Customer Reviews

The Cat, The Quilt and The Corpse: A Cats in Trouble Mystery

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Mercy, South Carolina was one of those towns where everything is only a five minute drive away and gossip flits around faster than a speeding bullet. Jillian Hart figured out both of these not so subtle facts soon after moving to the town. Anyone crossing her path gave her the "I'm so very sorry for your loss" line within minutes of meeting her. "Heard tell" could have easily been the town motto. It wasn't easy being a widow, but with the company of her three cats, Syrah, Merlot and Chablis, life seemed to be a little easier at times, but not much. Even with her babies and quilting business, tears still bubbled to the surface.

Things would soon be flip flopping big time and Jillian feel like she was living in Mayberry rather than Mercy after someone broke in and stole Syrah, her Abyssinian, while she was away on a business trip. Barbara Lynne, the 911 dispatcher, was a crooning darling until she found out those `babies' were dumb old cats. Did anyone mention ice cubes? Deputies Morris Ebeling and Candace Carson (don't you ever, never call her Candy) were quickly dispatched to the scene of the crime. Morris couldn't have cared less, but Candace was getting ready to have one of her "evidence obsession seizures" right there in Jillian's living room. She'd try to collect everything from cat hair to dandruff if you let her.

The nuttiness (and we're not talking pecans here) was only just beginning. There were any number of potential suspects, but if anyone had a weirdo complex in Mercy, Flake Wilkerson would top the list. The rest of the lineup could probably be easily squeezed out of lips of the Piggly Wiggly gossip crowd. Jillian just knew that man had stolen Syrah and went over to his pink house to see for herself. What she saw was a bit more than she bargained for. Flake was deader than a bag of nails and that butcher knife sticking in his belly was none too pretty. Syrah was there, but several of her quilts were too. Mercy, Maude, what the heck was going on?

I just loved the twists and turns of this wonderful mystery and found Leann Sweeny's sense of humor quite refreshing. This is the first book in the "Cats in Trouble Mystery" and this is a series that will explode on the scene with fans scrambling to buy the next in the series. Say, do I see Lydia Monk, "Miss Upstate Winnebago," Mercy's deputy coroner, heading to Flake's pink house? Later. I have to run and see what she says about this fantastic whodunit!

Jillian Hart's cat is allergic to people. When she returns home from a quilt show, the sneezing of her cat Chablis raises a red flag. Jillian uses a special shampoo and takes precautions so Chablis has no reactions to her. The sneezing can mean only one thing. Someone has been in her home while she was away. A further examination of the premises reveals that her Abyssinian cat Syrah is nowhere to be found. Convinced that Syrah has been kidnapped, Jillian Hart starts her own investigation, an investigation which leads her to stories of more missing cats and a murder.

Jillian Hart is a wonderful amateur sleuth! Intelligent, caring and endowed with a spunky, smart humor, Jillian brings a nice flavor to this mystery. Her character adds just a dash of contrast to the small town South Carolina setting with its cast of delightful characters. Her world centers around cats, not only her beautiful rescue cats but she imparts her knowledge and love of cats in everything she does. She makes little cat quilts (what a wonderful idea --- my cat immediately goes to the comfort of a bedspread whenever he has the chance!) as a business and for the local shelter. When her cat quilts show up at the murder scene, the clues become even more mysterious and the stakes more personal. As she narrows down the possible suspects, Jillian suspects more cats are in trouble and she might just need to save herself as well!

THE CAT, THE QUILT AND THE CORPSE is a mystery for cat lovers! At every step of the way from the sleuth to the case itself, cats are center stage in this mystery. Fascinating cat lore, humor and knowledge fill the pages. So often cats seem to play only an ancillary role in mysteries but in this first book of the Cats in Trouble Mysteries, readers can count on Leann Sweeney to give what cat lovers crave --- cats, cats and more cats! THE CAT, THE QUILT AND THE CORPSE will appeal to all sorts of cat lovers from those who adopt rescue cats from shelters to those fascinated by beautiful purebreds. Jillian Hart has a heart of gold that extends to every cat. Lest a cat lover fear the theme of cats in trouble, rest assured that Jillian Hart is indeed a sleuth determined to bring comfort to cats (and their beloved owners) as well as solve the murder mystery before her. The mystery of the missing cats has several delightful twists that keep the reader guessing even as the clues narrow down the motive of the case. If you are a mystery lover with a feline soft spot, THE CAT, THE QUILT AND THE CORPSE is a must-read. This reader anxiously awaits the next case!


