How to Wash a Cat
- ISBN13: 9780425232040
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Groundbreaking New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Two cats are better than one…
First in an adorable new series!
A deceased uncle and a surprising inheritance propel a woman and her two very curious cats into the mystery surrounding his death.
An investigation that starts amid the curios and novelties of a San Francisco antiques shop follows a twisted trail of perilous deception that leads all the way back to the days of the Gold Rush itself.
About This Post
As I was browsing the book shelves at a bookstore, I spotted this book and the title hooked me in. I like cats and especially adore San Francisco. I took it home and read it over several days. The author has no thought about cats. It says that she owns some; perhaps. And perhaps they are stuffed cats. The things that these cats in the book were supposed to do are impossible. I know. I own many cats and their charm is that they do what they want to do when they want to do it. Try putting some sort of costume on a cat. That costume would be shredded, ripped and chewed up in no time. But the lack of reality about cats is not the only problem with the book. The main character is virtually non existent. She was a shadow. And the end of the tale was completely unintelligible. What kind of ending was that? I was mad that I had spent my time to be so disappointed. I expected a strong plot structure with lots of detail especially from a patent attorney whose success depends on the details.
Rating: 1 / 5
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The tile got me to buy this book. That and the promise of a historic/modern mystery a type of book I usually find fascinating. The place and central mystery are ok. The huge weakness of this book and it is a very serious weakness is the central character. She nearly doesn’t exist. I have rarely seen so thin a character central to a tale. Even the dead uncle had more personality. The main character seems to have been used only to introduce other characters. I would not recommend this book unless you got it at half price and had nothing else to do.
Rating: 2 / 5
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This book covers all my favorite subjects: cats, mystery, and the history of the gold rush in San Francisco. Very cleverly written. It’s a real page-turner. After I first read it, I bought 5 hardcover copies and gave to 5 friends, who loved it as much as I did. I am excited to see it is now out in paperback — I am going to buy many more copies now. And I am nervously awaiting the sequels!!
Rating: 5 / 5
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I couldn’t end this book. The main character was not named by page 75. Why would an editor go along with that? Although the main character had to be at least forty-five years ancient, she allowed people to walk all over her. She had no personality. Monty, who owns a business across the street, was very irritating.
After reading the other one and two star reviews, I have to agree with them. The subject and location are very appealing and the best part of the thought for the book. I don’t know why Ms. Hale’s editor didn’t have her strengthen the main character and tale before it was approved for publication. She didn’t do Ms. Hale any favors.
Rating: 1 / 5
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I loved this book more than I expected to after reading the prologue and the first few chapters, which were a bit over-written. Since I like cats and was interested in the San Francisco setting, I chose to cut the first-time author some slack and continue reading. Now I’m looking forward to her next book in the series, while hoping it features somewhat less of the highly annoying Montgomery and that the editing will be a small tighter. This author has a wonderful esoteric vocabulary rarely employed in this genre, but juxtaposed with the typos and a few misused words it made these errors even more glaring and distracted me from the tale when they appeared. This may be the result of publishers having cut way back on employing editors and relying on spellcheck programs, as these errors are becoming more prevalent in nearly all the books in assorted genres I’ve read recently.
Many of the books I like are written in the first person, so I didn’t feel the lack of having a detailed description of the heroine. In fact, I was three quarters of the way through the book before I realized she had never been given a name! She’s written in a very relatable way and so are the cats.
The plot was well thought out and fascinating, and I very much loved the descriptions of the modern and historical San Francisco. Other reviews have already described the tale, so I’ll just add that this book was a very pleasant way to spend part of two evenings and recommend it to fellow mystery and cat lovers.
I’m looking forward to the further adventures of Ms. Hale and her show-stealing felines, and have already pre-ordered Book Two.
Rating: 4 / 5
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