Things are looking up for single mom Colbie Summers. After relocating back to her California hometown with her adolescent son and taste-testing feline, Trouble, she’s ready to take her gourmet cat food company to the next level. Until helping a teenager gets Colbie mixed up in a fresh case of murder… Trying to balance her hectic family life with her growing business—including a coveted … business—including a coveted contract with the local organic food store—leaves Colbie scrambling to keep all her balls in the air. But when a Sunnyside resident is found dead in his garage, she takes on a new role: harboring a suspected killer.
The eighteen-year-old murder suspect, a former foster kid and Colbie’s part-time chef, had a powerful motive to snuff out the high-profile businessman. The real question is, who didn’t? Sifting through the victim’s sordid history unearths a cat’s cradle of crimes, including money laundering and abuse. Now, to clear an innocent girl’s name, Colbie must sniff out the truth before a killer who smells trouble goes on the attack again.
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The Trouble with Truth, the second book in the Gourmet Cat Mystery series was a good as The Trouble with Murder and I love that book. I love cozy mysteries that are a bit different from the norm but still have the humor and great community that has brought so many people to love the genre. While you do not have to be a cat lover to enjoy this series, I believe that cat lovers will fall for Trouble and her family. I can’t wait to read book number three, The Trouble with Trouble!
The Trouble With Truth
Gourmet Cat Mystery, Book #2
Kathy Krevat
5 Stars
Synopsis:
Things are looking up for single mom Colbie Summers. After relocating back to her California hometown with her adolescent son and taste-testing feline, Trouble, she’s ready to take her gourmet cat food company to the next level. Until helping a teenager gets Colbie mixed up in a fresh case of murder…
Trying to balance her hectic family life with her growing business—including a coveted contract with the local organic food store—leaves Colbie scrambling to keep all her balls in the air. But when a Sunnyside resident is found dead in his garage, she takes on a new role: harboring a suspected killer.
The eighteen-year-old murder suspect, a former foster kid and Colbie’s part-time chef, had a powerful motive to snuff out the high-profile businessman. The real question is, who didn’t? Sifting through the victim’s sordid history unearths a cat’s cradle of crimes, including money laundering and abuse. Now, to clear an innocent girl’s name, Colbie must sniff out the truth before a killer who smells trouble goes on the attack again. (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed. I really enjoy the family dynamics of Colbie, her son Elliott and her dad. They love each other and enjoy spending time together and their interactions are believable. I always like when the protagonist is a mom, that makes them more relatable to me. The secondary characters added a lot to the story, especially Tod, her agoraphobic friend.
The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and that kept me engaged throughout the entire book. I felt like I was right there in Sunnyside, watching all of the action unfold. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. It allowed me to know the characters through their actions and words.
The mystery was well plotted and carried on well throughout the entire book. There were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider and it was not easily solved.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. With engaging characters, an enticing setting and an intriguing mystery, this book is a winner.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Kensington Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
Collie is the mother of a young teenager who moves back home with her dad to care for him as he recovers from an illness. They haven’t had good relations since she got pregnant and left home. She is running a business of making cat food with her cat as the taste tester, and belongs to a group of mothers with small businesses. One of the mothers is killed and Colbie has to figure out who was the killer and why.
Can’t wait for the third book
Fun read. Good series. I already preordered the next in the series.
Another great book in this series!! Colbie is preparing for Take Your Cat to Shop Day at the local Twomeys stores to promote her cat food. When her young employee is accused of murdering her former foster father, she steps up to investigate and clear Mira’s name. Lots of fun and really enjoy Trouble the cat. I hope there will be more books in this series and I look forward to seeing what’s next for Trouble and seeing Joss and Colbie’s relationship grow.
The Trouble with Truth by Kathy Krevat is A Gourmet Cat Mystery. Colbie Summers lives in Sunnyside, California with her twelve year old son, Elliott along with her father, Hank and Trouble, the cat. Colbie is getting ready for her cat food line, Meowia Batali Gourmet Cat Food to launch at Twomey’s Health Food stores. Her part-time employee, Mira recently won a contest for the play she wrote based on her life in foster care. It is being produced by the Playwrights Project at The Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park. Mira’s former foster family, The Franklin’s are less than thrilled and threaten Mira. Colbie gets a late night call from Lani Nakano, her best friend and social worker. Mira needs their help. Dennis Franklin is dead, and the police are looking for Mira. Colbie knows Mira did not harm Franklin and sets out to prove the young woman’s innocence.
The Trouble with Truth is written in a conversational writing style that makes for an easy to read book. While this is the second book in A Gourmet Cat Mystery series, it can stand on its own. The author provides Colbie’s background story and a quick summary of what occurred in The Trouble with Murder. I enjoy Colbie’s interactions with Trouble. Colbie talks with her cat as many pet owners do especially when no one else is around. We get to experience Colbie’s everyday activities (cooking, laundry, shopping) as she takes care of her son, spends time with her father, manages her cat food business, and enjoys time with her friends. Colbie questions a variety of people in her quest to clear Mira’s name. She needs to work on her questioning technique since she lacks subtlety. There are a couple of suspects, good clues and a red herring. I thought the killer stood out like muddy pawprints on a white blouse. There was another element to the mystery, though, that may surprise readers. I like Detective Norma Chiron. She is friendly detective who listens to Colbie. At the same time, she does warn her to be careful and not get involved (knowing she will not listen). While getting ready to launch her cat food at Twomey’s and working to solve the murder, Elliott’s father makes an appearance. He has decided to be involved in Elliott’s life and Colbie worries that Richard will try for custody. The story started to resemble a telenovela with the added family drama. I would like to see Colbie have more of a presence. She is lacking in personality and comes across as bland at times. My rating for The Trouble with Truth is 3 out of 5 stars. The Trouble with Truth is a cute cozy cat mystery that will have you chuckling at Trouble’s antics.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Colbie Summer’s gourmet cat food business is really taking off. She is planning for the big day when her products debut at a local organic food chain. She has even hired a new part-time chef. Eighteen-year-old Mira Bellamy grew up in the foster system and was abused. She is trying to make enough money to purchase a car and go to college. Not only is she working for Colbie, she has 3 other jobs too. She has also written a play about her life in foster care and received an award to have it produced.
