Jeanne and Treadmill Books: Fat Cat Mysteries by Janet Cantrell

Jeanne is back this week with another in her Treadmill Book Reviews series. This week she is considering the Fat Cat Mysteries by Janet Cantrell. An author who is far better known in these parts as Kaye George.

Treadmill Books: Fat Cat Mysteries by Janet Cantrell

Charity “Chase” Oliver is the proud co-owner of the Bar None, a bakery specializing in bar cookies as well as owner of Quincy, a chubby yellow tabby cat who likes to taste-test.  The first sign of trouble is when the new vet pronounces Quincy to be (gasp!) too fat and puts him on a diet. Neither Chase nor Quincy is enamored of the idea, but Chase decides to give it a try.  A disgruntled Quincy follows his nose to more delectable food, which just happens to be located near the dead body of an unscrupulous business owner with whom Chase has clashed in the past.  Can she clear her name? Can Quincy stick to his diet? Is this going to be a reoccurring theme?

In case it isn’t obvious, the answers are yes, no, and yes.  Most of the book is told from Chase’s point of view, but there are sections in which we see the events from Quincy’s point of view.  I found those sections to be particularly delightful but it’s possible that it would get old fast.  Chase’s business partner in the Bar None shop is Anna, a seventy-something who is also the grandmother of Chase’s best friend.  Other characters are gradually added during the series.

My biggest problem with the series was Chase.  She is supposed to be a 32 year old entrepreneur but she seems more like a teenager: naïve, gullible, thoughtless.  She isn’t unlikeable, but I was frustrated with her at several points. She is also mesmerized by cute guys (another reason I thought she seemed much younger than her supposed age) and doesn’t seem to be able to take charge of her employees.  This doesn’t really improve throughout the books, but I decided to go with the flow instead of wanting to shake some sense into her.  Communication between characters is sadly lacking, setting up situations which fester into problems that could have been solved in five minutes’ worth of conversation. The plots were okay, a bit far-fetched at times.

So why did I keep reading?  I liked Quincy.  I had a fat cat of my own, Melon, and Quincy reminded me very much of him.  It’s entirely possible that I was projecting, but it seemed to me that Quincy had more personality than the human characters. 

As a treadmill book, these didn’t work all that well.  When I was annoyed with Chase, it was too easy to put the book down and wander off.  However, I took Fat Cat Takes the Cake with me on a trip and it was much better as an airport book.

According to the Fat Cat website, the series was discontinued by the publisher. I’ll definitely miss Quincy.  However, the author has several other series under the name Kaye George, including a new Vintage Sweets cozy series.  The other series protagonists include a private investigator, a musician, and (most intriguingly!) a Neanderthal. 

Maybe one of them will have a fat cat . . . well, maybe not the Neanderthal….