Rating: 3.5
A New Beginning: A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery by Courtney McFarlin has so much potential in the overall series storyline and engaging characters that I wish I actually enjoyed the book more.
Initially, how McFarlin started to develop her character and her initiation into the small town of Timber Falls, Colorado was a terrific setup.
Olivia Sutton is fleeing Portland, a failed marriage, a recently remarried ex, and lots of memories. She’s made arrangements to buy a bookstore in a small town in Colorado she’s never seen from a woman she’s only talked to on the phone.
She’s got a doubting best friend in Portland telling her to return, and all her belongings packed in her car. Right away I’m invested in this woman who desperately wants a new beginning.
She’s met with drama, murder and a mystery. And a town of strangers, some of whom slowly become friends.
Especially a small group of older women, who I just adore. They rank high as some of the best characters and aspects of the story.
Then there’s Millie, the cat she adopts.
This is the element I feel derailed the book for me.
Take Millie away or change certain parts of this cat’s “personality” and we continue to have a really good mystery series set in a believable place, filled with credible characters a reader can connect with.
Add in Millie, the woowoo factor and you’ll find, imo, a story at odds with itself. Both an emotional journey and interesting mystery series or an over the top “woowoo” tale that rides the line of goofy talking cat from outer space or whatever. Honestly, that element gave me a narrative whiplash when it popped up, because it was so unexpected in the way the author introduced it.
Anyway, for me, Millie kept taking me away from the story and developing relationships with the other characters. Just odd. So much that I’m probably not going forward with the rest of the series .
Check it out and decide for yourself if this is something you might enjoy.
A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery (5 book series):
A New Beginning #1
Stacked Against Us #2
Volume of Lies #3
Poison Pen #4
The Plot Thickens #5
Buy link
A New Beginning: A Millie the Miracle Cat Cozy Mystery
Blurb
Olivia Sutton just moved to Timber Falls, a little town hidden in the mountains of Colorado, with the goal of starting fresh and leaving her past firmly in the rearview mirror. She’s got a plan and some hard-earned savings. How hard could starting over be?
While she’s scouting locations to start a new bookstore, she discovers a bedraggled stray cat, and something far more sinister.
Will the people in her newly claimed hometown believe she’s innocent? Is she losing her grip on reality or is her new cat capable of strange things?
Join Olivia and Millie the Cat as they work together to save Olivia’s reputation, find a killer, and begin living their new lives.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 