Halloween is just around the corner, and I’m on a roll! Here’s my mixed review of the latest installment of the Cat Cafe Mystery series:

The Halloween vibes: I’ll hand it to the author; she did an OK job with the spooky season festivities. I especially enjoyed the premise of a celebrity psychic giving readings at a notoriously haunted inn because it’s always so much more fun when there’s a dash of paranormal!

What about the cat cafe? I read these books for a reason. I LOVE cat cafes! On the rare occasion when I do travel, my first stop is the cat cafe so I can get my kitty fix. Unfortunately, very few scenes take place at the cat cafe. The MC, Maddie, is too busy with her over-extended party planning schedule to work her actual job at the cafe, which is a bummer. Why do these characters always take on too much whenever a seasonal festival rolls into town? They make me so tired.

The spooky cold case: Despite my disappointment over the ignored cat cafe, I really enjoyed the murder mystery because it involved a cold case and spooky ghosts! There’s also some Nancy Drew action with secret trap doors and hidden rooms–fun!

The cat costume parade: Question: has Cate Conte ever met a cat in real life? I ask because there’s absolutely no way a cat costume parade could ever happen on planet earth. And how did the main character tote her cat around town without any fuss or drama? All the while, he’s wearing a Sherlock Holmes costume–hat and all! Ain’t no way I could ever get a hat on either of my cats, let alone take them with me when I’m running errands around town.

Too many characters: I get it, we need a bunch of suspects in cozy mysteries to keep readers guessing, but my God there were so many people and cats with human names thrown in the mix! We’ve got multiple cops, Maddie’s family, a pool of suspects, cat cafe co-workers and more. It’s A LOT!

Overall: Fans of the series who have a handle on the cast of characters may stand a chance of keeping track of who’s who. Otherwise, good luck reading this without giving yourself a headache. On the bright side, the mystery was pretty inventive, and I enjoyed the haunted inn.