saving the cats and the christmas extravaganza from murder

Maddie James had a busy autumn. She is the co-owner of Daybreak Island’s cat café, JJ’s House of Purrs. She runs the cat half, and her business partner Ethan runs the coffee shop half. They’ve found a lot of success, despite the island being small and the tourists mostly come during the warmer months. But they had a big celebration for Halloween, that Maddie had helped put together, and they were wanting to bring more tourists over for Christmas too. There is a bazaar with local artisans and a big competition for the best Christmas lights.

Maddie had begged off from helping, since she had done so much at Halloween. She just wants to decorate their home and the café and enjoy the holiday with her family and friends. But when her grandfather falls off the ladder while fixing their lights, Maddie had to jump in and take more of the responsibility. And when she finds out that he had fallen off the ladder because he’d gotten shocked, Maddie is incensed. The electrician had been hired by the city council to help hang lights all over town, and he had clearly done a poor job.

Maddie takes over the decorating duties, buying trees and finding another electrician to fix the lights. And she jumps in to help organize the bazaar, since they were clearly in need of assistance. The Christmas festivities seem a little chaotic, but Maddie’s skills get them back on track pretty quickly. But when the town’s newspaper editor and partial owner, Donna, turned up dead, with Christmas lights wrapped around her, Maddie knows she’ll have to organize more than just some Christmas activities. She’ll have to work to find a killer, especially since her best friend Becky is a reporter for the paper and ends up on the police’s suspect list.

And if that’s not enough for Maddie to deal with, she has to try to keep her grandfather in the wheelchair until his ankle heals, and there are flyers up in town advertising “designer” cats that are hypo-allergenic and hyper-expensive. As the owner of a cat café where she rescues and rehomes cats, Maddie is strongly against cat breeders. She does understand that some people can’t take home the usual cats that show up at a rescue, but Maddie thinks this breeder is going too far. Donna had bought a cat from the breeder. She’d been arguing with the same electrician who had put up the lights that had shocked her grandfather. And there had been talk of the other owner wanting to sell the newspaper, which Donna was against.

There is no shortage of suspects in Donna’s death. But can Maddie figure out who the killer is before they kill again? And can she figure it out soon enough to rescue Christmas?

Shock and Paw is the eighth book in Cate Conte’s charming Cat Café Mystery Series, and this cat-centered series is full of furry friends and small town warmth. Maddie and her friends and family work together to keep the café up and running, to take care of the cats, and to support each other through life changes, business struggles, and a little bit of sleuthing when a murder gets too close. Although the real star of the series is JJ, the cat who rides through town like a local hero.

I really enjoy these mysteries, and Shock and Paw is no exception. I love the cats and the café, and the closeness of this town’s citizens keeps me coming back for more. These characters are kind and supportive, and they work together to fight the crime that infiltrates their town. This mystery is well-written and compelling, and did I mention that there are cats? Love the cats!

Egalleys for Shock and Paw were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.