A CATastrophic Neighborhood (A Pet Momma Cozy Mystery) – a Review

If you love cats and cozy mysteries, then this book is for you!

Tarsey and Steve move into the upscale neighborhood of Bluffington Hills. Maybe they should have asked more questions and done more research before they moved there. I mean, the first part of the name Bluffington is bluff, which as a verb means to act deceptively. Hmm. Just that fact would make me think twice before moving somewhere with that name.

Anyway, while they are checking out Bluffington Hills, they find a stray cat at the place where they currently live. They adopt him to take with them to their new home.

The neighborhood they picture as idyllic doesn’t stay that way for very long. Soon they are confronted by an angry property manager and handed a violation, one they didn’t even know about, for their trash can. What a welcome to the neighborhood!

Not long after this, they hear that the town seamstress died under mysterious circumstances, and the cat they’ve adopted looks amazingly like a cat the seamstress had. Tarsey is now curious about what really happened to the seamstress. While looking into that, her cat goes missing.

Soon after, the property manager also vanishes without a trace. What is going on here? Have Tarsey and Steve made a mistake moving to Bluffington Hills?

The cat is what first attracted me to this book. I absolutely love cats, and I’m fond of cozy mysteries. At first, I thought things moved a bit slow, but it was, after all, a cozy mystery. Closer to the end of the book, it became rather hard to lay it down for any amount of time, and the ending was great.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes, I definitely did.

Would I recommend reading this book? Yes, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves cats, cozy mysteries, or a good mystery.

I received an advance copy of this book for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. If you would like your own copy of this book to read and enjoy, I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below.

Amazon Link: A CATastrophic Neighborhood

Favorite Sentence:

A few minutes later, I stood there in brown baggy elastic pants and a colorful oversize shirt, beige cardigan, and what was probably the most boring pair of black shoes in existence.

New Words Learned:

clematis – any of numerous plants or woody vines of the genus Clematis, including many species cultivated for their showy, variously colored flowers

deadheading – to remove the faded flowers of (a plant) especially to keep a neat appearance and to promote reblooming by preventing seed production

hostas – any of a genus (Hosta) of Asian perennial herbaceous plants of the lily family with densely growing basal leaves and tall racemes of white or violet flowers

row houses – one of a series of houses connected by common sidewalls and forming a continuous group

lothario – a man whose chief interest is seducing women

pachysandra – any of a genus (Pachysandra) of perennial evergreen plants of the box family often used as a ground cover

About the Author:

Maryann Shanesy is a native of Maryland who has always enjoyed writing. A lifelong lover of mysteries and anything gardening, she is a pet momma to a rescue dog and cat that brighten her life. She and her husband have two wonderful daughters and live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. This is her first cozy mystery.