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A review by kays_pallet
A Whisker of a Doubt: A Cat Cafe Mystery by Cate Conte
2.0
***SPOILERS***
Whenever I read a book, I like to look at the story and the writing as two separate things. I'm not the biggest fan of cozy mysteries. That being said, I liked this story. It was different from what I'm used to with the feral cats and the time jumping in the beginning. There were even a few times that really drew me in. I didn't read the other books in the series, but I felt like I was given enough information to enjoy the story without the background.
Now the writing. About halfway through the book, I wanted to give it 3 stars. However, the further I read, the more I didn't like. This book is a cozy mystery and I can't fault it for being one, but I can fault illogical actions, inconsistency, terrible characters, and just bad writing.
I was expecting some unrealisticness and flat characters as is the norm with this genre, but I thought Maddie was exceptionally annoying, childish, and entitled. She seems to think her opinion is the only one that matters and is at times more important than the law: "But that shouldn’t matter if someone is innocent" I imagine her saying this in a whinny voice as she believes her will power alone is enough to get her friend out of jail, even though what "shouldn't matter" is multiple witnesses. This girl needs to be told multiple times that what she's asking for is ridiculous and that's not how the law works, but she never listens:
"“He said he had to go. And I’m guessing he didn’t stop to offer up any money for Katrina’s bail.” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my voice.
Grandpa shook his head. “Maddie. You can’t be like that. The man did his job.”
“I don’t care! There’s no way she can afford that. I’m going to try to raise it for her, but it’s not fair—”".
She's talking about a lawyer here. She was already told that the lawyer has no control over how much bail the judge sets. Does she really think that a lawyer is going to pay for his client's bail? I don't know of she's delusional or plain stupid.
This girl belongs on a reddit about entitled people. "Even for those who weren’t cool, they weren’t likely to call the cops on me since I was not only former Daybreak Harbor police chief Leopold Mancini’s granddaughter, but the daughter of Brian James, CEO of Daybreak Hospital." Do you even know who I am?
Then she invites herself to the man's funeral in order to spy or gather clues or whatever Nancy Drew nonsense she is up to: "I wanted a chance to talk to the people in Virgil’s life when they would, theoretically, have their guard down. And if they saw me at a function like this as a member of the prominent James-Mancini family rather than one of the wackadoodle cat ladies traipsing around the woods during a snowstorm, I’d probably have a better chance at finding something out." This is so insensitive. I mean this is a grown woman acting like she's 14.
Pages 156- 159 were pretty much unreadable and probably the most annoying Maddie scene in the whole book. She's so far up Katrina's butt, defending her tooth and nail, but she won't give her boyfriend the time of day to explain himself? Ok. It's kind of annoying having to wait so long (~300 pages) to find out what happened. Idk it wasn't good suspense building. It was dangling a mediocre carrot that I didn't even want anymore by the time I got it. Honestly, the way she is handling the whole situation, I wouldn't take her back if I was Lucas. She clearly doesn't prioritize their relationship or respect him as a person enough to let him explain.
Also, what's with the strong preachy overtones about stray cats. She seems to think that the fact of liking or not liking cats is the bases of friendship. We get it, she loves cats and feels responsible for them, but this is a fiction book. Not one to make me want to be a better person. Cool it.
All in all, I really didn't love this book. Maddie really grated on my nerves and I felt like a lot of things (not mentioned for fear of nit picking) were just illogical. In all honesty, I wouldn't have finished this book if I didn't have to read it for work.
Whenever I read a book, I like to look at the story and the writing as two separate things. I'm not the biggest fan of cozy mysteries. That being said, I liked this story. It was different from what I'm used to with the feral cats and the time jumping in the beginning. There were even a few times that really drew me in. I didn't read the other books in the series, but I felt like I was given enough information to enjoy the story without the background.
Now the writing. About halfway through the book, I wanted to give it 3 stars. However, the further I read, the more I didn't like. This book is a cozy mystery and I can't fault it for being one, but I can fault illogical actions, inconsistency, terrible characters, and just bad writing.
I was expecting some unrealisticness and flat characters as is the norm with this genre, but I thought Maddie was exceptionally annoying, childish, and entitled. She seems to think her opinion is the only one that matters and is at times more important than the law: "But that shouldn’t matter if someone is innocent" I imagine her saying this in a whinny voice as she believes her will power alone is enough to get her friend out of jail, even though what "shouldn't matter" is multiple witnesses. This girl needs to be told multiple times that what she's asking for is ridiculous and that's not how the law works, but she never listens:
"“He said he had to go. And I’m guessing he didn’t stop to offer up any money for Katrina’s bail.” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my voice.
Grandpa shook his head. “Maddie. You can’t be like that. The man did his job.”
“I don’t care! There’s no way she can afford that. I’m going to try to raise it for her, but it’s not fair—”".
She's talking about a lawyer here. She was already told that the lawyer has no control over how much bail the judge sets. Does she really think that a lawyer is going to pay for his client's bail? I don't know of she's delusional or plain stupid.
This girl belongs on a reddit about entitled people. "Even for those who weren’t cool, they weren’t likely to call the cops on me since I was not only former Daybreak Harbor police chief Leopold Mancini’s granddaughter, but the daughter of Brian James, CEO of Daybreak Hospital." Do you even know who I am?
Then she invites herself to the man's funeral in order to spy or gather clues or whatever Nancy Drew nonsense she is up to: "I wanted a chance to talk to the people in Virgil’s life when they would, theoretically, have their guard down. And if they saw me at a function like this as a member of the prominent James-Mancini family rather than one of the wackadoodle cat ladies traipsing around the woods during a snowstorm, I’d probably have a better chance at finding something out." This is so insensitive. I mean this is a grown woman acting like she's 14.
Pages 156- 159 were pretty much unreadable and probably the most annoying Maddie scene in the whole book. She's so far up Katrina's butt, defending her tooth and nail, but she won't give her boyfriend the time of day to explain himself? Ok. It's kind of annoying having to wait so long (~300 pages) to find out what happened. Idk it wasn't good suspense building. It was dangling a mediocre carrot that I didn't even want anymore by the time I got it. Honestly, the way she is handling the whole situation, I wouldn't take her back if I was Lucas. She clearly doesn't prioritize their relationship or respect him as a person enough to let him explain.
Also, what's with the strong preachy overtones about stray cats. She seems to think that the fact of liking or not liking cats is the bases of friendship. We get it, she loves cats and feels responsible for them, but this is a fiction book. Not one to make me want to be a better person. Cool it.
All in all, I really didn't love this book. Maddie really grated on my nerves and I felt like a lot of things (not mentioned for fear of nit picking) were just illogical. In all honesty, I wouldn't have finished this book if I didn't have to read it for work.