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Sunday, 26 April 2015

'The Cat, the Vagabond and the Victim' by Leann Sweeney



Published by Obsidian,
18 September 2014.
ISBN 978-0-451-41542-4


This is the seventh in a series but this story is complete as a mystery even though previous events have obviously established some of the characters who become involved and their relationships.  The story centres around  Clyde, a cat who has travelled two hundred miles back to his home.  His cries on finding the dead body of his former owner alert neighbours to the event.  Jillian Hart who is heavily involved with a cat shelter and who makes cat quilts is asked to look after Clyde, who is now the centre of a media frenzy. 

This book would appeal, obviously, to those who like cats since Jillian has three cats with whom Clyde soon bonds.  The ability of Clyde to return to his home from miles away makes a fascinating beginning to the mystery of the murder of a man who was already dying of cancer.  Orange tabby Clyde manages to find another body and to become a target himself.  The relatives of the dead owner gradually assemble in the town of Mercy, South Carolina and prove to be a strange, disconnected group.  Jillian is a sympathetic person who becomes a confidante of some of the suspects and investigators and begins to formulate her own ideas about these happenings.  As is the fate of such characters she also us targeted by some very unsympathetic people!

In a nerve wracking climax all is solved. 
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Reviewer: Jennifer S. Palmer
This series began with The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse and this, the sixth subsequent adventure, a further tale, The Cat, the Sneak and the Secret is previewed at the end of this volume.

Leann Sweeney was born and raised in Niagara Falls and educated at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Lemoyne College in Syracuse, NY. She also has a degree from the University of Houston in behavioural science and worked for many years in psychiatry and as a school nurse; she now writes full time.
She began crafting fiction in 1980, fulfilling her lifelong dream. After perfecting her skills with classes and a small fortune in writing books, she joined MWA and Sisters in Crime. Now she’s the creator of two NAL/Obsidian mystery series: The Yellow Rose Mysteries and the Cats in Trouble Mysteries. The Cat, The Quilt and The Corpse, first in the Cats in Trouble Mysteries was the #1 bestseller on the Independent Mystery Bookseller’s List when it debuted and made several top twenty lists for 2009 at bookstores across the country.
Leann is married with two grown children. She lived in Texas from 1974 to 2012 and now lives in South Carolina with husband Mike.



Jennifer Palmer Throughout my reading life crime fiction has been a constant interest; I really enjoyed my 15 years as an expatriate in the Far East, the Netherlands & the USA but occasionally the solace of closing my door to the outside world and sitting reading was highly therapeutic. I now lecture to adults on historical topics including Famous Historical Mysteries.



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