332 pages St. Martin’s Paperbacks publisher August 22,2023 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
In Nine Lives and Alibis, the seventh in Cate Conte’s Cat Café beloved cozy mystery series, Daybreak Island is gearing up for Halloween—but this year it seems like it’ll be all tricks and no treats.
It’s October in Daybreak Harbor, which means everything Halloween. The town is going all out for the holiday, hoping to one-up the festivities in neighboring Salem, Massachusetts, and Maddie James is delighted to be part of the planning for the annual happenings.
But trouble brews when Maddie’s youngest sister, Sam, books a famous medium, Balfour Dempsey, to come to town for the celebrations and stay in the local haunted inn—along with his equally famous black cat. The town busybody books a secret reading with Balfour and doesn’t want anyone to know why. Maddie’s best friend Becky is hell-bent on getting Balfour to help her solve two 40-year-old mysteries—a murder and a missing maid. And the psychic has a stalker who’s followed him here to the island, demanding he connect with her dead husband.
When Balfour is pushed off the cliffs behind the inn to his death and his beloved cat goes missing, it throws the whole town into a frenzy. And Maddie and her family find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery straight out of a Halloween movie.
MY THOUGHTS
Nine Lives and Alabis finds us in Daybreak Island, Mass. The little island town is hoping to one up its neighbors in Salem, Mass who everyone goes to see for all their Halloween scares.
This year Daybreak Island is hosting a Halloween Festival better than any of the previous years. A famous medium, Balfour Dempsey has come to stay at the reportedly haunted hotel. While there he is being asked to try to solve two cold cases from forty years ago, a murder and a missing maid.
I enjoyed the New England setting, as we spent time there this Fall including Salem, Mass.
When another murder occurs, the whole town is in an uproar and Halloween festivities are the last thing on their minds. Past and present come to mingle in the case being solved.
Maddie runs a cat cafe and takes in strays and gives them the best care. She and her cat JJ also solve cases together and she’s on the job here finding the murderer and discovering what happened to his cat.
Surprising twists and turns I sure didn’t see coming. I enjoyed all the Halloween descriptions from the decorations and foods to the pet costume parade to all the festivities at the haunted hotel This is a series I’ll continue reading.
Pub Date: 22 Aug 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
THE AUTHOR
“Cats were my weakness. I’d never met one I didn’t love instantaneously.”
― Cate Conte, Cat About Town: A Cat Cafe Mystery
“Those who love cats have a special place in heaven,” he said, tipping his fedora at me.”
― Cate Conte, Cat About Town: A Cat Cafe Mystery
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