A psychic, an island all gussied up for Halloween, and a cat parade --- what could be better?

The Halloween festivities kick off with a bang when a dead body is discovered at the base of the rocky cliffs below the island's lighthouse on the spookiest week of the year. But that's not all - there's two 40-year-old mysteries to solve, a missing cat to find, and a modern-day killer to trap. The absolute epitome of small-town, generation-spanning mystery, Nine Lives and Alibis by Cate Conte is an atmospheric cozy with an enchanting setting and endearing characters.

As everyone in Daybreak Harbor scurries around getting ready for Halloween, our regular cast of characters is busy making some BIG changes in their home and community. The big event for this year's Halloween event is a physic who seems to be the real deal and that's a problem for someone. As in all cozy mysteries, clues are well hidden and the bad guy will get what he deserves in the long run. This was a fast, fun read for me. If you love cozies and cats, this one should be on your TBR list.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I have enjoyed all the books of the series. How could I not? Maddie runs a cat cafe and rescue and her feline partner, JJ, helps her solve crimes. Things are going to be quite busy around the island. Lucas, Maddie’s boyfriend is moving into the house that includes her sister and her significant other, her grandfather and all the cats. And a local boy made good, psychic Balfour and his black cat Balfour Jr. are arriving for the big Halloween festival where he will be doing readings.

The fact is Balfour is the real deal and he is getting some definite vibes about a forty year old cold case. He is not aware that he has a closer connection than he ever imagined and it puts him in deadly danger. Often in cozies the deceased is a villain in their own right. Balfour is a really nice, caring and generous guy who loves his kitty. There is a lot of pathos in his demise.

Thanks to Maddie and JJ the truth comes out and the killers are revealed. But not before there are lots of twists and a really compelling mystery. It is one of those books where the reader can have suspicions but not until the finale does the entire picture emerge. Five purrs and two paws up.

Love cozy mysteries and this was a great story.I’m not much of a cat person but it kept the story interesting. There was lots of mystery and intrigue. This was a great one and even if you didn’t read the others it’s easy to follow.

Even though I’m savouring these last days of summer before Labour Day, this cozy mystery has some serious sweater weather vibes, which is making me think about crisp walks, fresh apples and early sunsets at the lake.

In the 7th installment of the Cat Café series, it’s October in Daybreak Harbor and the town is working hard to one-up the neighboring town of Salem with their festivities.

This book features:
🕸️a local haunted inn
🕸️a missing black cat
🕸️a murder that could be straight out of a Halloween movie

Daybreak Island is getting ready for their Halloween event. They are having famous local medium Balfour Dempsey come for the event. Maddie James and Becky are in charge of the advertisement. Becky wants Balfour to look into the two Cold cases that are involved with the local inn. When a body is discovered at the bottom of the cliffs. Maddie and the local PD must try to find out if the Cold cases and the current murder. Are they connected?

I really enjoyed this mystery especially the cold cases. It's crazy to think that 40 years ago was the 1980s. I loved the tie-ins with Violet the crystal girl. I'm excited to read more of this series.

Here is the latest and seventh title in the cozy/traditional series by Cate Conte. It will be enjoyed by those who already read her stories, cat lovers and those who are fans of murders that lack graphic violence, have good settings, good characters and an enjoyable story to tell.

It’s fall and lots is going on in the small town where the story is set. Who killed a medium (and one who had a black cat)? What connection does this have to a busybody, an old murder and others in the town who are close to protagonist/sleuth Maddie? Readers will enjoy finding out in this fun title.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

I enjoy the characters. The setting is someplace I wouldn't mind living. The mystery kept me guessing and I look forward to more by this author.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley for the Arc!

Cate Cafe? Check
The very definition of a Cozy Mystery Novel? Check
The small-town fall vibes of Gilmore Girls with a hint of Halloweentown? CHECK

This Cozy Mystery was everything I was hoping for and more! It has the perfect vibes and aesthetic. I love JJ, I have nothing more on that.
But I loved this book. I loved that it made us meet and understand all the characters involved WELL before a body is discovered. You couldn't even tell who's body would get found until it happened! It didn't really affect the pacing, nothing felt too slow or too rushed, and the action was well sandwiched between conversation scenes. I had my theories as I read that constantly changed and even I couldn't guess the outcome until a page before the reveal.
Please, if you love Halloween, cat cafes (who doesn't tbh), small-town vibes, and psychics check this one out!

This is the seventh book in the series, but the first I’ve read and I really enjoyed it. The Halloween theme is my favorite and this story did not disappoint. When a psychic comes home to solve a cold case, but is murdered, Maddie jumps in to figure out what happened to him. This story was enjoyable to read and I will be going back to read the other stories in this series!

