Rating: 4.75⭐️
I just love Helen Harper’s The Catherine Lady Chronicles and this might be my favorite book of the series so far.
In A Killer Heart we finally get to explore more of cat sith Kit McCafferty’s history, both her dangerous past and her current life’s work with MET, the Magical Enforcement Team,besides Captain Montgomery.
Kit’s past history as an assassin has often been referenced in other stories but here it’s an integral part of the book. The EEL, or Eagle Enforcers and Liquidators where Kit was employed and later retired from after 20 years as an assassin, is under attack.
And whoever is targeting the people who work or worked there are harming others around them, innocents, as well as. Kit is immediately involved, both as a secretly retired assassin and as someone who is working with the MET, who is investigating the attacks.
This is a great story. Kit is trying to balance her life, her past family as a EEL assassin and her new life in the Coldstream community which she’s embraced. Along with her new lone wolf boyfriend.
Harper is terrific at showing Kit in her multiple identities, cat sith, dangerous assassin , an older woman who’s body is being uncooperative when she needs it most, and the “harmless cat lady “ persona she uses when she’s trying to make herself look like a helpless woman. It always feels credible to the reader, valid and occasionally hilarious.
The cats remain as cat like as ever, intriguing and mysterious. I love them.
The investigation is a good one. And ends satisfactorily.
The book ending however, oh my. An hilarious cliffhanger of sorts. It’s not fair to have to wait until next year to see the outcome of this one!
An absolute delight of a book. Highly recommended. A romantic relationship with no spice is included.
Book Cover created by Covers By Juan
The Cat Lady Chronicles (6 books)
Waif and Strays #1
The Dark Hiss of Magic #2
A Skirl of Sorcery #3
Night Maze #4
A Killer Heart #5
Kith and Kin #6 – April 30, 2027
Buy link
A Killer Heart (The Cat Lady Chronicles Book 5)
Blurb
What happens when the hunters become the hunted?
Kit McCafferty is an upstanding citizen of the magical city of Coldstream.
She’s a good neighbour. She has a fabulous partner, an occasionally tidy home, and only a moderately alarming number of cats. Her days as a professional assassin with Eagle Enforcers and Liquidators are behind her. Or so she thinks.
When Kit volunteers to assist local law enforcement with crowd control, she comes face-to-face with her former life. Someone is trying to destroy EEL — the discreet but deadly firm of assassins she once called home — and they’re not concerned about collateral damage. They’re willing to raze Coldstream to the ground to finish the job.
Whoever is targeting EEL knows its inner workings and its secrets. Kit’s old friends and colleagues, as well as the citizens of Coldstream, are at risk. To stop blood from spilling onto the city’s glittering streets and shadowed alleyways, Kit must decide who she is now – a heroic citizen determined to protect her city or a stone cold killer.
Walking away from her past might not be an option.
This is the fifth book in the urban fantasy series The Cat Lady Chronicles. Expect magic, adventure and a whole lot of cats.
September 18, 2026
Language
English
Print length
288 pages
Book 5 of 6
