Thank you to NetGalley, Cate Conte, and St. Martin's Paperbacks for providing this advance readers copy of the book. Below is my honest review.

When you don't have a dead body until the 50% mark then it's not much of a mystery. Taking that long to set up the big event was tedious and not enjoyable. I had to stop myself from skipping around at first but later I did just that. I had lost interest and didn't care who-done-it. There wasn't much of the cafe or cats; JJ was an afterthought. In the first few chapters there were instances of repeating information a couple of times, it was like listening to an elderly relative tell the same story every family reunion. Maddie spent a lot of time going from one place to another and then to another, with nothing getting finished, it's exhausting. The Christmas events were a mess and I found it hard to believe that that many people could have done so little work. I didn't see the twist coming, all the people involved hadn't had much interaction. I will say that death by Christmas lights was an interesting way to kill off Donna.

#NetGalley #CateConte #ShockandPaw #CatCafeMysterySeries #St.Martin'sPaperbacks #mystery #murdermystery

As someone who has read previous books in this series, I found that this was consistent with established characters and setting. I was disappointed the murder was not revealed until half way through the book, when it would have been more interesting to read it in first quarter of the story. Also, not enough about happenings in cat cafe. Great title of book.. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Shockandpaw for advanced digital copy.

Maddie James had a busy autumn. She is the co-owner of Daybreak Island’s cat café, JJ’s House of Purrs. She runs the cat half, and her business partner Ethan runs the coffee shop half. They’ve found a lot of success, despite the island being small and the tourists mostly come during the warmer months. But they had a big celebration for Halloween, that Maddie had helped put together, and they were wanting to bring more tourists over for Christmas too. There is a bazaar with local artisans and a big competition for the best Christmas lights.

Maddie had begged off from helping, since she had done so much at Halloween. She just wants to decorate their home and the café and enjoy the holiday with her family and friends. But when her grandfather falls off the ladder while fixing their lights, Maddie had to jump in and take more of the responsibility. And when she finds out that he had fallen off the ladder because he’d gotten shocked, Maddie is incensed. The electrician had been hired by the city council to help hang lights all over town, and he had clearly done a poor job.

Maddie takes over the decorating duties, buying trees and finding another electrician to fix the lights. And she jumps in to help organize the bazaar, since they were clearly in need of assistance. The Christmas festivities seem a little chaotic, but Maddie’s skills get them back on track pretty quickly. But when the town’s newspaper editor and partial owner, Donna, turned up dead, with Christmas lights wrapped around her, Maddie knows she’ll have to organize more than just some Christmas activities. She’ll have to work to find a killer, especially since her best friend Becky is a reporter for the paper and ends up on the police’s suspect list.

And if that’s not enough for Maddie to deal with, she has to try to keep her grandfather in the wheelchair until his ankle heals, and there are flyers up in town advertising “designer” cats that are hypo-allergenic and hyper-expensive. As the owner of a cat café where she rescues and rehomes cats, Maddie is strongly against cat breeders. She does understand that some people can’t take home the usual cats that show up at a rescue, but Maddie thinks this breeder is going too far. Donna had bought a cat from the breeder. She’d been arguing with the same electrician who had put up the lights that had shocked her grandfather. And there had been talk of the other owner wanting to sell the newspaper, which Donna was against.

There is no shortage of suspects in Donna’s death. But can Maddie figure out who the killer is before they kill again? And can she figure it out soon enough to rescue Christmas?

Shock and Paw is the eighth book in Cate Conte’s charming Cat Café Mystery Series, and this cat-centered series is full of furry friends and small town warmth. Maddie and her friends and family work together to keep the café up and running, to take care of the cats, and to support each other through life changes, business struggles, and a little bit of sleuthing when a murder gets too close. Although the real star of the series is JJ, the cat who rides through town like a local hero.

I really enjoy these mysteries, and Shock and Paw is no exception. I love the cats and the café, and the closeness of this town’s citizens keeps me coming back for more. These characters are kind and supportive, and they work together to fight the crime that infiltrates their town. This mystery is well-written and compelling, and did I mention that there are cats? Love the cats!

Egalleys for Shock and Paw were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

As the Christmas Extravaganza draws near, the residents of Daybreak Harbor are feeling the pressure from both the festivities and the Christmas lights contest. Maddie, renowned for her organizational skills, has decided to sit this one out, dedicating her time to her cat rescue and cat café instead. However, she soon finds herself roped into tidying up the chaotic preparations. To complicate matters, two of her friends are dealing with significant issues.

