Cat Prints on the Crime Scene

by K.M. Waller

Loretta Hamilton has never owned one cat, let alone seven.

When cat-loving Aunt Ginger passes away, Loretta is left with a farm she doesn’t want. And as if that’s not bad enough, her aunt’s dying wish is for Loretta to turn her home into a cat rescue sanctuary. Loretta doesn’t even know what to feed her aunt’s seven orphaned cats, let alone how to rescue them.

But Felicity, a pushy real estate agent, has plans of her own. She wants the farm for a land development project, and she won’t take no for an answer. After a heated exchange between Loretta and Felicity at a town hall meeting, Felicity is found dead making Loretta the main suspect.

With a superstitious sidekick and a knack for being practical, can Loretta settle into her new role as cat mom and protector while fending off a murderer?

Genres: Cozy Mystery, Ebooks, Contemporary, Animals, Mystery

147 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2020

Reviews

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loretta Hamilton is definitely not a cat person. Now that her Aunt Ginger passed away, she now has seven cats and a cat sanctuary to take care of. She knows her aunt would have wanted her to stay there and make things work, but Loretta is a recent widow and isn’t sure what she wants to do.

She learns that there are developers that want to buy the land. She considers the offer until threats are made and someone winds up dead. Now, Loretta wants to find out what’s really going on before she makes any definitive decision.

This is a charming story filled with cats! My favorite type of cozy mystery. Even though she wasn’t originally a cat person, I did like Loretta right away and had no doubt the cats would win her over. I was right 😀

It’s a quick read and the first in the author’s Cat Sanctuary Mystery series. I hope there will be more. I did get a prequel through the author’s newsletter but I haven’t read it yet.

The characters are well written and it’s a fast-paced mystery that keeps you guessing. I didn’t figure out the culprit until Loretta did.

Fun, light-hearted cozy mystery. A cat mystery always wins me over.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly back in Saint Wales, Florida to wrap up her late Aunt Ginger's affairs, Loretta Hamilton finds that she has been left a cat sanctuary in the will. And, while she's not sure that she even wants to run shelter, she's being pestered by developers to sell the land. Suddenly she's in the frame for murder and fighting off sabotage on her property - it's lucky she has Greta and Avis on her side.

I enjoyed the first book in the series, My Lucky Valentine and the Love Thief and looked forward to reading this one back to back. It didn't have quite the feeling of "joyful romp" that the original book had, but it was a fun read anyway. Loretta speaks of her youth in an oblique way and I'm dying to find out more. While Greta's obsession with luck was a little much, the addition of Avis helps to tone it down. A trip to Saint Wales is always a pleasure.

Recommended.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main characters are Greta and Loretta. When Loretta's Aunt Ginger dies and leave her the Cat Sanctuary and the land around it. The Cat Sanctuary is a special place for cats with problems. Someone is out to get her to sell, just as they tried to get Aunt Ginger sell. Then the real estate agent is killed. Now it looks like they might be after Loretta. Can Loretta with the help of Greta figure it all out before it's too late ?

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and cozy. Loretta takes over her Aunts cat sanctuary until she can find someone else to take over; but in the little time that she is there she has found and had her own threats to sell the land. The story kept you pointing fingers toward this person or that person, but you should always look at the little man or woman who sits in the background all quiet.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Loretta, things happened so fast and she had no choice in the matter. Her aunt Ginger passed away. Now Loretta has suddenly become someone who could be called the cat lady. This is a quick read and a cozy mystery story that will make you smile even through the murderous happenings.

[Sonia Bellhouse]

An entertaining read and a promising start to a new series. I look forward to reading more of Loretta’s adventures or should they be mis-adventures? I think she is developing an attachment to the cats.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loretta now has the seven cats!!! I guess Felicity isn’t the one, is she??? Who did it and why??? I enjoyed the story and recommend the book.

[Pat Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute but written for a YA audience

[Saundra Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and quick cozy. First I've read from this author but doubt it will be the last. I definitely enjoyed her wit and style.

[Bentonkk · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book I have read my K M Waller - looking forward to more of her books

Love all the cat names especially Tractor

I think Aunt Ginger made a good choice

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a cat person but K.M. Waller and these 7 cats sure won me over. If you haven't read the prequel, make sure you do to meet Aunt Ginger before she dies and leaves Loretta the cat sanctuary with 7 cats. You'll meet many of the characters for this books as well. Like Aunt Ginger before she died (or is this why she died) Loretta is being pressured to sell the farm and find new homes for the cats. But each cat has a unique personality and special needs so that's not as easy as it might sound. Loretta becomes fast friends with Greta, who was also Aunt Ginger's friend and keeper of all superstitions. What a wild fun duo Loretta and Greta make. Plenty of suspects in the real estate agent's murder and you'll be convinced each one did it. Link to fun special features at the end of the book. Really looking forward to the next adventure.

[Ninoshka Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short but a very entertaining story with lots of love for cats. In my personal opinion story’s likes this are not my forte, but I liked how it handled itself and how the plot went getting more and more interesting and keeping me thrilled and I liked how at the end we didn’t realize who was behind all of it. That was a big surprise since they didn’t have a mayor part in the story and didn’t have enough dialogue to be considered an important part in the story or in the case. Although I do enjoy a mystery story with a murder, this story did not take the genre to the level of thriller it could have been.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

This is a free novella e-book from Amazon..

Her aunt has passed on and she has come to Florida to address the estate. There were threatening letters to her aunt and now to her. The real estate agent is murdered and she is a suspect. But things work out with the killer being arrested. She is keeping the estate and staying in Florida.

I would recommend this series and author to 👍 readers of mystery novels 👍🔰.

[Andrea Stoeckel · Rating 1 out of 5]

“What’s the worst that can happen?” “Famous last words of all the people who knew better,”

And I have to admit that's the best line in the book. Sorry to the author but it reads like someone pulled various ideas out of a hat and strung it together. There's no rhyme or reason. Don't bother 1/5

[KyoAi ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and sweet (but not that short) cozy mystery. It's very clean and the suspect isn't obvious, making it easy to twist the suspect to another person. Totally worth the read.

[suvi]

dnf @ 41%

as self-proclaimed crazy-cat-lady I just can't see eye to eye with Loretta who does not like or understand cats and I think it's better for my sanity to just give up

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason why it took me forever to read this was because I read it on a Kindle. I'm a paper book girly. So I would only read it on the train whenever I had forgotten a paper book at home. It's absolutely a cozy mystery. If you love small towns, quirky friends, and cats, you'll love this book. I really enjoyed Waller's writing style. I'll be reading more of her stuff. It was so cute and such a fun time.