Cover Image: The Ice Maid's Tail

The Ice Maid's Tail

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Member Reviews

This is part of a series which I have enjoyed.

This is an amazing and entertaining cozy mystery.
The author writes a good story.
I highly recommend this series

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Another hit with Hettie and Tilly, two sweet cats that solve mysteries. When asked to find some kittens who were lost in a snow storm, they never expected to find a cult of the Ice Maid. A bit creepy at times, but like how the author takes cats and stories of the past and intermingles them. Fun series, although like some of the other books better. Would still recommend the series.

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This one talked too much about religion and was just not as good as the prior reads which I thoroughly enjoyed.

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I LOVE THIS BOOK! If i could give it more than 5 stars i definitely would. I found it so lighthearted and i was really happy to be chosen to read it early. It's a nice easy read that i think anyone can get into. I would recommend giving it to family members for christmas. It's easy to follow and fun. 5/5 from me.

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I found this cosy mystery to be amusing and an extremely light read. Very easy to read, good story and interesting characters all of whom are cats of different sizes and personalities. It also has a fairytale feel.

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The Ice Maid’s Tail by Mandy Morton is about a town gripped by a big freeze. Blizzard after blizzard has engulfed the feline community, leaving shops and businesses snowbound.
The was not my kind of book. It was odd to have all the main characters as cats and I didn’t enjoy the book as a result. There were no humans as characters. Thank you to Net Galley for sending an advance reader’s copy for review.
Hettie Bagshot and her sidekick, Tilly Jenkins, have found sanctuary by their fireside but soon they are bucketed into a terrifying nightmare, called to investigate the disappearance of the town’s kittens as – one by one – they are taken in the snow.

Who are the strange cats living in Wither-Fork Woods?

Will the ancient prophecy of the Ice Maid’s Tail become a reality?

And can Hettie and Tilly defrost the fish fingers in time for tea?

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This book was not what I expected it to be. I am very glad NetGalley send it to me or else I probably never would have read it. I found the story fun to read and having cats as the main characters very entertaining.

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Three kittens have gone missing and it’s up to adult cats Hettie and Tilly to to find them.

I really didn’t know what I was getting into when I started reading this, having not read the rest of the series, however I enjoyed it much more that I thought I would. I found it to be incredibly witty and unique.

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I adore this series! As an owner of livestock and birds ranging from alpacas to zebra finches, with such things as llamas, turkeys, goats and many more in-between, I’m not usually one for anthropomorphic literature at all, being far too matter-of-fact about animals, but these cats are just too cool.
Like the earlier books in this series, we have a feline version of a cosy mystery. Whilst the various characters reflect largely human characteristics, there are subtle, clever feline nuances that creep through. Any cat owner will recognise them! So the use of cats as ‘people’ is not just a gimmick in this author’s hands. Or do I mean paws…
There’s humour, tension, suspense, menace, charm, courage – all the emotions and attributes we expect and love to find in our cosy mysteries. The plot is well constructed and interesting, and the author has a lively, witty, eminently readable style.
Wonderfully enjoyable escapism 

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Ice Maid's Tails is the 8th book in Mandy Morton's 'No. 2 Feline Detective Agency' series. This book sees Hettie, Tilly and the usual band of friends trying to solve the mystery of missing kittens. Hampered by a sudden cold snap which brings deep snow, Hettie and Tilly are faced with some disturbing fairy tales, prickly religious types and trying to find the missing kittens before they succumb to the cold.
The Ice Maid's Tale has all the usual humour and cosy mystery elements that you expect from this series but this book felt a little darker and, at times, more grisly than previous offerings. I enjoyed it more for being that little bit darker and look forward to reading more!

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This book is so cute! It's just purrfect in many ways. The characters have such cute and punny or funny names. I enjoyed every page of this novel. It's a series, but I haven't read the others. This book stands on its own though. These cats are just my style. They are cats who are mirroring humans. If you want a fun mystery read, with lots of laughs and purrfect cuteness, this is it.

My copy came from Net Galley. This review is my own, left of my own choice. Thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

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This is my first time reading this series. The Iced Maid Tails it's the 8 novel in the No. 2 feline detective agency. Hettie and her feline friends are trying to uncover the mystery of 3 missing kitties Camay, Comfort and Windolene.
It was a good book in my opinion but I was surprised many times of how disturbing some parts of the story were. Also I must add that these cats did not stop eating in this story. It was a bit repetitive how much they talked, eat and described different kind of foods.
3 stars for me.
thanks to Netgalley and Duckworth books for providing me with an Arc.

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The sole reason I’m reading this is that all the character are cats. Yes, cats. Walking on two hind legs, tea-sipping, pastry obsessed cats (cat lovers rejoice!). The last time I read anything with animal characters (discounting children’s picture books that I read to my girls, of course) are Narnia Chronicles, Inheritance series (Eragon #1-3) and before these the cacophony of children’s books that I read when my age was in single digits.

So, I’m diving into The Ice Maid’s Tail hoping it’ll be a light and fun read. Since the genre is a cosy mystery, it’s pretty much guaranteed. I wasn’t disappointed; Almost Every scene is punctuated with an overabundance of warm, satisfying, comfort food oozing cosy atmosphere for readers. The author’s writing makes me grab a hot milky drink every time I sit down to read this one.

The premise that our missing kittens are somehow connected to a scary story for kids told through generations is intriguing. Mandy Morton presents one of those mysteries that are like puzzles. The clues are pieces of puzzles that don’t make sense on their own because the key pieces are missing and the author’s holding tightly on to them till the very end. It was quite well done in my opinion. Truly a well crafted (cosy) puzzle.

