. Close Call: A duty firefighter is called to a house to coax a jumper off a roof.
7. Orange Truffle Surprise: Revenge is a dish best served cold. Especially when your husband is caught having an affair.
1. Cat Thief: When a witch's love potion goes wrong, she doesn’t want to put it right. But why?
2. Forty Years Too Late: We all keep secrets from loved ones but sometimes skeletons don't lay hidden forever.
3. Seventeen Pound and Thirty-Four Pence: An act of kindness from the last person you expected.
4. Lonely-Hearts: Love hits when you least expect it.
5. Glimpse into the Future: A young Romany gypsy has foresight. After dreaming the murder of a young woman, can Rosa decipher the clues in time to save her life?
6. Close Call: A duty firefighter is called to a house to coax a jumper off a roof.
7. Orange Truffle Surprise: Revenge is a dish best served cold. Especially when your husband is caught having an affair.
68 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 6, 2020
6 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Lynette Creswell
5 books18 followersLynette was born in London, England, and from the tender age of five was raised by her grandmother and given books to help keep her quiet. Lynette found she had a passion for reading and subsequently started writing once she began school.
Years later, Lynette’s husband was so impressed with her ability to capture children’s imaginations with her short stories that he encouraged her love of writing by buying her a laptop in the hope she would write something more substantial. So with a little push in the right direction, Lynette decided to write a fantasy trilogy and the subject would be something that all children love to read about (and most adults too) – magic!
Lynette’s inspiration came from childhood books written by Enid Blyton. The Enchanted Wood and The Faraway Tree were her first real taste of fantasy and later on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series captured her own vivid imagination.
Her first novel, Sinners of Magic was published in 2012 and is now receiving attention from both London and American film producers. Betrayers of Magic became the second book of the series followed by Defenders of Magic. Her new book, Clump, A Changeling’s Story is due to be released by October 2014.
Winner of the ‘Write On’ Competition, which saw one of her short stories being made into film for TV and narrated by the famous actress, Julie Peasgood. Lynette has since had one of her short stories published in America, hitting No 4 in the US bestsellers charts. The Witching Hour is only available via Amazon.
Lynette lives in North East Lincolnshire with her husband and King Charles Spaniel, Ruby. All of her grandchildren are the apple of her eye.
Lynette’s Contact Email: Creswelllyn@aol.com
Years later, Lynette’s husband was so impressed with her ability to capture children’s imaginations with her short stories that he encouraged her love of writing by buying her a laptop in the hope she would write something more substantial. So with a little push in the right direction, Lynette decided to write a fantasy trilogy and the subject would be something that all children love to read about (and most adults too) – magic!
Lynette’s inspiration came from childhood books written by Enid Blyton. The Enchanted Wood and The Faraway Tree were her first real taste of fantasy and later on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Series captured her own vivid imagination.
Her first novel, Sinners of Magic was published in 2012 and is now receiving attention from both London and American film producers. Betrayers of Magic became the second book of the series followed by Defenders of Magic. Her new book, Clump, A Changeling’s Story is due to be released by October 2014.
Winner of the ‘Write On’ Competition, which saw one of her short stories being made into film for TV and narrated by the famous actress, Julie Peasgood. Lynette has since had one of her short stories published in America, hitting No 4 in the US bestsellers charts. The Witching Hour is only available via Amazon.
Lynette lives in North East Lincolnshire with her husband and King Charles Spaniel, Ruby. All of her grandchildren are the apple of her eye.
Lynette’s Contact Email: Creswelllyn@aol.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 5, 2023
In a Nutshell: A short but enjoyable anthology. Varied characters, diverse emotions, quick-paced writing. I had fun reading this.
This indie collection contains seven stories, each quite distinct from the others. I couldn’t detect any underlying common theme, but for a change, this didn’t matter to me as there were just seven stories and they were quite quick.
Most of the stories are feel-good, though not in the way you might assume. I liked all the stories and the varying characters they brought to life. From a Romany gypsy who has the gift of foresight to a witch who makes love potions on order, from a generous beggar to a vengeful wife, the characters and the situations they are in ensure that the stories don’t seem repetitive at all. The author even nails the endings of each tale. Very few short fiction authors can pull off a satisfying ending without resorting to a last-minute twist. In this collection, none of the endings gave me any reason to complain.
