Guilt and Gold

Scottish Fold Sleuth #1

by Kelty Kells

This cat thinks he’s a dragon—and worse yet, he thinks his hoard is cursed.The day Aunt Lydia gave me a solid-gold charm, she swore me to secrecy. I couldn’t tell a soul I had it, and when I asked why, she refused to explain. Well, naïve thirteen-year-old I was, I kept her secret long past her death.Fast-forward fifteen years, and suddenly a cat wants my charm. Yeah, the charm literally no one knows about. He’s not just any cat, either. He’s a talking cat who thinks he’s a dragon.Yup, you heard me right. A dragon.Guess that explains why he can talk, huh?Well, according to him, every piece of gold from his hoard is cursed. Anyone who has even the tiniest diamond ends up dead, and it looks like I’m next—that is, until my charm goes missing and a body turns up just outside town.Is this talking cat behind the murder, or is his gold actually cursed? Guess it’s up to me to find out!

134 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 19, 2021

About the author

Kelty Kells is the author of the Coffee House Clairvoyant series and delights in bringing Karen Peters and her zany adventures to life. They are also the author of an epic fantasy series and numerous other titles and are currently in the midst of developing their own cartoon series, Lantern.

They currently live in Colorado with their spouse and two rotund, chonky kitties, Middii and Eva.

Reviews

[Cecilia Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute, short read. I enjoyed the novel concept and the town setting. The process Annie went through from questioning her sanity hearing a cat talk, to begrudgingly talking back, to accepting his story was exactly how I would handle it!

The ending was a little abrupt and there were some questions I had hoped would be answered that weren't. What was the story on why she ended up leaving everything she knew to move to a small town in Colorado? What was Allison's connection?

Those questions aside, I would recommend the book if you are looking for a quick read with light fantasy and mystery.

[Elizabeth Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still not sure about this novel and whether I will read more. I get the impression that a dragon lost all his gold and as a result was turned into a cat who can talk to only the person with a special medallion. So when or if he finds his gold he will return to his dragon form. Add in the human with the medallion that she is not familiar with and a murder mystery and it makes a good story.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the snarky remarks from Talmah. It added to the already engaging chemistry of the book. This is one book I would read again. I truly recommend it for something a little daring, different and a whole lot of fun.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story was alright. Bit too short for my taste, it felt like the whole thing happens too fast to really develop fully. Too many unanswered questions for the main characters. Too fast of a progression of the mystery.

[LE Eastman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want a cat dragon!

I think many cats believe they are pretty great. One who is a dragon in cat form is really great. Funny and interesting. Looking to finding out more!

[April Hyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute

A cute start to an interesting concept for a series. I hope we get to see Tam change into his dragon form!

[Graisi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author uses the word grifter, to refer to normal people who live in a small town. I had to remove one star for that.

grifter ►

n.
A con man. Someone who pulls confidence games.
n.
a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud


Despite that, this was a really cute, amusing start to a murder mystery series about a cat who thinks he's a dragon.

I don't recommend that people bother with the next in this series, which was surprisingly awful.

[Mary Ann Seidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like the ending was forced, and came on too quickly. There was not enough background info, it was just there. Trying not to give anything away, or any hints, but I don't feel the ending was built up properly for the book to end when it did. I hate to admit it, but I didn't like the cat very much (I really love!!! cats normally). It took me to the end of the book to even kinda like him, and still then I found him more obnoxious than endearing. I have a Ragamuffin cat who is the light of my life, she thinks correctly she is a princess.