The Cat, the Mill and the Murder

A Cats in Trouble Mystery, Book 5

By: Leann Sweeney

Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson

Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

When cat lover and quilter Jillian Hart volunteers to help a local animal shelter relocate a colony of feral cats living in an abandoned textile mill, she never expects to find a woman living there too. Jeannie went missing from Mercy, South Carolina, a decade ago, after her own daughter’s disappearance. Jeannie refuses to leave the mill or abandon Boots, her cat who died years ago. After all, she and Boots feel the need to protect the premises from “creepers” who come in the night.

After Jeannie is hurt in an accident and is taken away, those who've come to town to help repurpose the mill uncover a terrible discovery.... As the wheels start turning in Jillian’s mind, a mysterious new feline friend aids in her quest to unearth a long-kept and dark secret.

©2013 Leann Sweeny (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Loved Boots!

I loved the addition of Boots. The ghost cat story line was fun and charming. It really made the book for me. I promptly went back and listened to it again. I wish he could make a surprise appearance in the future!

Noticeable

I like this series of gentle mysteries with cats. However, It bugged me how much the story was constantly interrupted by how redundant the "she said" "he said" words were used. There are other ways to describe conversations. This was really annoying...plus there were often pauses around these words making them even more obvious. I hope the next one is better.

Great cozy!

What made the experience of listening to The Cat, the Mill and the Murder the most enjoyable?

I love these books, they are true cozies, no foul language, etc.

What other book might you compare The Cat, the Mill and the Murder to and why?

The entire series is great, just start at the beginning. : )

What aspect of Vanessa Johansson’s performance would you have changed?

It really brakes the flow of the audio to hear "I said", "he said", "she said" so often.

SURPRISED AT THE GREAT STORY LINE.

THIS IS A KEEPER IN COZY MYSTERIES. I LOVE THE CHARACTERS AND THE GROWTH AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE SERIES. PLEAS LEANN, KEEP THIS SERIES GOING. I AM ALMOST AFRAID TO TRY YOUR OTHER BOOKS AS I MAY NOT LIKE THE CHARACTERS. HURRY AND WRITE ANOTHER CAT AND WHATEVER MYSTERY. I WILL SNATCH IT UP AS SOON AS IT COMES OUT. THANK YOU BOTH FOR A WONDERFUL DAY AND NIGHT IN LISTENING TO THIS EDUCATIONAL AS WELL AS WONDERFUL COZY STORY. GREAT GROWTH IN THE CHARACTERS, CLEAN LANGUAGE, AND WONDERFUL WRITING. GOOD JOB, KUDOS'S TO YOU AND VANESSA JOHANSSON.

UMMM Girl Has Stepped IT UP!

What did you love best about The Cat, the Mill and the Murder?

On the whole this one was a supreme spooky beginning and has a very wonderful set of words that gives you a sense of something very interesting and different will happen this time.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I was always on the look out for the creepers, lol felt they were in my house, in my closet, taking showers late at night...hehe was a fantastic alert red. kept my heart racing and my brain begging me to stop reading and get some sleep...I did fly through tis one because it was just so damn good.

What about Vanessa Johansson’s performance did you like?

i lay roses and violets and the feet of they performer. She brings me back to the world of my friends with great ease..I never feel I had ever left when I hear her become my friend in her voice and tone, that pitch that is simply making and creating a wonderful head full of imagines by her craft alone.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

OMG ( yes fifty year olds can say that) I literally took long periods of just sitting gin my car...not moving to hear this book and raced to the end. thank god there are more for me to continue with.

Any additional comments?

Give me your excuse for why you are not listening to me and buying this book for yourself now ? Hmmm? I am waiting please.

A Bit Different From The Rest

I like this series despite the cat obsession. However, Leann Sweeney went to far this time with a ghost cat. This story doesn't need the supernatural mixed in to make it interesting. Other than that the story was pretty good. There was enough character development to make me want to read the next book.

Enjoyable Cats in trouble book with a little twist

Would you consider the audio edition of The Cat, the Mill and the Murder to be better than the print version?

