Grace, Jack & Magical Cats Cozy: Mystery Boxed Set, Volume 1

By: Mary Matthews

Narrated by: Sheila Book

Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Limited time bargain price!

Grab a special boxed set featuring romantic detectives, Grace and Jack, and their magical cats.

Magical white cat Tatania helps her human operatives solve mysteries without missing a nap.

In Splendid Summer, when Grace Wentworth loses her last living relative and all her money, hot Detective and WWI Aviator Jack Brewster gets the case. Grace is learning to lead her own life instead of just following it around. Startled by Grace's lack of deference to him, Jack recognizes his romantic equal.

In Emeralds, Diamonds and Amethysts, Jack, Grace, and magical Tatania battle bootleggers to find a special collection of jewels. Emeralds, Diamonds, and Ametheysts is about a code known only to women who fight for the rights of all women.

One reviewer called A Christmas Feral a story that would do Charles Dickens proud. Judge Scrooge won't even heat his home for Christmas in this Roaring Twenties' short story. Judge Scrooge says that when you pay the bill, you don't feel the cold. When Judge Scrooge rules incorrectly in a cat dispute, Tatania and her companion Zeus teach him the meaning of keeping Christmas and cats.

In Cher Ami, two people drop dead within minutes of each other. They appear unrelated. Grace, Jack, Tatania and Zeus reveal the story of Cher Ami, a WWI carrier pigeon with the heart of a lion. With his heart still beating in a badly wounded body, Cher Ami soared above bullets and saved a lost battalion.

©2012 Mary Frances Matthews (P)2013 Mary Frances Matthews

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The background of language used for a "proper and well brought up woman" in 1920s was sadly neglected. Basic interaction between opposite sexes was poor

Grace,Jack and Magical Cats cozy set

I listened to the whole boxed set.It was good.Not great.I liked the last story best.Shelia Book was an ok narrator.Again ,not great.More practice maybe? I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.' 

Not bad

This was a good listen, it is set in Coronado California in the 1920. I did enjoy Titania the magical cat.

Don't bother

Narration was just awful. Repeated several paragraphs in the story but changed for instance the $ amount of a gift or different scenario for same instance. Almost like the book was never poof read properly.

Mysteries + Cats = 5 star ratings

***As always, I have to state that I was given this book for free in exchange for a review.
I never let the fact that I was given this book for free effect or sway my opinion in my review. My reviews are always my own opinion and thoughts on the books that I review.***

This was a box set, so you know I am always down for a few good reads all combined into one! I loved three of the stories but I didn't like A CHRISTMAS FERAL very much. Other than having Tatania using magic and an extremely brief inclusion of Jack and Grace, having Dicken's wonderful story altered in order to try and make it fit into the overall storyline seemed both forced and false.

The other three books were thoroughly enjoyable and I found them to be fast-paced, light, quick and warmhearted. Jack and Grace (and Tatania and Zeus, the magical, completely adorable cats) were extremely lovable characters with well-developed, three-dimensional personalities. The dialogues were crisp, sparkling, and authentic to the time period. (I'm quite well-versed in history but I hadn't known that many buildings had separate doors for men and women so learning about that was a real surprise.) I was really captivated by the marvelous imagery which made it very easy for me to immerse myself in the story. These books gave me a lot of smiles.

Overall, this boxed set is a wonderful series that I am very glad that I read. I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes detective stories with romance, fantasy, and pussycats threw in.

I'm trying to finish the first book!

Would you try another book from Mary Matthews and/or Sheila Book?

I don't know. I truly think both the author and the narrator could use more practice. They seem to be fighting each other!

Who was your favorite character and why?

So far, my favorite characters are the cat and the horse! Nun said.

Would you be willing to try another one of Sheila Book’s performances?

If I finish the first book, I might attempt the second. I want to enjoy the story but the characters don't seem to be telling their own stories.

Was Grace, Jack & Magical Cats Cozy: Mystery Boxed Set, Volume 1 worth the listening time?

Still not sure.

Great Box Set!

Grace, Jack & Magical Cats is a great box set by Mary Matthews. The stories are original and fun. I loved the setting of 1920's Coronado island. The characters, cats included, intrigued me. The narration by Sheila Book was fine. The production of the audiobook was lacking. I heard many doublets of phrases while listening. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review.

P,I,s, Cats and the Roaring Twenties

I enjoyed all four of these stories about a romanticly involved pair of private detectives and the magical cats who help them.
They're short, sweet and a whole lot of fun,

Fun with cats and detectives

These are the first four adventures of Grace Wentworth, Jack Brewster, and their "magical cats," Titania and Zeus.

These stories are just pure fun,and work best if you don't worry about how that cats do what they do. Beyond saying that they are magical, there is no explanation attempted. If you've lived with cats, though, that can be explanation enough. Most of us who have are pretty sure they can teleport, at the least.

The time is the 1920s, the place is Coronado Island, California. It's the Roaring Twenties, and Prohibition, and most people think the economic boom will go on forever.

This is just a lot of fun, despite some of the events,and what the reader or listener knows is not too far off in the future. It's a real blow for Grace to learn that her uncle, her sole surviving family, has been murdered. Uncle Charles' unpleasant wife, Aunt Alice, is nevertheless set on doing her duty by Grace, until Grace makes it clear that she's not going to fall in line with Alice's (pretty conventional for the era) plan that well-born Grace should return to New York, or possibly Europe, with her and marry well-born money.

Grace is more set on finding Uncle Charles' killer, getting better acquainted with Pinkerton detective Jack Brewster, and becoming a detective herself.

The next two stories recount their first two cases after Charles' death and the formation of their own detective agency, Wentworth & Brewster. The fourth is the story of the unpleasant and unhappy Judge Scrooge, with Titania and Zeus standing in for the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

This isn't to be taken seriously at all. Just enjoy it!

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

Not the best

This is a good set but I’m not sure I would recommend it. You should try for yourself because you never know.