62) The Cat, The Collector and The Killer by Leann Sweeney

The Blurb :

Jillian Hart and police chief Tom Stewart are enjoying peaceful, newly wedded bliss in Mercy, South Carolina, until a woman is found wandering the streets one night. She's in her night clothes, disoriented, and carrying a kitten in a tote bag. A search of the woman’s house reveals many more cats, a maze of cardboard boxes—and a dead man.

Although the evidence suggests the frail woman is the killer, Jillian doesn’t believe she’s capable of such a crime. The dead man had many enemies in town, which means finding the real murderer may prove to be its own cat and mouse game...

My Thoughts :

The Cat, The Collector and The Killer is the eighth installment in the Cats in Trouble Mysteries.  This is one of my favourite cozies to listen to and sometime last year I started the series and listened to all seven installments.  That meant I was waiting for a new part in the series for the first time.  So my anticipation and expectations were very high.  Which may be part of the reason why I didn't find this newest release to be as good as the previous books.

There was everything I have come to know, love and expect in this new addition and the story has progressed so nicely with Jillian and Tom now man and wife.  Some time has passed since the last book and I expected the couple to be more lovely dovey than they actually were.  They actually seemed to be more like friends who lived together.  There was hardly a married feeling despite the continuous references and reminders to them now being wed.  Maybe the author still needs to convince herself that she really got them to tie the knot?

Despite this slightly weird feeling about the new couple, I just felt the plot this time around wasn't very interesting.  There was definitely enough for me to keep listening but it wasn't as good as the previous books in the series.  The mysteries in the other seven books were much more compelling and made me wonder about various aspects of the characters, reasons and decisions.  This one fell a little flat and left me just wondering if the marriage has broken the series.

Of course I will be continuing the series and look forward to another installment.  After all every series has a book that isn't as good as the others.  Some will even think this is the best of the bunch.  It is only my view and I am sure the many fans of the series out there will love this book even if it felt a little off for me.  Definitely a series worth listening too and a must read for cat lovers!