This is the first time I've listened to a Cats in Trouble book. I usually read the print version. They are a light read and I usually take them along for office visits or pick them up when I have a spare moment. This time I used audible and liked it. I was able to listen to it while I cleaned out the garage and it made the time fly. I would recommend it as a download for this reason and I also think it would be great on a road trip or used during commute.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked this bits of mill history sprinkled in the story. It is interesting to think about how much of our workforce has been shipped overseas. Very sad.

What about Vanessa Johansson’s performance did you like?

I think the narrator did a great job in conveying the main character. She was seamless going between other cast voices as well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could listen to this all in one setting, or over the span of several days.

Any additional comments?

I didn't think I would like the supernatural aspect of this story, but it was done simply and ended up being cute in the long run. A nice light read as part of the series.

The Cat, the Mill, the Murder: Best of five

I don't know if this will be the last book in the series, but if so, Ms. Sweeney saved the best for last. The mystery was good, the characters especially good, and the mysterious mill cat was an unexpectedly sweet pooka.

Thrilling Story

If you could sum up The Cat, the Mill and the Murder in three words, what would they be?

Another Exciting Whodunnit

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Cat, the Mill and the Murder?

Gillian being helped by a supernatural cat

Which character – as performed by Vanessa Johansson – was your favorite?

I like most of them really. Sweeney knows how to write good characters, and Johansson gives them all life. Gillian, Candice and Tom are probably toss-ups.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, it's not that kind of book. Although the end was pretty touching.

Any additional comments?

This is one of the best in the series. A proper whodunnit where all the suspects are laid out in front of us, and the culprit was one of them. Very well crafted mystery, with some historical Americana and some super-natural thrown in too, which made it all the more interesting.

A great addition to a terrific series

Jillian Hart is back in Leann Sweeney’s The Cat, the Mill, and the Murder. There are a lot of feral cats living in the old textile mill in her hometown of Mercy, SC, and Jillian has volunteered to help relocate them. But she and the man who runs the local cat shelter do not expect to find a homeless woman living in the mill. She seems very mentally disturbed, talking about not being able to leave the mill because the fireplace there is a holy place. When Jillian talks to get best friend, Candace, a deputy for the sheriff’s department in love with forensics, Candace recognizes the woman, Jeannie, as someone who went missing 10 years earlier, several months after her high school age daughter, Kay Ellen, disappeared. The next day, they return to the mill to find Jeannie lying in pain with a broken hip. While Jeannie goes into surgery, the police excavate the fireplace, where they find the skeleton of Kay Ellen.

As the police work this cold case, they can’t reach Penelope, the town councilwoman, so Jillian goes to her house, only to find her body beaten brutally to death. With a small police department, Mercy doesn’t have the resources to devote to two cases at the same time, so the case of Kay Ellen gets pushed to the back burner, leaving Jillian and her special friend, Tom, a former big-city homicide detective turned private security expert, to look into the case.

This book has a really compelling plot that kept me drawn to it and made me want to keep listening without putting it down. I love the character of Jillian, who gets involved in cases not because she likes to investigate but because she has a large heart and genuinely wants to help other people and cats. I also appreciate the way all the characters in the book are painted vividly and with great detail. The character of Jeannie is someone I could really picture and have real empathy for.

I really loved the narration of Vanessa Johannson, who reads this series in such a way as to bring it to life. Jillian, the narrator of the series, is described by everyone as the nicest person they know, and Johansson embodies niceness in her performance as Jillian. But she also does great voices for other people in the series, especially making Jeannie sound old and traumatized by her experiences. I also really like the way Johannson gives voice to a particularly nasty woman, making her come across as especially terrible.

I have loved every book by Leann Sweeney so far, and The Cat, the Mill, and the Murder did not disappoint. Sweeney clearly did a lot of research into textile mills and the total discrimination that mill workers underwent, seen as “white trash.” The book has a lot of interesting details to go along with a fascinating plot. I give this book five stars!