Nine Lives and Alibis is the seventh mystery in the Cat Cafe Mystery series. It’s Halloween time in Daybreak Harbor and this year the town is going all out, even bringing in a famous medium and his cat, but when the medium turns up dead and his cat lost, Maddie finds herself on another case.

This is the first book I’ve read in this series, and while most cozy mystery series I pick up in the middle can be read easily as standalone, I feel like this one was much harder to read as a standalone. I did enjoy the characters in this series and the storyline, but I just couldn’t get into this book. I also expected there to be more cats since this was a cat cage mystery, but there didn’t seem to be many. Even though I couldn’t get into this book, I’m still going to start this series from the beginning and see if that helps me connect better with this book. I wouldn’t recommend reading this as a standalone, but I think this would be an enjoyable book to those who know more about this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

Trouble brews when Maddie’s youngest sister, Sam, books a famous medium, Balfour Dempsey, to come to town for the celebrations and stay in the local haunted inn—along with his equally famous black cat. The town busybody books a secret reading with Balfour and doesn’t want anyone to know why. Maddie’s best friend Becky is hell-bent on getting Balfour to help her solve two 40-year-old mysteries—a murder and a missing maid. And the psychic has a stalker who’s followed him here to the island, demanding he connect with her dead husband. This is an interesting story. They end up solving the forty year old cases and the death of the physic.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

I received a free copy of, Nine Lives and Alibis, by Cate Conte, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is book seven in The Cat Cafe Mystery Series. Daybreak Harbor is in holiday spirits for Halloween. A famous medium has been added to the festivities, but when he is murdered, Maddie has a mystery to solve. What a captivating read, I love cozy mysteries, especially holiday ones, this is a really good mystery.

This was such a cozy mystery. Halloween time, ghosts, & cats. Not sure what else you could ask for! Loved following along to figure out who the murderer was. The characters were enjoyable & I loved the atmosphere of the little town.

Settle in for a binge read if you are anything like me. This ticked all my boxes ...well-written, a cozy, engrossing mystery, cats, Halloween, ghosts and cold cases. And something unusual for a cozy, the victim was actually a character that I like and would have liken to have known better. Typically you can pick out the victim within the first 20 pages. It's the person going around causing angst for multiple characters. So this was actually a refreshing change.

This is the first I have read in Cate Conte's A Cat Café Mystery series, although I love another series she has written under a different name. I found the characters engaging and the plot of a current and 40 year-0ld case intriguing. The paranormal aspect of it is not to my liking, and I will admit I found the murder in this one far from cozy. As it turned out it was especially painful and not at all random. I will spend some time going back and trying to catch up on the series, and I look forward to more in the future.

I received a complimentary copy of this gook from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Daybreak Island is about to celebrate Halloween. They manage to get renowned physic Balfour Dempsey to come . He arrives with a strange acting crew and his cat Balfour Jr . It should be a fun time. However Balfour drops a bombshell announcement. He's going to retire!! He's also interested in an old crime that took place at the Inn at Lighthouse Point. But before he can do anything he ends up dead!! Was his death an accident? Or did someone want him out of the picture? Was it his crew? Or because he was about to expose a killer? Will Maddie James be able to help police solve not only a murder but a cold case ? Or will she become the next victim .

This is a great series. It involves cats and cat rescues plus non stop action..

Cat café owner Maddie James is involved in planning Halloween festivities for Daybreak Island. A big draw for the festivities is psychic medium Balfour Dempsey who will be staying at the haunted Inn at Lighthouse Point and conducting readings. When Balfour is found maundered, Maddie wonders if it
has anything to do with a 40 year old cold case or is it because Balfour was going to retire, resulting in major changes for his employees.
Seventh in the series, enjoyed catching up with the characters.
#NineLivesandAlibis#NetGalley

I had high hopes for Nine Lives and Alibis. The title was pretty fetching. But the cat(s) played little or no part in the narrative except for a few cameos.

Nine Lives and Alibis is the 7th installment in the Cat Cafe Mystery series. And while I have read a number of series' novels as standalones, I had some difficulty with this one. I felt as though I missed a lot of the finer points of the characters and perhaps even their backstories. So, I was at a disadvantage as to knowing the history of the cat cafe, and all of the characters.

For me, Nine Lives was a little boring. Nothing exciting happened until a little past 37%. By that time, I was ready to throw in the towel But something happened that drew me back in, only to be disappointed, again. So by 51%, I was done.

I think I would have enjoyed the novel a lot more if the crime(s) were committed earlier, then followed by the amateur investigations, and sleuthing.

Author Cate Conte is a new to me author. So I'm not going to rule out future novels from her. Though I probably won't step in mid stream on an existing series. One unfortunate DNF star.

