The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse

Title: The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse
Author: Leann Sweeney
Rating: Four Guitars


Sizzilin' Summary:
Jillian Hart is a quilter who's been widowed for ten months. Her depression has kept her from meeting anyone in her small hometown of Mercy. Her only friends are her three cats, Syrah, Merlot, and Chablis.
Then Jillian comes home after a business trip, and discovers that someone has broken into her house! And whoever did it stole Syrah! Jillian jumps out of her shell, and starts looking for her cat... but when she discovers the thief, he has been stabbed via knife and killed!
Jillian has to find this murderer, before she or someone else innocent gets arrested... especially since the police are undoubtedly on the wrong trail...

Rockin' Review:
This was a pretty good book. It was pretty enjoyable, though it didn't have many moments that just clung onto you. There were a few of those scenes, but they were near the end and scattered a little bit throughout.
Most of the book is like a relaxing read. Many of the characters were well-done, however. And the story was well-written. This includes the mystery angle. Many of the things, questions, and problems were wrapped up nicely.
However, this book could have been done better. Like I said above, there weren't overly too many cling-to-you moments. There were quite a few times where you could leave for a while and not care. This problem, like usual, started to disappear near the end, but even then I could leave it when needed to, and not get back to it for a while. The exception was the last chapters, which made me stay as long as possible until I had the book done.
So, all in all, this book could have been done better... but it was a very good book, and is worth getting when you can find it!

The Cat Who Went Up the Creek

Title: The Cat Who Went Up the Creek
Author: Lilian Jackson Braun
Rating: Three and a Half Guitars

Sizzilin' Summary:
While Polly goes on vacation, Qwill & Co. go to stay at the Nutcracker Inn, run by his friends Lori and Nick Bamba, near Black Creek... the actual creek this time, not the town. But soon a dead body is found, and a new mystery arises.
Can Qwill figure out Koko's signals and actions, and the mystery?

Rockin' Review:
This was a pretty good book overall. It stuck more to the mystery element, thankfully. However, the enjoyment level never truly reached 5-Guitar level. It started out as a 4-Guitar, and it became a 3-Guitar near the end. However, it never totally stunk, however!
And it could have been written better. Some of the mystery-solving didn't make sense, and the explanation scene makes you feel like something didn't add up, though you can't quite put your finger on it. And the mystery of Walter didn't make much sense, and I didn't feel like it was resolved well. The whole mystery/sub-story of Polly's vacation didn't quite add up! I felt unsatisfied on both mysteries.
The rest of the book was pretty good, however. What Qwill did around the mysteries was good, and  the actual sluething (sp?) was good, it was just the ending that didn't feel quite so right... and there were things that could have been done better. This book is good for a relaxing read, especially near the end, but it's more of a time-waster than anything else.
All in all, this was a-little-above average book, and was never truly bad, it just needs a good deal of tweaking, and better solutions to mysteries and the rest of the Polly's Vacation parts of the book and story.