The Ice Maid’s Tail is the latest in the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency series. This is #8, a wonderful achievement.

Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are our private detectives of record. Never mind that they’re cats. You know that if you’ve read the other books in the series, and you should have, of course (well, the cover, the title and the book description are all clues of a sort, but who’s counting? Let’s not be clever clogs here). Otherwise, they walk, they talk and they solve mysteries like humans do, and they’ve got a doozy on their paws here.

It’s a dire winter in their little village, and everybody’s hunkered down, trying to survive as best they can. A lot of the local folk have been put up at Wither-Fork Hall, a large baronial mansion. Word comes that some orphaned kittens are missing, kittens that have been kept in the Folly on the mansion grounds. Now, Tilly senses things, and the Folly at the manse doesn’t feel “right” to her. She knows about these things. And the reader will, too, as the story goes along.

The kittens may have run away rather than be exposed any longer to the strict religious training of the orphanage’s leaders. If they have, they’ve probably frozen to death. It’s a gruesome beginning to our story.
And there’s a precedent to our tale, and where the title of the book comes from – a horror story told to impressionable young kittens, the stuff of young feline nightmares, as the resident gypsy cat calls it. I don’t make this stuff up, folks. Our author, Mandy Morton does, and a good thing, too. It’s fun, and entertaining, and as much in keeping with the tenor of the series as the other books.

There’s a mysterious fire to contend with. Are the little kits really dead? The house has its secrets -- what’s behind it all? It all comes to a head in the caves underneath Wither-Fork Hall. Evil and cruelty come in many forms, feline as well as human. And we learn that feline justice is final, and without remorse. Tilly and Hettie and their friends and co-workers have it all well in hand.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for a copy of this book, in exchange for this review.

From Duckworth Books comes the newest addition to the unique cat cozy series, "The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency" from Mandy Morton, The Ice Maid's Tail.

This cat cozy is genuinely unique. I love the idea of cats talking, shopping, going out to restaurants, and so forth. I also love that Hettie and Tilly are investigators. Known for their curiosity, cats are natural for this type of role. The two primary cats, as well as the rest of the cast, are marvelously human with fears, quirks, and everything we would typically associate with people. I am overjoyed that the author made the characters quirky, intelligent, loving, and compassionate.

The bad "guys" would be a nightmare to find if they were human and would have been almost impossible to prosecute. But like cats, they still have limitations of what they can do or where they can go, particularly during a blizzard. The culprits are caught and pay a stiff price for their crimes. As with any animal-based book, and especially in a cat cozy, readers will delight at the characters' antics, attitudes, and lives.

The fact that it wasn't necessary to have any humans involved to give readers a sense of family or community was delightful. In the end, this cat cozy delivers on entertainment and mystery. The plot is original, the characters are purrfect, the setting remarkably descriptive without getting bogged down in the mundane. I am happy to recommend The Ice Maid's Tail. And now I'm going back to read all the other books in this series!

The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency #8.
THE ICE MAID'S TALE is the first I have read of this delightful "all cat" series. What could be more entertaining than anthropomorphized felines, with all the recognizable human attitudes, foibles, and failings? Well, even better is a sequence of tremendous Winter storms plus a set of puzzling mysteries! This Series ought to delight cat lovers and Cozy Mystery aficionados alike.

My thanks to Duckworth Books/Farrago for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Ice Maid’s Tail’ by Mandy Morton in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 20 February and I subsequently decided to purchase its ebook and audiobook editions.

This is the 8th in her No2 Feline Detective Agency series featuring anthropomorphic cats that live human-like lives. I was intrigued by the cover with the cats dressed in very recognisable red and white Handmaids’ outfits.

During a severe blizzard Hettie Bagshot and her sidekick, Tilly Jenkins, are keeping close to their fireside. Yet they spring into action when they are called in to investigate the disappearance of a number of kittens from the kitten orphanage set up by Fluff Wither-Fork, their aristocratic friend.

Running the orphanage for Fluff are Anthea and Preston Munch, two missionaries recently returned from Africa. (Hetty delightfully refers to them as “a pair of born-again crisp packets” and cites their surname as proof that the term is appropriate.)

Then there is the ‘Ice Maid’s Tail’, a local legend associated with Wither-Fork woods, featuring a powerful Ice Queen. The relevance of the legend is that “on cold winter nights, when the snow is thick on the ground, they do say that the Ice Queen haunts the woods and snatches kittens to turn them into Ice Maids, docking their tails and imprisoning them in the Halls of Glass, never to see the sun again.” Of course, the very down-to-earth Hetty considers it “utter tosh”. Yet is it?

Then there is the old witch cat, Bombazine Bright, who also lives in Wither-Fork woods guarding the Magic Tree. News of her existence excites Tilly and has Hettie holding her head in her paws.

While I tend to prefer cats to be cats rather than wearing clothes, eating human food (seemingly continuously), and travelling about on motorbikes, I was rather won over by the quirky charm of Hettie, Tillie and their friends.

Mandy Morton applies the tropes of the cosy mystery sub genre to her feline detectives with a knowing tip of the hat. Hettie’s analysis of the Miss Marble mysteries by Agatha Crispy had me in stitches.