I received a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's press/Minotaur books for the arc! Another great cozy mystery novel. Even though it's a cozy mystery still always makes you feel cozy while reading 😊 Enjoyed all of the characters and the animals ❤️ all the animals! The author did a great job pulling this reader into the story. Will recommend!

Great culinary/cat rescue/inn cozy.
Ms. Conte pens a tale of a haunted seaside inn, set in a town that celebrates it. Maddie James is the granddaughter of a police chief, one that inherited his curiosity, and learned at his knee. When a celebrated psychic, one from the island comes to town to celebrate Halloween and see if he can solve 2 cold cases set in the inn, she and Becky start their own investigation into said events to see if the psychic is real….and no one expects what happens next.
I highly recommend to any cozy lover as I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I requested and received an ARC from NetGalley gratis and offer mt opinion in the same.

It’s Halloween season and the residents and businesses of Daybreak Island, Massachusetts, are ready to give nearby Salem a run for their money. Not only is the town hosting several events and activities, a renowned medium, Balfour Dempsey, has returned to his hometown to give readings and, hopefully, help solve to forty-year-old mysteries. On opening night of the festivities, Balfour Dempsey and his black cat both disappear from the inn after Balfour providing a reading for one of the town’s most influential and richest citizens. Maddie James, the head of the planning committee for the Halloween events, finds Balfour’s body at the bottom of a nearby cliff. Maddie is tasked with finding the missing cat, but she winds up helping the police track down Balfour’s killer and figuring out what happened forty years earlier.

NINE LIVES AND ALIBIS is the first novel in the Cat Café Mystery series that I’ve read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite not knowing all the backstory from the previous novels. I enjoyed all the different Halloween activities throughout the novel, though I would have enjoyed stories about the haunted inn. I also would have liked more scenes in the cat café. It took until almost halfway through the novel to get to the murder, but the second half of the novel passed quickly once Maddie was on the case. Having read NINE LIVES AND ALIBIS, I’m compelled to go back and read the other novels in the series.

I've only read two other books in this series, and I think this is the strongest one so far that I've read. The death (in current times) is so sad, and the connections between the death decades ago and this one make for a complex and satisfying plot. The cats and the cat cafe itself don't feature as prominently in this book, but that didn't bother me. I like the hints of the everyday running of the cafe, but the book doesn't feel weighed down by cat stuff on every page. I feel like the series is getting better!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a great Halloween cozy mystery! Maddie James is busily planning the Daybreak Island Haunted Halloween Festival and making sure she has crossed every t and dotted every i on her list of tasks on the planning committee. The festival is bringing in a big Halloween draw with world renowned psychic, Balfour, who just so happens to call Daybreak Island his hometown. Many of the locals, particularly Maddie's best friend, local newspaper reporter, Becky, are hoping the psychic will be able to offer some insight into two local mysteries, a murder and disappearance that took place at Halloween 40 years earlier. The 40 year old mysteries aren't the only ones that end up needing to be solved when another murder takes place. It's up to Maddie to try to figure out who the killer could be and if it's related to the two cases from 40 years prior. This story has lots of interesting characters, moves at a really nice pace, has a solid amount of red herrings to keep you guessing whodunnit, and lots and lots of cute kitties that you wish could snuggle on your lap as you read the story. This is the first book of the Cat Cafe series that I've read and I'll definitely be picking up those I've missed! *I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A fabulous sick day read - light and funny and cozy enough, with a great cast of characters, a lovely island setting, and some paranormal Halloween stuff going on. Maddie and her crazy family were so much fun, but I feel like I need to go back and read some earlier books to really know her parents and siblings better. That said, starting randomly so far intro the series didn’t detract from the book at all. I didn’t feel confused or like I was playing catch-up, though I have a feeling people who started earlier will feel like they are catching up with old friends. I loved how Conte added some crystal healing and a psychic to the mix without going full supernatural or making them into some kind of joke - the balance was perfect and let me decide for myself what I thought. The mystery wrapped up nicely and I was super satisfied with “whodunnit”, too. I’m off to go catch up on the earlier books in this series ASAP!

Nine Lives and Alibis is number 7 in the Cat Cafe series by Cate Conte, and a first for me. There are quite a few characters and, honestly, that’s the only part that I got lost in the trees. There are no spoilers for previous novels (at least not that I saw), and the author does a great job of weaving description and history throughout the story.

Maddie James is on the events planning committee for Daybreak Harbor as Halloween begins. To assist the events just so happens to be their own local inn with its own cold case ghost story. A famous medium with local connections, Balfour Dempsey, and his equally famous cat, Balfour Jr., come to town to give readings. Maddie’s reporter friend Becky wants to ask him to also solve the two 40-year-old cold cases, one murder and one missing person.

The night of the readings, the inn’s power goes out and the two Balfours have gone missing. Balfour’s mother, Alice, and Maddie go outside to search the grounds and find Balfour’s body over the cliff. There is a chance of a horrible accident, but Maddie doesn’t believe that is the case. Especially when Balfour had given notice that he was retiring from medium work to start working with law enforcement, and inn’s mysteries were first on his list.

The murder takes place about halfway through the story, and I will admit that it had an emotional impact on me. The character Balfour was written as such a sweet man who generally wanted to help. I desperately continued reading to find out who and why would hurt this young man.

I will say that the cats really didn’t have much to do with the mystery. They did find a key piece of evidence, but the majority of the story was Maddie running around and making the connections. That made me wonder if the previous 6 novels are similar or have more feline interaction.

Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

This is the seventh book in the Cat Cafe Mystery series. It is the first I have read, and I enjoyed the variety of characters and the mystery.

Maddie James has recently come home to Daybreak Harbor. She opened a Cat Cafe with a partner and is busy getting back into life on the island. Currently she's working with her mother and sisters to coordinate the local Halloween celebration which they hope will rival Salem's.

After all, they have a haunted inn with a variety of ghosts and they have two unsolved mysteries from forty years earlier which are also still garnering attention. They have hired a psychic named Balfour Dempsey to come to town to be the centerpiece of the festival and to possibly provide insight into the two long unsolved crimes. Balfour's mother is a local who is recently retired but doing some work for the local newspaper.

When Balfour is found at the bottom of a cliff the first night of the festival, Maddie finds herself getting involved in the murder investigation. There are lots of suspects including members of his entourage, a stalker, and locals who aren't at all sure that they want the forty-year-old mysteries solved.

This was a fun story. I liked the way Maddie uses her local knowledge to learn more about the past. I thought the plot was well-developed and interesting. I liked the way Maddie was a sceptic about the paranormal when everyone around her seemed much more open to believing in ghosts and psychics.

Nine Lives and Alibis by Cate Conte is due to be published August 22, 2023 by Minotaur Books is the 7th installment in the Cat Cafe Mystery series.

This is the very first book I’ve read from this author but it will definitely not be my last! I went and added all of them to my TBR.

“Daybreak Island is gearing up for Halloween-but this vear it seems like it'll be all tricks and no treats. It's October in Daybreak Harbor, which means everything Halloween. The town is going all out for the holiday, hoping to one-up the festivities in neighboring Salem, Massachusetts, and Maddie James is delighted to be part of the planning for the annual happenings. But trouble brews when Maddie's youngest sister, Sam, books a famous medium, Balfour Dempsey, to come to town for the celebrations and stay in the local haunted inn-along with his equally famous black cat.”

Midway through the novel, Maddie finds Balfour immobile on the rocks below the inn; someone has pushed him off a cliff to his death. The murder puts a damper on the town's Halloween celebration. Suspects all around, and Maddie wonders if there could be a connection between Balfour's murder and the cold cases.

This was such a cute well written cozy mystery I’ll be recommending to all of my book loving friends!!

Thank you Netgalley, Cate Conte, and Minotaur Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

Nine Lives and Alibis is the seventh book in Cate Conte's delightful Cozy Cat Cafe Series. I have read the entire series. This is the ultimate cozy mystery series for cat lovers .Thank you to NetGalley , St. Martins and to the author for the opportunity. My review opinions are my own.
We readers and fans of this series are happy to return to Daybreak Island a picturesque coastal community on the coast of New England. This series is atmospheric as the author sets the scene for the beautiful area as the setting of this series.
Maddie owns the successful cat cafe and is involved with her community, She is working on the Halloween events. Her sister hires a psychic who brings with him his familiar, his black cat. The townspeople believe that the psychic can answer their questions on prior murders and hauntings . When he is found murdered Maddie , her sister and friends are on the case. Maddie soon finds clues leading her in the right direction as well as toward cases he was asked to speak about. The red herrings abound and the clues kept this reader guessing. I loved the conclusion which I did not guess! Well done to the author. I highly recommend this book for all cozy readers who love cats and a good mystery. I look forward to the next in series.

This is the seventh in the Cate Cafe’ Series.


Back on Daybreak Island, the gang is gearing up for Halloween.


October in the harbor means a lot of Halloween. Of course they are always trying to one up Salem’s celebration and that could lead to some tricks they didn’t see coming.
And when Sam brings a medium to town to stay at the haunted inn, well, he and his black cat are popular with some of the town. They all need answers to something, including decades old murders!
So when said medium takes a dive off of a cliff, Maddie is in trouble.


Such a cute series. And she gives us enough background to make everything work.


NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur August 22, 2023