The first half of this book skillfully sets up the murder mystery, weaving together multiple characters and keeping me constantly guessing about the who and the what. Although, the twists and turns at the end were completely unexpected and took me by surprise. "Shock and Paw," the eighth book in the Cat Cafe Mystery series is a winner.

Shock and Paw by Cate Conte brings the holiday cheer with two crazy mysteries.

Is Donna Carey really selling the business? What is happening with this mysterious cat breeder?

Maddie James
Maddie James is getting ready to celebrate Christmas the right way with her family. By not being a part of any event committees or anything like that for her. Well, until her mom ropes her into helping out at the last minute. Maddie is already juggling many balls, preparing the house for the Christmas Lights competition, manning her cafe, and enjoying the holiday spirit. Plus, trying to figure out who sells high-end cat breeds there on the island.

I have to say that I like Maddie. She tries not to give in to investigating but ends up giving in anyway.

The Mystery
Katrina, Maddie's friend and animal control officer, gets her involved in solving one mystery. That mystery happens to be who on the island or off the island is trying to sell expensive cats during the holiday season. Katrina dislikes people who do that and wants to see justice done.

The other mystery that Maddie gets roped into solving is Donna Carey's murder, and we learn a lot about her. Donna has made a lot of enemies, and she doesn't seem to care toward the end of her life. I totally didn't see how everything was getting wrapped up until it did.

Five Stars
I am giving five stars to Shock and Paw by Cate Conte and recommending it to all cozy mystery lovers. Ms. Conte wrote a nice one for the holiday season. Shock and Paw by Cate Conte is also my first book by this author, and I truly enjoyed it. Maddie, JJ, and everyone else made me laugh at some of their antics. Even when I wasn't reading this book, I thought about it a lot and tried to put together the clues in my head. I completely fell for the red herring.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Shock and Paw by Cate Conte.

Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out Baroness Book Trove.

I love this series. I think a cat café is so fun. I love Maddie’s love of cats and the relationship she has with her grandpa. I didn’t have this one figured out, but I loved the story and the characters. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

Maddie runs a bake shop and cat cafe on her hometown island. When her best friend gets upset about a cat breeder selling on the island she steps up to stop them. Murder soon follows and makes it more dangerous. Good cozy mystery and one I highly recommend.

Reading Shock and Paw was so entertaining, it really put me in the holiday spirit.
Maddie and friends are getting ready to decorate for the holiday decorating competition, but things turn bad quickly when Maddie's best friend Becky finds a dead body.
Not only is Maddie trying to help Becky, she's trying to find out who is hanging signs all over town, advertising the sale of exotic cats.
This is a whirlwind story that kept me on the edge of my seat, I enjoyed every page.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

Maddie finds herself free of all extra curricular commitments for the holiday season. Until her mother ropes are in to helping with the town’s Christmas activities, she finds herself trying to find out about someone selling exotic cats on the island, and when she works, to clear her BFFs name in the murder of the local newspaper owner.

It seems Maddie has a knack for these things, but unlike one of her beloved rescue cats, Maddie doesn’t have nine lives. Well this turn at sleuthing be the one that leaves her as a ghost for Christmases future?

Another solid entry in this New England based cozy mystery series. Set on an island in Vermont, the scenery, water, and plenty of suspects to go around. Why the kitties are what caught my attention, it’s the mystery and each and every entry that keeps me coming back for more.

I really enjoyed being back on Daybreak island with the kitties. I love the quirky town characters and really just enjoyed the storyline and the mystery. The writing is fantastic and hooked me right away. I can't wait to read more from this series.

An entertaining, cozy mystery that will keep you guessing up until the end. Well written with a great plot twist- I recommend this book for a rainy afternoon read!

4.25⭐
It's the holiday season on an island off the coast of Maine and the winter island residents are all in for the Christmas lights house contest, especially as there are $$$ as a prize for the first time. But the town's contracted electrician seems only borderline competent. Lights are not working correctly all over, but when Maddie's grandfather gets zapped was the final straw for her. She had promised herself to leave the organizing to others after the Halloween festival. Then someone is postings ads all over town for special breed cats, even in front of the cat rescue that Maddie runs. And one of the rescue's cats goes missing. That's a lot going on. Then to top it all off, Maddie learns that the owner is planning to sell the town's newspaper where her friend is the editor. This is a continually wonderful series combining two of my loves, cats and cozies into one with exceptionally well-drawn characters and mystery plots that don't disappoint.