On the homefront, Colbie’s son Elliot gets a surprise when his father, Richard Winston III, decides he does want to meet his son after all. Both mother and son are nervous about what this can mean.
Then Mira’s foster dad is murdered and because of her play, Mira is the police’s prime suspect. The truth hurts but Colbie knows that Mira is not a killer. While handling everything else, Colbie starts asking questions. Questions that make the real murderer burning mad and Detective Norma Chiron nervous about the target she has put on herself.
In this second installment, Colbie and Elliot have settled into her father’s house and they are all getting along so well. Colbie’s budding romance is growing too. The character that stole my heart was Mira. Life after being aged out of the foster system is hard but Mira has goals and is working so hard to reach them. Her play is amazing and it translated onto the pages and into my mind perfectly. I applaud the author for making this part of this story. Shining a light on the bad and the good, without hitting readers over the head or getting too dark.
The mystery part of the story really was well-written and believable. The victim had a number of people that could have killed him. Colbie’s actions had me engaged and scared for her at times. Twists sent the story in many different directions before the real culprit was revealed.
I really enjoy the way the author has let her characters develop but still has left them room to grow. The story is well balanced with the drama of the mystery and drama of normal family life. Humor was added in all the right places thanks to Trouble the cat and a certain bunny rabbit.
Ms. Krevat has written a very entertaining story. I am looking forward to visiting these characters again.
The Trouble With Truth is the second in the Gourmet Cat Mystery series by Kathy Krevat. This is the first book I have read and Krevat did a great job getting new readers caught up.
The story has great flow and engaging characters. There is humor, a touch of romance, and plenty of twists and turns and you are kept guessing until the end. It is a easy to read cozy that will have you waiting for the next in the series.
I was given an ARC by NetGalley for an honest review.
This was a nice escape. Colbie is in the thick of things again. One of her young employees (a former foster care child) is a prime suspect for her former foster parent’s death. These are fun, relaxing mysteries. The characters are quirky but nice, which is important for me. If I don’t like the main characters, it’s hard for me to like the book. The mystery was entertaining and there were plenty of suspects. I have read other books by this author and would read more.
NetGalley provided this book in exchange for my honest review.
I very much enjoyed this second in series, which has exceeded my expectations. There is wit and humor, as I anticipated from the cover art, and there are also real-world problems, very well-defined, likable, loyal characters, and a challenging mystery. And, of course, the orange-colored tabby, Trouble! It is Trouble who sends Colbie, her person, on her current career path that is becoming successful.
Colbie and her twelve-year-old son Elliott had moved to her father’s in Sunnyside, California, earlier in the year. The three have begun to bond into a close family of three.
Colbie is now a cat food chef. Trouble was a tiny kitten with digestive problems when they found each other, and she could only safely eat what Colbie made for her. Her friends learned about the high-quality food Colbie makes and began to buy it from her. Her business is growing, including sharing a commercial kitchen, canning, and experimenting with new flavors. Colbie also won a contract to provide a San Diego health food grocer which will now add Meowio Batali Gourmet Cat Food to their shelves. The release day celebration is imminent; she and Trouble will go from store to store giving samples to cat owners.
Mira is one of Colbie’s kitchen staff and one of Trouble’s favorite people. She was in foster care since she was 12, running away from her last placement at 15. Mira now has four part-time jobs and shares a place with three girls; she is saving for a car, then for business school. Mira won a statewide playwriting contest. She wrote a play that shows what being a foster child is like, based on the lives of other fosters she has met or lived with. Her former foster brothers and mother show up at the kitchen, making threats to Mira if the play is staged as written. Her foster father is a very wealthy, prestigious builder, and people assume the play is written about them. Within hours Mira’s foster father is found murdered, and the police are searching her room and looking for her as their suspect. Colbie knows Mira would never kill anyone but does not want to get involved in solving another murder.
The focus of the story is not only the murder, even though it is significant. Loyalty to friends and family are important, even when Mira is accused of murder. Even when Elliott’s father shows up to meet him, and Colbie has to swallow her fears. Even when some of the product needed for Meowio’s launch has been damaged. I had considered the real killer at one time, but couldn’t figure out a motive. Plot twists stir up the winning plays being acted on stage, the launch of Meowio, and the suspect list, and I was surprised at the outcome. No loose ends remained, and I was very pleased. I highly recommend this cozy mystery, and series, especially to cozy mystery lovers who enjoy cats.
From a grateful heart: I received an e-arc of this from the publisher through NetGalley, and this is my honest review.