After a night of tending to new born, at-risk kittens, Jillian accompanies Candace to Robin’s, (the most protective mother on earth), house to investigate a stolen cow. This leads Jillian to a professor’s house where dozens of cats are housed in deplorable cells. When she returns to attempt to rescue the cats, she finds the professor dead in his house, apparently poisoned and some of the cats no longer in their cages. 

Being a cat lover and being friends with Candace, Jillian can’t help but get caught up in the investigation and quickly learns how little care people can give to cats and the quality of their lives when large sums of money are involved. At the same time, as Jillian and Tom’s relationship progresses, she must watch her back. If the professor’s murderer isn’t just behind her, than Lydia is, trying to make sure that the relationship never gets off the ground.  

This is the second book in the “Cats in Trouble” series, and more attention is paid to character development. Jillian has a stepdaughter, with whom she had a difficult relationship while married, and from whom she has been mostly estranged since her husband’s death. When the young woman shows up on Jillian’s door, homeless and jobless and with a chip on her shoulder, Jillian and Tom, working independently and together, work to help this young woman and help her establish a new relationship with Jillian. 

Jillian and Candace have developed a strong relationship and in spite of the age difference between the two women (Jillian is almost 20 years Candace’s senior) they are always there for each other for midnight cat-watches or cow stakeouts. Jillian’s three rambunctious cats, Merlot, Chablis and Syrah, also add to the atmosphere. The professor’s murder is not that hard to figure out, there are plenty of clues to point readers in the right direction, but the characters and friends Jillian makes along the way and the care she gives to the cats she encounters, will make her a fast favorite.                                                  

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry