The Fat Cat Takes the Cake Review

For those of you that know me, I love to read.  I typically read a few books a week and I try to balance reading plenty of books I love with books for school.  I was so excited when I was able to receive a book in exchange for a book review, this has been a goal of mine for sometime. Below you will find my review and a picture with Abby reading the book. 

Fat Cat Takes the Cake by Janet Cantrell

After reading the first two books in the Fat Cat Mystery series by Janet Cantrell I was eager to read the third installment in the series.  Quincy, the tabby cat in this series, is known for walking off, exploring, and discovering a mystery in the making, specifically dead bodies.  Quincy also shares his thoughts in a sometimes first person, sometimes third person narrations in italics.  If you are like me and love animals, perhaps sometimes thinking about what they say, then you’ll love to read Quincy’s thoughts and actions. 

The book opens with Chase Oliver, co-owner of the Bar None dessert bar shop and owner of Quincy, being invited to her high school reunion.  The reunion, held at a non-traditional year after graduation, is hosted by Richard “Dickie” Byrd and is an event to gather support for his run for mayor.  At this event, Chase and her friend Julie meet old friends, classmates, and faculty.  The next day Quincy and Chase, out on a walk, discover one of Chase’s old classmates dead.  Throughout Chase’s search for the killer she also reconnects with Eddie Heath, an old classmate and crush, and she has a moral conflict in terms of her spending time with Eddie and how it will affect things with her veterinarian love interest Dr. Michael Ramos.  At the same time as Chase is being a sleuth to try to keep her friend Julie off the suspect list, Anna, the other co-owner of Bar None is competing in a baking competition and planning her wedding.

Fat Cat Takes the Cake is a fun continuation of this series.  Janet Cantrell gives enough backstory that you can jump right in to the series and understand who the characters are.  I really enjoy the unique setting of the book, Dinkytown, a college town in Minneapolis.  I think this provides a great place for future mysteries and lots of fun characters that come in to Bar None.  Janet Cantrell features a recipe at the end of the book of a new Bar that Chase and Anna are currently featuring in their shop.  I found this third book to be is easier to follow, the plot on the previous two books were a little difficult to follow.  If you found this to be an issue I would recommend giving Fat Cat Takes the Cake a shot and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Cantrell also sets up this mystery with an interesting back story that even if you are not a fan of cats, like Quincy (but how could you not be), you’ll be drawn in to the other characters, plot, and the character’s personal lives which are interesting sub plots. 


I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

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