It was hard to get past these were really cats and not humans. The book talks about cats being humans and it's off putting to say the least

Sorry, Jessica Fletcher, but the cosiest cosies star cats.

Mandy Morton’s No. 2 Feline Detective Agency series is all about escapism for cat lovers and the latest in the series is one of the best. Here we take the scenic route along the parallel-cativerse East Anglian coast, stoned on catnip, recapturing memories of a previous life spent gigging - all while hunting a deranged murderer. Yes, this is silly, but so is the cosy mystery genre.

As always, the writing is very good - delightfully unpretentious and unashamedly punny. The odd simile feels under-baked but that’s much preferable to the opposite. I love how all the stories are set around the date of publication; when you’re reading about anthropomorphic cats, it helps to anchor the story to reality wherever possible. And the recurring catnip as cannabis theme adds a Holmesian bohemian quality that prevent the series becoming too twee.

This story reunites our detective duo - Hettie and Tilly - with the lovable Jamaican mama puss, Marley Toke, and introduces a new cast of entertainer folk. Set mainly on tour, we do miss many of the series’ established characters, but Marley amply fills that hole. I hope we get to meet her again.

I don’t like the small image on the book jacket. It’s so complicated and difficult to parse at a glance. The cover artist has done some excellent work elsewhere, but this isn’t close. Surely it has to feature two cats wearing colourful jumpers/cardigans/ponchos, one holding a magnifying glass in her paw. All the previous books had better jackets. The font is nice, though - very Agatha Crispy.

Inside the book, I’d like more emotion and drama. Hettie, and certainly Tilly, should feel fear in the course of their investigation. Robin being stalked early in Galbraith’s Career of Evil is an example of this done very well. Could Tilly get catnapped by a dodgy acquaintance from her homeless past? This would contrast and emphasise the moments of cosiness. Ghost of Christmas Paws did this quite well, but resolving it Bobby-Ewing-in-Dallas style was damaging to the writer’s credibility. For maximum drama, I recommend writing one tale as a how-catch-em: do the first chapter from the perspective of the killer, then have them get as close as possible to Hettie/Tilly and keep the ladies in oblivious danger.

Alexander McCall Smith is the master of bringing emotion into his sweet, cosy mysteries. I’d like to see more influence than just the series name. We get expertly-applied touches of emotion hearing about Tilly’s previous life, but we need much more. Dump a basket of kittens on the Butter’s doorstep, have Hettie and Tilly grudgingly fall in love with them, then discover their rightful home at the end. Heartbreaking. Or just kill off Bruiser.

References to the author’s partner, Nicola Upson, have gotten too much. The odd cryptic nod is touching, but paragraphs of praise is confusing. I had to break off reading and spend half an hour Googling to figure out who Tilly was rhapsodising about.

These were tiny flaws compared to this: at the end, where is the “Hettie and Tilly will return in...” bit. That made me so happy at the end of the first book. This is such an original, well-executed idea that it must continue. Please give us the name of the next one at the end of each book. And give the girls some deserved ear scritches from me.

this was utter tosh - maybe I should have read the blurb a bit more fully, and I would have then realised I might need to stretch my credulity enough to encompass a mystery story (although it was not hard to work out whodunnit) involving cats. Yes, cats as all the characters, including a plumber, bakers and a punk rock singer. I did finish this book, mainly because it was quite short, but really, I am not quite sure why I bothered.

I received a free copy of Magical Mystery Paws (The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency) by Mandy Morton in exchange for an honest review. If we were cats on two legs, how would we live? Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are two such felines living in such a world. Invited to serve as road crew for the Magical Mystery Paws tour, the two sleuths really get to work when crew members are killed or injured. Who could the perpetrator be?

This was a cute concept. I haven’t read the previous books, so my connection to the characters was not as developed as I would have liked. Also, I did not understand some things about the cats’ world. Specifically, why are there no police or hospitals? Still, very cute.

#MagicalMysteryPaws #NetGalley

This really wasn't for me. I gave it a good go, but had to give up, I'm afraid. I couldn't buy into the cat thing at all, I didn't think the writing was very good and I didn't find the parody of the rock scene funny. Hey-ho.

Bit of mixed feeling about this book, as it took me awhile to reconcile that the characters where cats acting as people. The storyline was really readable and I did enjoy it - it is cosy with a twist. Read it for something a little different for the bases of a good mystery.