COURTESY OF BOOK ILLUMINATIONS

"The Cat, the Quilt, & the Corpse," is the first book in Leann Sweeney's new Cats in Trouble Mysteries. I love cats, so I knew I had to read this book. The main character, Jillian Hart, is a cat lover and instantly likable. She has 3 cats, &, when one goes missing, she becomes involved in a mystery in her small, adopted town of Mercy, SC. The supporting cast of characters is great, & this cozy has a great, small town feel.

They mystery itself kept me interested, & I hope to see many more books in this series.

If there's one problem Yellow Rose Mystery Series author Leann Sweeney might encounter with her new Cats in Trouble Mystery Series it would be scaring off readers who run at the mention of "cute," "cats," or "sewing." That would be a shame, as in spite of the title, THE CAT, THE QUILT, AND THE CORPSE is a complex, touching, and very entertaining mystery that will please even the most cat-cozy-phobic of readers.

In the ten months since her husband's death, forty-one year-old Jillian Hart has hidden herself in world that consists of sewing quilts and caring for her three Katrina-rescued cats. Her isolation ends when she returns home from a business trip only to discover a shattered window and her beloved Abyssinian cat Syrah missing. The Mercy, South Carolina police are quick to write it off as a prank, but Jillian finds unexpected aid in the form of Candace Carson, a young, very eager deputy who is more than willing to utilize her fledgling forensic skills. An ex-cop PI who sets up a security system provides additional help, and it's his pet-cam system that leads Jillian to a suspect when she spots another attempt to break into her home. Her desperation to find Syrah compels her to impulsively rush out to confront the suspect, only to discover a body and pushing Jillian into the spotlight of both the small town and the police department.

Sweeney's superior character development elevates this mystery to a higher level as she reveals how Jillian is slowly able to immerse herself into the small town and begin to once again form relationships and re-enter the world. The town's lightning-speed gossip network is highlighted and exploited by Jillian, as is the way the people have come to watch out and care for each other. The relationship between cats and their owners is never overplayed and is displayed in a way that is touching and plays a significant role in the mystery. With her unique characters, complex relationships, and a plot that continually engages the reader, Sweeney once again creates a very entertaining new mystery series.

I have to admit that I buy a lot of books for the quirky title and this certainly has one.

The lady is certainly nuts about cats - a "cat cam" where she can view her cats on her phone while she's away???? Someone needs to get a life. But the "cat cam" does have a role to play as do the cats.

Cat trivia - I learned a group of cats is a klowder and all cats hate closed doors (thought it was just mine). Also that "cat quilts" are a big thing if the author can be believed. Obviously she has had different experiences than I have had.

Other reviewers have described the plot. The author does have a gift for description and detail and you can almost imagine living in the small town she describes. I will most likely purchase her future books.

Jillian Hart is rebuilding her life after her husband suddenly passed away. She has a special quilting business and she has her three beautiful cats.
One day her cat Syrah is missing, and she is devestated. She and the local police start a investigation, but Jillian
is convinced the missing cats are a big part of the mystery of break in's around the small south carolina town.
As Jillian searchs for Syrah she finds more cats that are missing and a conspiracy to sell these animals at the highest bidder.
Will Jillian find Syrah, and will she find the other lost kitties and get them back to safety?

