have cats, will travel

Maddie James and her partner in JJ’s House of Purrs, a cat cafe and coffee shop where they help cats find forever homes, have found a lot of success on Daybreak Island. So when a friend show up with a food truck that they can outfit as a traveling cat cafe, Maddie decides to take the cats on the road. There is a cat-themed literary festival coming up in Provincetown, and Maddie and her family think that will be perfect for the new traveling cat cafe.

While there are several authors and exhibitors at the festival, the one creating the most buzz is Vivi St. Clair, a woman who writes cat-themed romances. She is a bestselling author, and she has a Netflix series being made about her. Vivi is a big supporter of cat rescues, and she’s interested in Maddie’s story of how she and her boyfriend met, for the possible plot of an upcoming book.

But Vivi has secrets, and when she is murdered, those secrets come out. She had a stalker. She had been married to a man in the mafia. And she had broken a contract with a friend to get more publicity for herself. Maddie and her private investigator grandfather have plenty of suspects, but when the murder weapon is found, Maddie feels like the investigation just got personal.

Claws Out is book nine in Cate Conte’s charming Cat Cafe mystery series. While they take the cat cafe on the road for this installment, all the favorite characters are still included, especially JJ, the guy who steals the show every time. There are lots of red herrings in this mystery, so I was kept guessing until the end, and I really enjoyed the idea of a traveling cat cafe as well as a literary festival all about cats. I enjoy this series, and Claws Out is a fun mystery with lots of intrigue, family, coffee, and cats.

Egalleys for Claws Out were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.