What do You think about Scratch The Surface (2005)?
As a huge fan of Ms. Conant's humorous dog mysteries, I really *wanted* to fall in love with her first cat mystery. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much to recommend the book. It's difficult to cheer for the snobby, self-righteous protagonist who is unredeemable until almost the very last page. Not as quickly paced as her dog mysteries, the book drags in many points. What kept me reading were Conant's brief, well-written (and all too few) observations from one of the cats. I hope she will hurry back to the dogs to produce a new book, or bring her remarkable dog skills to the cats.
—Laura
You could tell that the woman who wrote this book is much better versed in writing about dogs than cats. Though compelling plotlines are not required for a good cozy mystery - good characters can make up for a lot - the plotline for this book was horrible and I didn't like the main character Felicity. I also read Conant's Gourmet Girl series and did not like the main character in that series at all. I didn't love to hate these main characters, I just couldn't stand them. I'll avoid Conant's books from now on.
—Jennifer Wilbanks