3.5 Stars

Maddie James is the proud owner of JJ’s House of Purrs, a cat cafe named after her cherished cat. It’s less than two weeks before Christmas, and the whole town of Daybreak Harbor in New England is excited about the town’s Christmas Lights Contest. Maddie is usually in the middle of all the town’s events, but this time, she’s happy to just be a participant and have more time to enjoy the holidays. However, plans change for Maddie when her mom begs her to step in and organize things for the contest before it ends up being a failure. Then, when Donna Carey, the publisher of the local newspaper, is killed and her best friend becomes a suspect, Maddie puts plans of relaxation aside and begins looking into the murder.

This is the eighth book in the Cat Cafe Mystery series. I’ve read a couple of the earlier books in the series, but it has been a while. I had a hard time keeping up with all the characters and remembering how each person was connected. When Maddie and her friends were able to narrow down the suspects in Donna’s murder, I had to remind myself who they were. This kept me from focusing on the plot, but I’m sure readers who follow the series regularly won’t have the same problem. I would have loved a list of characters at the beginning. Those that stood out were Maddie, her grandfather, her sister, and her boyfriend, but some of the others blended together.

The decorating contest is a fun element for a Christmas-themed cozy and I love how excited Maddie’s grandfather is to participate and how competitive he is. Maddie and others keep finding advertisements for designer cats for sale, promoting them as great holiday gifts. That part of the plot, especially regarding potential scams, is interesting and informative. I liked the scenes with Maddie and her boyfriend Lucus, owner of a pet grooming salon, and wish there had been more of them. Instead, we have Maddie being manipulated by several townspeople into taking over their part of the contest planning, including having chairs delivered and putting up decorations. This wasn’t as interesting, and I hated seeing Maddie taken advantage of. When Maddie was at the cafe with the cats, the book interested me more, but there weren’t many scenes there. As a whole, I think this is probably a really fun series. This book on its own had some enjoyable parts but had the potential to be even better. I think fans of the series will enjoy catching up with their favorite characters.

~ Christine

I really enjoyed revisiting the cat cafe series! This book can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend this entire cozy mystery series.

It’s time for the Christmas events on the island, but chaos is swirling around the town’s holiday preparations. Maddie is trying hard not to get involved, but then her mom asks for help and Maddie steps in. There are also posters popping up all over town, advertising fancy cat hybrids for outrageous prices. A stray Maddie found is catnapped and as Maddie investigates, she finds the cat world can be a dangerous place. When Maddie’s friend finds a body and becomes a suspect, Maddie digs into the crime. There are plenty of red herrings for an intriguing mystery, along with family and friends who care for each other…and their animals.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

12 chapters into the book and no mystery, no murder, nothing. It's too much of a regular novel for me and not very interesting at that. I would not recommend to mystery aficionados.

Maddie is busy! There's the cat cafe, the town decorating contest before Christmas, her new relationship, and her family. But someone, is trying to derail all the activities on the island before Christmas. Maddie's grandpa falls from a ladder and must be confined to a wheelchair but that doesn't stop him from helping Maddie solve a murder! Who wanted the publisher of the local paper dead? Is the wannabe electrician guilty of murder or Maddie's best friend? Who is stealing cats and threatening people? Maddie had planned to keep things low key during the holiday season, but it just doesn't happen. Thanks for NetGalley for the arc.

In the eight installment of the Cat Cafe mystery series, Maddie is running her cafe and trying to avoid volunteering for the Christmas carnival committee. The town is furiously getting ready for the lighting contest and bracing for the visitors from the mainland. Grandpa, who takes great pride in his house decorating skills is trying to cope with an incompetent electrician and ends up falling from the ladder. Although not badly injured, he is slightly Incapacitated which throws a monkey wench in all their plans. Maddie feels bad for her overworked Mom and reluctantly joins the planning committee for the festival. As seems to always happen to Maddie, a murder occurs which sends her on a quest to solve it to exonerate her best friend who is under suspicion of the crime. A side adventure is the mystery of a missing designer cat as well as the worry that the crooked breeder of these cats is on the island. With the help of her friends and family, Maddie eventually ferrets out the murder.er.

This book, which was provided by NetGalley as an early readers copy, was not as enjoyable as the previous ones. While well written with a decent plot line, it just seemed a bit shallow. The characters did not show any advancement in their relationships and there were not too many “bread crumbs” leading to the murderer. But, it would make a quick Christmas read to get you in the holiday spirit. This opinion is purely my own.

A clever cozy mystery. Much more convoluted than expected. I have not read all in the series, but the ones I have are quite interesting and enjoyable. Nice group of characters. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Shock and Paw is book eight in A Cat Cafe Mystery series by Cate Conte.
This was a great book that was expertly plotted.
This series is well written and the cast of characters are quite delightful.
Wonderful characters with great chemistry with each other.
This book makes an excellent addition to the series

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!