Oh wow, this was bad. I mean…how did I not DNF this thing? Sometimes I fall into this weird trap where the book is super bad, but I can’t abort the impending trainwreck. At first, I thought, “OK, the main character is a ditz, and she doesn’t know how to safeguard her cat from roaming free, but it’s a silly cozy mystery, so why not just lighten up?” I tried, y’all, I really did. But it just kept getting worse! If I could be in the room with the MC, Chase, here are a few things I would scream at her face:

WHY CAN’T YOU KEEP YOUR CAT AT HOME??? WHY???

Our adorable, pudgy feline sidekick is constantly being transported from the upstairs apartment to the downstairs bakery, which is full of hazards! He keeps getting loose and running across the busy street! And Chase’s dumb s**t business partner keeps feeding him actual dessert bars!!! Just imagine all of the trouble she could’ve avoided if she just kept her kitty safe and secure. She wouldn’t have helped herself into a stranger’s unlocked home (bad idea!) to find a dead body. No, she’d still be baking her hula bars and not worrying about becoming suspect No. 1 in a murder investigation. Pulling a knife out of a dead body at a crime scene is a bad look. Just saying.

WHY DON’T YOU DO SOME SLEUTHING???

Very, very, very little sleuthing is involved here. Chase mainly gets her clues by happenstance wen overhearing conversations. She has all the motive int the world to investigate this thing, but she’s too busy fretting about the town vet’s potential love interest and various other annoying things that grated on my nerves.

WHY ARE YOU SO JUDGEMENTAL????

Chase is SO obsessed with this red-headed woman who hugged her vet (and potential boyfriend) while he was at work. Apparently, he saved the woman’s dog from certain death after accidentally ingesting a whole chicken. Chase has the AUDACITY to judge this woman for not taking good care of her dog. Meanwhile, she’s constantly searching for her lost cat because she doesn’t have enough sense to keep him in her secured apartment! Ugh…I can’t with her.

WHY ARE YOU PUTTING UP WITH INSUBORDINATE EMPLOYEES???

Chae, you are the boss lady. That means you can fire employees who are hurting your business! The two girls running the frontlines of the bakery are constantly at each other’s throats and creating a hostile environment for EVERYONE! There’s no way any of my bosses at my post-high school minimum wage jobs would’ve put up with this behavior. There’s also a MAJOR infraction that Chase and her lame business partner chose to overlook, which baffled me to no end.

WHY IS YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER TRYING TO MURDER YOUR CAT???

According to the hot vet, Chase’s cat is on the brink of diabetes. What does her business partner do? She sneaks him dessert bars constantly! Dude…this would make me livid. But yet, Chase doesn’t do anything to stop the insanity. She just keeps toting him down to the bakery office every day knowing he’ll get fed sugary sweets and end up roaming the streets yet again.

I could go on and on about Chase’s ridiculous antics, but that could take all day. Just do yourself a favor and skip this entire series and read a good kitty-themed mystery, with actual sleuthing, by Amanda Flower, Cat Conte or Laurie Cass!