Sweeney, the author of the Yellow Rose mysteries (see my review of Pick Your Poison (Yellow Rose Mysteries)), here moves to Mercy, SC, to begin a new series. Her sleuth this time is Jillian Hart, a 50-something widow still trying to adjust after her husband's sudden death and make a new life for herself in their "dream home" with the three cats--Chablis, a Himalayan allergic to human dander; Syrah, an Abyssinian; and Merlot, a massive Maine Coon--whom the couple adopted after they were rescued from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Making a living by creating and selling custom mini-quilts for pampered cats to use as beds, Jillian returns home from a weekend craft fair to find Chablis sneezing (which means a stranger has been in the house) and Syrah among the missing. Desperate to recover her missing cat, she finds her way to Flake Wilkerson, who is believed to "collect" cats, some of which may be other people's. When Flake turns up stabbed to death in his kitchen, and the owner of the local private animal shelter is accused of the crime, Jillian, blaming herself for his involvement, sets out to find out the real murderer, assisted by her new friend, Deputy Candace Carson, and the attractive security expert and part-time PI Tom Stewart.

Like most cozies, this one features a well-drawn small-town setting with a cast of very individual characters, including Belle, the owner of Belle's Beans (a sort of country version of Starbuck's), Tom's slightly eccentric mother and her long-time gentleman friend, and the flamboyant assistant coroner who thinks Tom is her property (he disagrees). Sweeney herself has three cats, who may have served as the models for Jillian's crew (and, yes, Syrah returns home safely); she inserts several tidbits of felinology into the stream of the story. And the ending is particularly charming. Definitely a promising debut and one that spurred me to try her other work as well.

On a scale of 1 to 10 for loving cats, I'm about a 9.5, but the main characters obsession with her cats was, as other reviewers have said, unbelievably excessive -- I mean, checking her cell phone to view her cats on the cameras she sets up? As someone who spent several years doing rescue -- from animal control facilities in rural areas in the South -- I was appalled at the author's idea of rescue is adopting pure-bred cats. Most of the cats needing homes after Katrina were NOT purebreds. Purebred cats are a small part of the overall cat population and can almost always find a home (absent significant health or behavior issues). This character presented as a rescuer is not like the true heroes who tried to help the cats and dogs separated from their owners during Katrina.

Then there's the issue of an unspayed cat having kittens -- it's shown as being cute and heartwarming, but a true animal lover who is involved in rescue and knows about the pet overpopulation problem would be appalled that the cat was unspayed. The situation for cats in rural South Carolina (where this mystery is set) is much worse than the story reveals. But -- people who are unaware of what real rescue involves will likely not care.

And the quilting -- no-one giving away all those quilts to charity and buying fabric retail (at $10 plus a yard) could make a living selling quilts.

But other readers may not care about these things that bothered me. What they ought to care about is the quality of the mystery, and that's where this book was weak. I pegged the killer very early on. Then there's the characters -- not very believable.

I will continue to read the Yellow Rose mysteries, but I think I'll take a pass on the next book in this series, short of airplane reading.

I just finished reading "The Cat, The Quilt and The Corpse" and I must say I really enjoyed it. Leann Sweeney's writing flows nicely, the characters were likeable and it had me turning the pages to find who the killer was. A cat aficionado myself, I wasn't surprised at the way Jillian's cats saved the day in the end. And giving wine names to one's cats was really interesting and original. One observation however: even though Sumatran coffee is rich in flavor and its taste lingers in your mouth, Sumatra is definitely NOT in Africa, but an island in western Indonesia and, thus, Asia. Please get your facts right. Other than that, I am looking forward to the second book in the series.

Don't expect to get away with murder if you catnap a cat-loving quilter's cat.

***

Widow Jillian Hart is hysterical after Syrah, her purebred Abyssinian cat, goes missing after a break-in. When the security camera she has installed reveals the feet of the thief trying to catnap yet another cat from her, she springs into action only to find somebody already confronted the miscreant, with a knife. Why won't the police chief accept that the murder was about the cats, especially when the thief had several cat quilts Jillian had made? Follow Leann Sweeney's cat hair trail to figure out whodunit in her new "Cat in Trouble" mystery series. This mystery is best read curled up on the couch with a cat on your lap.