Last month I did a review of Meow Mistletoe which is a Christmas novella and prequel to the A Fancy Cat Cozy Mystery series by fabulous author Lisa Lickel. Today I want to share with you her cozy mystery, book one in a three book series of Meow Mysteries: Meow Mayhem.

Ivy Preston has taken her tattered and abandoned self to the little town of Apple Grove after her fiance decided that he didn’t want to get married after all.  She buys a sweet little cottage that she shares with her Egyptian Mau cat, Memnet. All this because of another pedigreed Mau cat aficionado, Mayor Conklin, has invited her to help in his revitalization of this dying town.

She’d met Adam Thompson at the last Christmas gathering of the cat organization they are a part of but hadn’t suspected at first glance that he’d also be setting up his shop here in the new town with his own Mau, Isis. Having a string of trendy bookstore and coffee shops he brings his business to the town.

Ivy gets a strange message from the mayor and between her,  Adam, and her criminology professor mom, believe that there could be trouble afoot in this charming little town.  The trouble starts when grant money is disappearing, a dead body surfaces and the mayors missing Mau becomes the prime suspect.

What’s a young woman to do but try to figure it out and thankfully she has help on the journey. Ivy’s ho-hum life definitely takes on new adventure as she settles into her community. And the romance between Adam and Ivy is sweet… but there’s more love purring in town than just between them!

Now as a dog, I have to say I adore cats. I was as heartbroken as Ivy when Isis, the mayors Egyptian Mau, was missing! And then a little girl too? I adore little kids! I should have been written into this book. While I’m not a hunting dog I would have loved to play with those cats too.

Twists and turns keep the reader guessing in this sweet who-done-it by Lisa Lickel. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Meow Matrimony! So if you love cozy mysteries, and cats, you’ll love this book. Purrfect for the cold days we’re currently experiencing in Wisconsin. Just curl up with a warm drink, a cozy blanket, and this great novel and enjoy.

I give this book five bones because I’m a dog and I don’t have thumbs.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.