The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse

A Cats in Trouble Mystery, Book 1

By: Leann Sweeney

Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson

Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Recently widowed Jillian Hart is rebuilding a life for herself and her three beloved cats - Chablis, Syrah, and Merlot - as a quilter in a small South Carolina town. The quilts she makes are for cats as smart, special, and sweet as her own, and business is thriving.

But when she returns from an overnight quilting show, she discovers Chablis sneezing - and since Chablis is allergic to humans, that can only mean one thing: Someone has broken into her house. When she realizes her Abyssinian, Syrah, is missing, Jillian suspects catnapping.

Spurred by Chablis and Merlot’s mournful meowing, she investigates - and discovers more missing cats and a murder. Now she’s got to save more than one cat in trouble - not to mention herself.

©2009 Leann Sweeny (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Surprisingly good

I'm not a cat fan. I also thought the premise of the story was far fetched. However, the mystery plot was actually intriging. It was fast paced and very entertaining. The characters were also likeable and that added to the overall enjoyment of the story. I recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers and cat lovers.

An easy read, full of fluff.

Ok so this isn't an award winning crime of the century type novel. But I'm not always interested in books that make my head spin. This was cute, full of fluff and a no brainier. But sometimes entertainment is just, well, entertaining.
I purchased this book to listen to on a plane trip. It was amusing although the characters are very bland. But trust me, they will offend no one! Even the villain in this book is like able.
Will I buy the next book in the series? Maybe. Because sometimes you just don't want to think too hard.

Amusing, but

I realize to have the plot work, some characters have to do stupid things, but I was disappointed the main character did so many stupid things, esp. in the beginning ... seemed inplausible to me.

Too light for comfort

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Maybe when I re-read it for the third time. Too many unnessicary words. As it is I had to keep going bad to figure out what part a specific character played in the storyline. I had to go back to find out the association between the bad guy and the heroine.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

This would have been better as a shorter book. I'll bet in an abridge version it would be good. I just don''t do abridge. So....Too many words not enough story.

What three words best describe Vanessa Johansson’s performance?

Wimpy, Wimpy, Wimpy...... I thought the main character was at least twenty years younger than the age the book says by the voice of the narrator. The reader is too young in voice. She sounds like a teen. It throws you off.

Do you think The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

As we know there are many more in the series. It has to loose that wimp factor. Easy no think book. No challange.

Nice Cozy Mystery

This was a surprisingly nice cozy mystery to listen to that revolved around cats. Occasionally there was something Texas mentioned that perked the ears attention. The narration grated on my nerves from time to time but I made it through. This is definitely not a summer blockbuster oozing with top awards BUT it was entertaining and did the job it was supposed to do. . .take me away for a bit.

Incredibly obnoxious narrator

This book was fluff. There is nothing wrong with fluff. But the narrator was snarky with a single mood for the protagonist, a single voice/accent for all the female secondary characters and a single voice/accent for all of the male characters. The fluffy substance of the book could not overcome the deficiencies of the narrator. If I ever pick up another book in this series, it will be in print.

Very Good Whodunnit Story

I was actually surprised at how much I liked this book. The story is complex and interesting, and the fact that it had cats as central characters in the story worked nicely and added interest to a cat fan like myself.

Slow moving

Any additional comments?

I kept wishing she would just get on with it. Good story with a sense of future events but I don't believe I will sit through another.

A strong intro to a great series

In The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse by Leann Sweeney, Jillian Hart comes home from an overnight conference to find that someone has broken into her home, with her Abyssinian cat, Syrah, missing. The senior officer in the police team that responds looks upon Jillian with scorn for her frantic response to having lost her cat, but the younger officer, Candace, jumps with enthusiasm into the case, collecting all the forensic evidence she can find and developing a friendship with Jillian. The narrator, Jillian only moved to Mercy, South Carolina a year earlier in a relocation to her and her husband’s dream home when he suddenly died right after they arrived, leaving Jillian isolated and virtually friendless for months until this incident, which has forced her to make friends in order to survive and also to solve the mystery.

It takes only a few days before Jillian finds the man who has stolen Syrah, but there’s one problem: He is dead with a knife in his chest! Just as she goes searching for Syrah and other cats that seem to fill the house, Tom, the private investigator who installed Jillian’s security system, finds her there, leading to Jillian’s becoming a temporary suspect until the beauty queen assistant coroner rules her out for lack of any blood on her clothing or person.

Jillian is certain that this crime is related to the cats that the man has stolen, but despite her best efforts and those of Candace, police chief Mike Baca thinks very little of this theory and persists in the belief that this is all about money, which leads him to point the finger at the murdered man’s estranged daughter. Certain that her new friend has not committed this murder and further determined to prove the connection to cats, Jillian gets involved in trying to solve this murder herself and with the help of her cats.

This book was really enjoyable and well-written. The characters come to life, making me feel that I know each one. I could connect to Jillian in her earliest stages of emerging from her grief over the loss of her husband and her need to find new friends. Each of these friends also has a distinct character. The plot takes interesting twists and turns, and the conclusion was full of excitement.

The audio version is narrated by Vanessa Johansson, who does an enjoyable job of reading this book. She handles a number of accents deftly. As a native Californian, I am no expert on Southern accents. Is Texan considered Southern? The narrator hails from Texas, and I would have expected her to have a much stronger accent than that used in the audio book. I don’t know about the different accents found in South Carolina, but to this woman born in Hollywood, the ones used by Johansson came across as realistic.

I really enjoyed listening to The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse and found it very helpful at distracting me from the migraine I’ve been suffering from, giving me something to enjoy. I would encourage people to read this book and give it five stars!

Very entertaining

This was a interesting and enjoyable book. It kept me guessing and interested to the end. Looking forward to reading more of her books.