Well-written and nicely-paced cozy mystery. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the location. Plus it's set around Halloween! It's the first book I've read in the series (this is book seven), but I was able to follow along without any problem. I plan to go back and read at least the first book and the sixth book.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor or expectation.

I enjoyed the story but what was this publisher thinking with this book title? It is a Halloween story.
So easy to insert the word scary or spooky in the title and it would have been a huge improvement.
Otherwise, looking forward to next book in the series. Thanks to #NetGalley and #NineLivesAndAlibis for advanced digital copy.

Nine Lives and Alibis
(Cat Cafe 7)
Cate Conte



Cate Conte also known as Liz Mugavero, is the author of three series. Cat Cafe, Full Moon, and Pawsitively Organic Mystery series.


This is the 7th Cat Cafe mystery. It is set on a strand of islands in Massachusetts, similar to the Florida Keys with the largest being Daybreak.

The Inn at Lighthouse Point on Daybreak is where our murder mystery takes place. Maddie James, has a double murder to solve, thanks to her youngest sister Sam. One murder has been unsolved for 40 years! The other murder is of the famous psychic Balfour Dempsey, who claimed to know what really happened that long ago evening. His untimely demise leaves Maddie, her family, and friends rushing to figure out the mystery before any other deaths can be added to the town's tally!

While not fast-paced, this story moved at a good clip from start to finish. It is a solid mystery without any gratuitous violence or profanity. Considering this is book seven in the series I happily never felt lost or out of the loop. This book and its mystery stood on its own, so it can definitely be read as a “first” book without any concerns. While I personally found some of Maddie’s behaviors to be mildly annoying, I enjoyed this story enough that I will pick up the prior release Gone but Not Furgotten, and look for book eight. 4.5 stars



Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.
#Netgalley #NineLivesandAlibis #Cate Conte #cozy #mystery #CatCafe #LizMugavero #2023

This is the first book I read by Cate Conte. I'm sure I should have read the other books before this one but I still felt like I fell into place just fine. I will be getting the first book and catch up. I though this was a captivating read, I love cozy mysteries, especially holiday ones, this is a really good mystery. I would definitely recommend this book to fellow mystery lovers. I can't wait to read more.


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

Cate Conte is a favorite author and I was beyond excited to have been selected to read an advanced copy of the book from NetGalley and the publisher.
This serious well written and the cast of characters are quite delightful. This book makes an excellent addition to the series, and the mystery includes a recent murder, and a cold case.
My attention was captured from the beginning and when it ended it was as if I was saying bye to a friend.

This is my first book in an ongoing series so I'm expecting to have some issues with figuring out the who is who and how they're connected. What I'm really focusing on as I read this was am I enjoying the characters, writing style, and setting enough to merit going back and reading the rest of the series. In this case the answer is whole-heartedly yes.

There are a number of moving parts in this book with several incidents taking place years in the past. I really liked that the author used newspaper articles to inform the reader about the past events. That relayed the information clearly without ever having to sink into over explaining and dialogue heavy passages.

I had no problem immediately pulled into the story. I liked Maddie and her sisters and loved the cat café setting. There's a good community feel that I'm sure gets better the more you read in the series. My only minor gripe is that nothing really starts happening mystery-wise until about a third of the way into the story and I was starting to get a bit impatient with that.

Overall, I enjoyed this new to me cozy series and am excited to go back and pick up the first book of the series. If you like a small town cozy with a feline sidekick this a fun read to pick up.

I love cozy mysteries and this one being a holiday one really hit the spot. This is the 7th book in the Cat Cafe Mystery Series. The town of Daybreak Harbor is putting on their Halloween Festival. They have asked a medium, that grew up in the town, to be the featured guest. When he arrives, Maddie isn't to sure about him. She's a skeptic. Soon she gets thrown into a murder mystery, and with the festival going on, as little time. The case involves a new murder, a murder from 40 years ago, and a missing person from 40 years ago. There's a lot of suspects and Maddie isn't sure about anything with the case.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries, you need to read this series. Though the cats aren't as prominent as past books.

Tentative Publishing Date August 22, 2023.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Conte for the E-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

😊 Happy Reading 😊

#netgalley
#stmartinspress
#cateconte
#ninelivesandalibis
#serieslove2023

A great little mystery for the cat lover in all of us. A great cast or characters and a mystery that keeps you guessing to the end- well worth the read!

Dear Fellow Reader,

I am a very novice gardener. I will probably always be a novice gardener. This year, I have a nemesis in the garden that is not myself. There is this bunny. Of course, there are probably several but I just see one at a time, so I am pretending that there is just one. I have been calling him Peter and feel that in this plot I have taken on the role of Mr. McGregor. I feel bad complaining about a little bunny but really, it has mowed down multiple plants and seedlings. I am quite irritated about it. I have been spraying that foul smelling stuff that will supposedly keep bunnies and deer away. I am not quite sure it works but it does sometimes. I have now also fenced in the vegetable garden part of the garden in hopes that I can keep that creature off the vegetables. It is too late for my eggplant. I was going to try to grow eggplant for the first time but there is just a stub left. Also, I was trying to re-introduce coneflowers and those two plants were attacked. They might survive; we’ll see next year.