All the stories ranged between good to great for me. A couple of the tales might have worked even better if they were extended.
I did rate the stories individually, as I always do for an anthology, and my rating range was 3.5 - 5 stars. My absolute favourite was “Close Call”, which talks of a firefighter on duty to convince a jumper off the roof. I love it when short stories can surprise me, and this one sure did!
On the whole, an entertaining collection. You can try this out when you are in the mood for something quick and humorous, keeping in mind that some of the humour is dark and wry.
3.85 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.
This anthology is available on Kindle Unlimited.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from author Lynette Creswell at my request and these are my honest thoughts about it.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
This indie collection contains seven stories, each quite distinct from the others. I couldn’t detect any underlying common theme, but for a change, this didn’t matter to me as there were just seven stories and they were quite quick.
Most of the stories are feel-good, though not in the way you might assume. I liked all the stories and the varying characters they brought to life. From a Romany gypsy who has the gift of foresight to a witch who makes love potions on order, from a generous beggar to a vengeful wife, the characters and the situations they are in ensure that the stories don’t seem repetitive at all. The author even nails the endings of each tale. Very few short fiction authors can pull off a satisfying ending without resorting to a last-minute twist. In this collection, none of the endings gave me any reason to complain.
All the stories ranged between good to great for me. A couple of the tales might have worked even better if they were extended.
I did rate the stories individually, as I always do for an anthology, and my rating range was 3.5 - 5 stars. My absolute favourite was “Close Call”, which talks of a firefighter on duty to convince a jumper off the roof. I love it when short stories can surprise me, and this one sure did!
On the whole, an entertaining collection. You can try this out when you are in the mood for something quick and humorous, keeping in mind that some of the humour is dark and wry.
3.85 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.
This anthology is available on Kindle Unlimited.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from author Lynette Creswell at my request and these are my honest thoughts about it.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
December 23, 2025
What a lovely collection of diverse short stories across the genres, with something for everyone. Great characters and well written plots, wrapping up the stories with precision…it is a skill to accomplish this with a short story.
Hard to pick a favourite but certainly Glimpse into the Future will have you on the edge of your seat and Orange Truffle Surprise was definitely riveting…all the others are very enjoyable and will keep you engaged from the first line to last.
It is a collection you can dip into or sit and enjoy in one sitting with a cup of coffee and an open mind. Very happy to recommend.
Hard to pick a favourite but certainly Glimpse into the Future will have you on the edge of your seat and Orange Truffle Surprise was definitely riveting…all the others are very enjoyable and will keep you engaged from the first line to last.
It is a collection you can dip into or sit and enjoy in one sitting with a cup of coffee and an open mind. Very happy to recommend.
November 8, 2021
Never judge a book by its cover we're told but we invariably do as it and the title are the first you see of it and that is what drew me to this one. The huge moon with the cat silhouette is very atmospheric and blue is my favourite colour. I loved the author voice instantly which I think is so important. I find if I can't relate to that then I can't get into the book.
Story number one, Cat Thief is about Evie's love potion and my granddaughter is called Evie so I connected immediately.
2. Forty Years Too Late - this resonated with me straight away as I've been thinking about someone I knew briefly over forty years ago, I related to the mother's story. Beautiful, beautiful story, I loved it, it was my favourite.
3. Seventeen Pounds and Thirty Four Pence - a wonderful story of kindness.
4. Lonely Hearts - out with the old, in with the new.
5. A premonition - is second sight a blessing or a curse?
6. Close Call - all in the line of duty.
7. Orange Truffle Surprise - a murder mystery.
A wonderful, well written collection of short stories which I really enjoyed.
Story number one, Cat Thief is about Evie's love potion and my granddaughter is called Evie so I connected immediately.
2. Forty Years Too Late - this resonated with me straight away as I've been thinking about someone I knew briefly over forty years ago, I related to the mother's story. Beautiful, beautiful story, I loved it, it was my favourite.
3. Seventeen Pounds and Thirty Four Pence - a wonderful story of kindness.
4. Lonely Hearts - out with the old, in with the new.
5. A premonition - is second sight a blessing or a curse?
6. Close Call - all in the line of duty.
7. Orange Truffle Surprise - a murder mystery.
A wonderful, well written collection of short stories which I really enjoyed.
September 30, 2025
Great story teller, all stories would make great novels. Descriptive, action, and mystery.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews