Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel (A Tenth Life Cozy Mystery) by Mollie Hunt. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel (A Tenth Life Cozy Mystery)
by Mollie Hunt
Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel (A Tenth Life Cozy Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Oregon Coast
Independently Published (May 30, 2024)
Number of Pages: 246
The game is murder at the Mystery Beach Hotel.
When Camelia Collins meets her old college friend Anne Pine for a murder mystery weekend at the coast, death becomes more than a game.
Accompanied by her ghost cat companion Soji, Camelia begins to discover clues that have nothing to do with the role-playing storyline. A lurking stranger spies on Camelia from the house next door. A vengeful spirit haunts the hotel. A winter storm rages outside, threatening the old building, while a murderer roams the halls, threatening those within.
Will Camelia’s keen senses and Soji’s feline wiles be enough to catch the killer before they kill again?
My review of Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel
Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel is the third book in the captivating Tenth Life Cozy Mystery series by Mollie Hunt. The series stars septuagenarian Camelia Collins and Soji, the ghost cat she “acquired” when she bought her home in the small Oregon town of Ocean Cove. You don’t need to read the first two in order to enjoy this one, but they are as delightful as Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel.
In Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel, Camelia ventures to the Mystery Hotel to participate in a murder mystery weekend with her old college friend, Anne. What should have been a fun weekend becomes a nightmare when a real murder occurs.
It was a dark and stormy night…The perfect setting for a murder mystery. Though I missed the Ocean Cove residents who’ve become Camelia’s good friends, I did love this setting. The old hotel plus a raging winter storm made the mystery even more creepy.
Once again, the author gives us well-written, colorful characters. The guests vary in age from mid teens to mid 80s. The murder mystery cast members and hotel employees round out this eclectic mix of characters who find themselves fearing that there’s a murderer among them. Much to Camelia’s surprise, Soji, her ghost cat, has hitched a ride with her though he can basically go where he wants to go. It’s also rumored that the hotel is haunted by a former guest. Is that rumor true? You’ll have to read to find out!
I really enjoyed trying to solve the real murder along with Camelia and a real-life detective who just happens to be at the hotel too. There are plenty of suspects with red herrings carefully placed throughout the mystery. Things go bump in the night, the wind howls and rattles the hotel, the electricity cuts out. This mystery kept me turning the pages. I felt as if I were right there in the hotel listening to the rain pound on the roof.
I highly recommend Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel for its dark, stormy setting, eclectic characters, and puzzling mystery! I think cozy mystery lovers will love it!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
Author Guest Post: Cats in the Mystery
Why do cats fit so seamlessly into cozy mysteries? Is it because they, themselves, are mysterious? Or is it the feline curiosity that parallels our human desire to figure out the story? Maybe it’s just because we like cats.
I’ve lived with cats since I was a child. Some of my earliest memories are of interactions with our family cat Two and how I planned to marry him someday. When I got old enough to live on my own, cats started coming to me, showing up on my doorstep and not leaving. What would now be called strays, I then believed to be spirits who needed me, transcendent beings who, in return for my hospitality, would lend me a little of their cat magic.
I began to notice how many cats were fending for themselves on the streets, far than I could keep on my own. That’s when I decided to volunteer at our local animal shelter, a compassionate place that did their best to care for and adopt out those unwanted cats.
When I began volunteering in the cattery, I thought I knew a lot about cats, but I soon discovered my skills only touched the tip of the whisker. I started taking classes, being mentored, and generally paying attention to the many felines that came through the shelter doors. It was there I began to unravel the mystery that is Cat, but instead of finding answers, I was offered more questions than ever.
Why are some cats friendly when others are mean or frightened? Why are some hostile while others run and hide? At first, I figured it had to do with their past environment and experiences, but I soon learned it was more than that. Kittens are born with distinct personalities. Some spark in their little cat soul makes them happy or friendly or timid or bold, and the only way I would find out who they were was by approaching each cat as an individual.
We think of cats as playful, extroverted, affectionate, and confident, but there are other feline traits that are more mysterious in nature. Cats have been described as sneaky, cunning, or stealthy. They can walk across a room without making a sound and appear suddenly in unexpected places. They can flow like water and have even been described as a liquid. Yet if one of those seemingly-small beasties becomes aggressive, their attack feels more like being hit by a truck than a feather.
Through the ages cats have been synonymous with magic and wizardry. It’s believed cats and humans began to live and work together millennia ago. Cats proved their worth killing mice and snakes in the granaries, leading the ancient Egyptians to consider them gods. In 16th century Scotland, the legend arose of the Grimalkin (gray cat), who takes the shape of a human by day and a panther by night. The Irish folktale that a black cat crossing one’s path in the moonlight meant you’d fall victim to plague has morphed into a well-known modern myth. In some cultures, cats are given attributes such as the ability to predict the weather or warn of impending doom. This plethora of mystique makes cats the perfect subject for a mystery story.
Then there is the spiritual aspect of cats. What is my cat thinking when she stares at a blank spot on the wall, at a crack in the floorboard, or at me? A slow blink translates to love and trust, but what if there is no blink? Something is going on behind those diamond-pupiled eyes. Is she seeing ghosts? It’s long been speculated that cats can see spirits, and whether you believe it to be true likely depends upon your own willingness to accept the supernatural. Since my cat refuses to tell me if she sees ghosts or merely a wayward moth, I can only guess.
Both feline behavior and the legends that have grown up around them place cats squarely into a wealth of mystery scenarios. They can see and hear beyond our own perception, which makes them the perfect sleuth. They can get into impossible places as with the cat in one of my stories who was found with the body in a locked room. They lend themselves to the mystical, like my ghost cat character, Soji, the spirit of the seventh black kitten of a seventh black kitten. They can go anywhere, do anything, and come through it without ruffling one strand of their luscious fur, which points to the question, why wouldn’t we want a cat (or two or three) in our cozy mysteries?
About Mollie Hunt
Cat Writer Mollie Hunt is the award-winning author of two cozy series, the Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and the Tenth Life Mysteries. Her Cat Seasons Sci-Fantasy Tetralogy features extraordinary cats saving the world. Mollie also released a cat-themed COVID memoir. In her spare time, she pens a bit of cat poetry as well.
Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, the Cat Writers’ Association, Willamette Writers, and Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA). She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and a varying number of cats.
Author Links
You can find Mollie Hunt, Cat Writer on her blogsite:https://molliehuntcatwriter.com/
Follow Mollie’s Amazon Page: www.amazon.com/author/molliehunt
Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/MollieHuntCatWriter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molliehuntcatwriter/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7768987.Mollie_Hunt
GoodReads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210323563-ghost-cat-at-the-mystery-hotel
Purchase Link – Amazon
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Ghost Cat at the Mystery Hotel TOUR PARTICIPANTS
May 24 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
May 24 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 25 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 25 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT
May 26 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 27 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 28 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 29 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST
May 30 – Literary Gold – SPOTLGHT
May 31 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
May 31 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
June 1 – Ruff Drafts – REVIEW
June 1 – Bigreadersite – REVIEW
June 2 – StoreyBook Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
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Sounds like a good book.
Enthusiastic thanks to Christy for the gracious review! I’m glad you liked it. Also for posting my author guest post which was fun to write. What wonderful support!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by today!
I love the title and it sounds like a great read.
Thanks for sharing the info. Sounds good!
This looks very promising. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
This looks like a fun book to read!
Cute cover
This will be a good summer read. Thanks!