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

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

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.

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.

Call me crazy, but... I can't stand books about silly women. Jillian is a silly woman. Can't believe this book was written by the same author as the Yellow Rose series. It's too over-the-top silly-for-cats even for a cat lover. I'm still spitting up hairballs after reading this silly book.

This is one of the stupidist books I have encountered and I wouldn't have continued to read it if I had any other reading matter available at the time. I like cats but and I understand loving a pet but the cat "stuff" in this book is excessive and obsessive. Not fun or interesting reading. Would have given a one star rating but the word "hate" is a pretty strong word in any context.

There were a lot of pluses here -- the descriptions of the cats were good, there was a lot of description and detail, and most of the characters were nicely drawn, with room to flesh them out more as the series progresses [with the possible exception of the over-the-top deputy coroner, already overly fleshed out]. However, the plot, which should be strong even in a "cozy", was weak -- the villain didn't appear until halfway through the book and then was never a focus of the narrative. In many ways it reminded me of the Crewel World series, with the friendship between the older amateur and the younger female police officer. I second many of the criticisms [narrator a little obsessed with the cats, the business side of the quilting is totally unrealistic in how much she's giving away if she intends to make a living selling quilts for cats, etc.] but all in all a good first entry in a new series. I'll definitely give the second book a look-see.

The first in the Cats in Trouble Mystery series, this is a promising start. Take a quilter with three cats, neighborhood cats mysteriously gone missing, and a sympathetic police woman and you have the makings of a puzzle. Jillian Harris, the main character, has a penchant for looking into matters after one of her cats disappears from her locked house and later finding a dead body. The plot is relatively straightforward although the characters did not come to life for me. However, as a cat lover, I found it interesting.

This was a cover-to-cover read over the weekend, as in: didn't wish to put it down. It was read aloud to my wife and our "owner/cat".

The cats are "this worldly" - not "other", which is probably harder to write well as characters, but Mrs. Sweeney is certainly up to the task. The cats are their sweet selves, somewhat more normal than Koko in Lillian Jackson Braun's series, but don't think for a minute that ordinary is boring. Not with this author.

Oh yeah, the human characters are appropriately developed and the plot has just enough hints to let you play along in the mystery.

Touches of humor are never far away, and "Mercy, SC" becomes an almost yearned-for hometown, even if you weren't raised there.

The modern touches (I-Pod, laptop, Cat-Cam, etc) are fun. The only thing that wasn't modern in this post-Katrina setting was the police chief's "service revolver" (virtually all officers use semi-automatic high capacity handguns these days).

We're looking forward to the next one(s) of hopefully a long series.

Sweeney, the author of the Yellow Rose mysteries (see my review of [[ASIN:045121031X 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.

An entertaining and enjoyable read. I was repeatedly surprised, which makes for a more interesting story. Well-written, fun little book. I have read some of her other books and will continue to do so.