One little thing; This is not a spoiler but simply part of the scary story told quite early in the book. I was fascinated by the fact that some pretty horrible torture enacted upon kittens is described in this book, considering it’s a cosy. I think by making the characters cartoon-like removes some level of empathy from readers. I say it’s fascinating because I’m not nearly as appalled as I should be, especially considering it involves the harming of young living beings.

Thanks to Duckworth Books for providing me with a copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and are based on the advanced digital review copy.

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It's a little slow and meandering, BUT this book has a tremendous amount of charm and warmth to it. I had no idea I would enjoy a novel with cats as characters, but I really did. I recommend this book to all those looking for a comfort read.

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The Ice Maid’s Tail is the eighth novel in the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency series by British author, Mandy Morton. During the fiercest cold snap in some time, Hettie Bagshot and her friends at the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency are called on by Fluff at Wither-Fork Hall to track down three missing kittens. Fluff has allowed a couple of missionaries, fresh from Africa, to set up an orphanage in the Folly on her estate.

During a break in the blizzard, Hettie, Tilly, Bruiser and Poppa set off through the village on their motorcycle outfit, Miss Scarlet, delivering much needed food parcels from the Butter Sisters Bakery on the way, to discover the circumstances of the disappearance of the three missing little ones. What follows is a cosy mystery involving stolen kittens, a strict religious sect, tales of a murderous nanny, a gypsy, a riddling witch, a benevolent aristocrat, arson, tail docking and a heroic rescue or two.

It all sounds like your typical cosy mystery set in an English village, except that it’s apparently an alternate-reality English village populated by cats. There's actually nothing feline about these characters: they're basically furry, cat shaped humans with claws, paws, whiskers and tails. They behave exactly like humans and don't display any of the behavioural traits that might endear them to cat lovers, nor do they use their feline attributes to help solve their case. At no time does any of them purr. Or wash. The point of them being cats is difficult to fathom.

An attempt is made at humour with character names and some nominative determinism: Lavender Stamp, the postmistress, Turner Page the Librarian, Shroud & Thistle Undertakers; and altered titles of literary works: Agatha Crispy’s Miss Marble; and there is a nod to The Handmaid’s Tale in the title and plot, while the series title clearly parodies a far superior series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. It’s not enough to redeem it from a low rating from a first-time reader, although fans of the series might think so.

The characters take every opportunity to eat, which might a feline attribute, and there are consequently many descriptions of meals. While there is a fairly good story there, the whole uncatlike-cats thing is so distracting that it all has a bizarre feel to it. The eighth book in this series has nothing to entice the reader to explore earlier instalments. It’s not entirely charmless, just weird!
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Duckworth Books.

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TRIGGER WARNING

There is a very dark fairy tale running through this story. The fairy tale describes abuse of kittens by adult cats!

END OF TRIGGER WARNING

Mysteries featuring the Feline Dectective Agency are always enjoyable, and The Ice Maid's Tail certainly doesn't disappoint.

Kittens are missing, and it's up to the detective agency to bring them safely home. It's deep winter, with blizzard conditions, and the friends are searching high and low. The kittens disappeared from an orphanage run on the grounds of the local manor house. Even worse, the kittens weren't actually orphans, but have been stolen from loving families. Will they be found before the awful fairy tale becomes real?

I would recommend this title to anyone who loves cats and cosy mysteries.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free digital copy of this title to review from Net Galley.

#TheIceMaid'sTail#NetGalley

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***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
This is not what I thought it was going to be. I think I misread the description, therefore I did not read this book. Sorry!!

I'm sure cozy mystery lovers will appreciate this though.

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Description
The town is gripped by a big freeze, and blizzard after blizzard has engulfed the feline community, leaving shops and businesses snowbound.

Hettie Bagshot and her sidekick, Tilly Jenkins, have found sanctuary by their fireside but soon they are bucketed into a terrifying nightmare, called to investigate the disappearance of the town’s kittens as – one by one – they are taken in the snow.

Who are the strange cats living in Wither-Fork Woods? Will the ancient prophecy of the Ice Maid’s Tail become a reality? And can Hettie and Tilly defrost the fish fingers in time for tea?

My Review
The Ice Maid’s Tail starts off in the middle of winter as the 8th book in the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency series. What a delightful and quirky novel. Thoroughly enjoyed reading about Hettie and the gang.

A laugh out loud, hilarious novel that is sure you make you smile.

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Oh my meow! What an amazing and absolutely entertaining cozy mystery featuring cats as detectives! Hettie and Tilly, along with Bruiser and Poppa make quite a detective team. Adorable characters (the whole story is about cats living in a cat-town, how cool is that!)
The story also features a fairy 'tail' - The Ice Maid's Tail - my, my, this surely bought shivers down my spine. A fairy tale that is filled with horrendous details - brr!
Mandy Morton is a brilliant author. I am in awe of her storytelling. It goes without saying that she's a true cat lover.
I highly recommend The Ice Maid's Tail and all the other books in this series. No 2 Feline Detective Agency series is a delight for cat lovers like me. Can't wait to see what's next in store for our darling feline detectives, Hettie and Tilly.

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Hettie and Tilly are the No 2 Feline Detective Agency. The twist been this story is written from the point of view of Cats. It’s a clever concept that works and you find yourself just enjoying a really good cozy mystery with missing kittens a snowed in village and a ancient prophecy looking like it’s come back to haunt everyone. I think it’s just the read for a cold cozy afternoon.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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