So yes, I was delighted as this proved to be a great deal of whimsical fun. I now plan to read/listen to the entire series.

Highly recommended for lovers of cats and cosy mysteries.

What a fun series a series inhabited by cats.Its a cozy gothic combination off genres .Well written even the cats names are amusing,.A series I will be following and recommending to friends I. know will enjoy this series.#netgalley#duckworth books

A nice cozy-crime, with cats in the leading parts. Human-cats living in a town with a bakery, a post office, a second hand store etc. It’s really funny to read about cats living human lives.
A Ice maid’s tail is a great story about a blizzard with ice and snow, three missing kittens, a strange orphanage, ice- tunnels and caves, a gipsy-witch, lots of food, and a book written by a killing nanny with a horrifying story of a Ice queen.
A hard job for the No2 Feline Detective Agency to solve this case, but the will. It’s nice to read, has some real tension in it and it’s also emotional in the end. An eighth part in a serie, but it’s no problem to read without previous episodes.
It’s really a nice book to read.

I didn't expect to like this book that much but it grew on me. I liked the 4 smart and brave 'detectives' from No 2 Feline Detective Agency, the humorous tone and well spun story.
I will probably try another book in the series whenever I feel like reading a well-written cozy mystery.

Title: The Ice Maid's Tail



Author: Mandy Morton



Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Cats, Series, Fantasy.



Plot: Blizzard after freezing blizzard buries the tiny feline town in feet of cold frozen snow. Food becomes scarce in some households and a deep chill settles into the bones of the furry residents. Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins eventually emerge from their tiny home to scout out the neighbors and perform several rescue attempts for snowed-in friends. When they are out delivering food with Bruiser and Poppa, they get word from their friend Fluff that kittens have gone missing in the snow,



Knowing the odds of finding the poor frozen kittens alive are slim, Hettie and Tilly get down to business immediately and make the acquiescence of the snowed in residents of the Wither-Fork Woods estate - including the odd couple fostering orphan kittens. Have the kittens simply run away or is something more sinister afoot?



Likes/Dislikes: This book caught my eye because it appeared to be a mystery where everything is normal except for the teeny tiny fact that everyone is a cat and, to my delight, this is true! All of the characters are cats and they act like civilized humanoid cats, complete with wearing clothes, talking and living in big houses. I loved it!! The mystery itself was very interesting and certainly unique. This is the 8th book in the series and I haven't read any of the other books but it stood up very nicely on its own. I look forward to more adventures with Hettie and Tilly!



Rating: PG-15 and up, mainly for content (hints of witchcraft, ghosts, bloody deaths, etc. but nothing graphic)



Date Reviewed: January 22nd, 2020



I received a copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

“ Hettie’s phobia about telephones was based on the idea that anything loud and intrusive was morally wrong – and anyway, she preferred not to speak to cats she didn’t know.”

The above paragraph sums up nicely the book as a whole. If you love cats, enjoy anthropomorphism, and find a mystery in an England entirely populated by cats who can cook apple dumplings and wield saucepans, you may well adore this mystery.

There is nothing wrong with the writing: the plot is not unreasonable, and the story moves along briskly. The characters could have more dimension and depth. I wish I’d enjoyed this more: it’s not the fault of the author, because I gauged my interest on the playful title and a brief description. The description was mildly misleading, and I expected more.

I don’t know that there’s much to say other than that there is a definite audience for this; I’m just not it.

cats, fantasy, friendship, detective, cozy-mystery, situational-humor, verbal-humor

What a cute story! Populated entirely by cats, the mystery is about the disappearances of kittens from an orphanage amidst other problems created by a nasty blizzard. Lots of laughs! Fascinating characters who truly are.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Duckworth Books/Farrago via NetGalley.

I am really not sure how to place this book, a strange mix of childhood fantasy and adult humour with many morals and dilemmas. It is akin to an old fashioned fairy tale with plenty of goodness and evilness mixed up with the more gentle TV detectives of today. In many ways it is quite enchanting and the names given all the cat characters are really tongue in cheek as a parallel to the human modern world. Well written with interesting plot and characters with a resounding and proper conclusion,.

What an adorable premise for a series of books.

Light - hearted fluff which is just too cute. Although I'm not sure that I would read any more in the series.

Morton’s land of cats returns with a chilling tale fit for winter. Hettie Bagshot and her partner Tillie are snuggled up in their room behind the Butter sisters’ bakery when a call from Fluff Wither-Fork sends them out into a blizzard. Three female kittens have gone missing from an orphan school run by a pair of zealous missionaries installed in the Folly if Wither-Fork Hall.

With frigid temps this outside and mysterious happenings inside, the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency have their hands full.

Morton imbues her world of cats with the good and evil of humans, and throws in a grim folk tale to boot. It’s a mystery to delight any reader, filled with wry humor and sly references. Captivating ~

This series is becoming a favorite and I started this ARC as soon as I downloaded it.
I also ended it as fast as I could.
It's a great mix of cozy mystery, humour and gothic story. The plot is well crafted and keeps you hooked till the last page, the mystery is complex and well thought, the cast of characters as lovely as usual.
I love this world of cat and the names of the cats are a strike of genius.
I can't wait to read the next instalment.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to Farrago and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.