Review of "The Company of Cats (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries)" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I enjoyed this title quite a bit, for both the adorable title characters and the incredibly neurotic cast. Ms. Annabel Hinchby-Smythe meets at a gathering a wealthy tycoon who needs his house redecorated, and thinks she'd be perfect for it after he mistakes her from an interior designer. His relatives all have different ideas about the design, until he ends up dead and everything goes insane. The cat inherits all and soon Annabel is doing everything she can to save the original and several imposters!
The first few chapters were simply pure gold, and the rest always stayed solidly interesting. Watching the constant verbal and unspoken power struggle between willful people used to getting no gruff is fascinating, from the conservative Zania to the forward Tara. Even the cats, indignant and demanding, are part of it; they were born to play politics. The constant bickering is more exciting than dull, …
I enjoyed this title quite a bit, for both the adorable title characters and the incredibly neurotic cast. Ms. Annabel Hinchby-Smythe meets at a gathering a wealthy tycoon who needs his house redecorated, and thinks she'd be perfect for it after he mistakes her from an interior designer. His relatives all have different ideas about the design, until he ends up dead and everything goes insane. The cat inherits all and soon Annabel is doing everything she can to save the original and several imposters!
The first few chapters were simply pure gold, and the rest always stayed solidly interesting. Watching the constant verbal and unspoken power struggle between willful people used to getting no gruff is fascinating, from the conservative Zania to the forward Tara. Even the cats, indignant and demanding, are part of it; they were born to play politics. The constant bickering is more exciting than dull, and breathes life and personality into the large cast, who manage to stand out as separate characters.
There isn't much tension, but the fare is light enough that it doesn't need much. There are plots and counterplots, and genuine uncertainty about the outcome; since every finger is dipped in the honeypot, any could be the hand that struck death. False clues about, with the culprit of choice changing every few chapters but the evidence still adding up to the conclusion in hindsight.
And of course, the cute Sally, Sassy, and Salvadore are simply grand in their roles. Take a look if you have the chance and enjoy fluffy mysteries.