How silly to be fighting a battle against a tiny, cute bunny but sometimes that is how life goes.

I suppose if I had an outside cat then I wouldn’t have to worry about rabbits. But I don’t. Wonder why I brought up cats? It is my lede into today’s book.

Nine Lives and Alibis: A Cat Café Mystery is today’s cozy mystery. Apparently, this is the seventh book in the series. I had no idea that it was part of a series. That is the good news. This book can stand alone without any knowledge of the series.

Maddie James is our main detective. She is not with the police but on the small island where she lives, she knows them all. In fact, her grandfather used to be the chief of police. In this book, the town is getting ready for a big Halloween celebration. Maddie and her partner own the coffee and cat shop on the island. Coffee and cat shop, you ask. The coffee shop has an arrangement with the local shelter to have cats in the coffee shop with the hopes that they will be adopted.

Here might be the spot to say that I am not a cat lover like the people in the book appear to be. Cats are fine; I have even owned cats. I don’t have anything against them, but this island appears to have a serious cat problem. There are so many cats ready to be adopted!

As part of the town Halloween celebration (which was created to bring tourists to the town before it shuts down for the winter.) A celebrated medium, Balfour Dempsey, is coming to be the headliner. He is going to stay at the local inn which has two unsolved mysteries in its past along with other various ghosts. Balfour is a hometown boy; he wasn’t born in the town, but his mother raised him there. He doesn’t come back to see his mother often because he is so busy. His mother is a retired dental hygienist who is doing some part time work for the local paper.

Maddie’s good friend Becky is the editor of the local paper and is sure that Balfour will be able to solve the town’s unsolved mysteries. It seems that 40 years ago an investment banker was in town and fell down the elevator shaft from the top floor of the town’s hotel and died. It was not an accident and the police had never been able to solve the crime. A few days after the banker died, a maid from the hotel disappeared and was never found. Becky felt it would be quite a coup if the medium was able to solve the crimes.

On the first night, Balfour is in town, he shocks everyone by announcing that he is retiring from public life. He doesn’t want to be the showman any longer. He would like to use his powers to help the police solve unsolved crimes. This announcement took his staff of four by surprise and not in a good way.

As part of the weekend of festivities, there were appointments set up for the public to be able to have individual meetings with Balfour. The rich elderly town matriarch came to Maddie and told her that she needed to give her the first appointment with Balfour and that no one could know she was going to him. That she would go in via a back entrance and leave the same way. While Maddie thought it was odd, the large check from the woman convinced Maddie that it would be worthwhile to get the appointment set up and keep her mouth closed.

It is right after that appointment takes place that the alarm goes up that Balfour is missing. Maddie and his mother go looking around the cliffs behind the hotel. They see someone at the bottom of the cliffs and call the police.

Thus starts the “who done it”. Who pushed Balfour and why? Did he know the answer to the two mysteries? As the crime unfolds, Maddie finds that she didn’t know the townspeople the way she thought that she did.

I did like the story and really wanted to find out the end. I did guess correctly at various times in the story, but it was still interesting and well worth reading. There were times that I felt bogged down with some information but overall, I liked it and was happy that I read it. I suggest that you might want to check it out also.

Thanks for reading!

I was given a copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review.

It’d been way too long since I read in this series and even though I’m not totally caught up with the rest of the series, I couldn’t resist requesting this from NetGalley. I quickly remembered who was who and didn’t feel lost. Maddie’s grandpa’s still my fave character and that little JJ couldn’t be cuter! Check out his Sherlock Holmes outfit on the book cover, isn’t that sweet?

This twisty mystery was filled with secret passageways, an old haunted inn, red herrings and as always, some great characters. It’s a shame the guy who was killed was such a nice person. I’d really come to like his character, but from the blurb I knew not to get too close! 😉 Not only was the current murder solved, but a couple cold cases got answers as well and all took place with a very cool Halloween season event and even a cat costume parade. The showdown was exciting and the most unlikely person saved the day with a kick butt move.

I really loved how Violet and Sydney from the author’s newer Full Moon Mysteries came as vendors for the Halloween event, and Maddie actually liked Violet—she usually wasn’t into paranormal and crystals and stuff. But when she discovered what a crystal could do for her, maybe to her sister Sam’s delight she’d be open to even more. Naw, probably not, lol. If Full Moon would ever happen not to continue, I’d love to see more visits from Violet and Syd!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by St. Martin's Paperbacks via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.