Truffles Interviews...Muffet Cat from Ellery Adams' Murder in the Mystery Suite (w/Review & Cat Earring Giveaway)

Hey everybody, Truffles at the keyboard! Mommy and I are soooo excited about my interview today with Muffet Cat, the feline star of Ellery Adams' brand new book Murder in the Mystery Suite, the very first Book Retreat Mystery. Ms. Adams is one of our favorite authors and she LOVES kitties!!!

Following the interview make sure you leave a comment for the chance to win an adorable pair of cat earrings. They have cats and books on them...our two favorite things! Then at the very end of the post you will find our Tortie Shorties review of the book.

Enjoy!

Welcome, Muffet! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for my readers. Could you tell us a little about yourself and how you became involved with Jane and Storyton Hall?
I came to Storyton Hall as a stray kitten. I was just a tiny little thing, half-starved and lost. You’d never know from my present size and girth that I was ever skinny or small, but’s true. Jane’s twin boys, Fitzgerald and Hemingway (they go by Fitz and Hem for short) found me and carried me inside. I knew right away, by the gentle way they cocooned me in a warm towel and by the tantalizing scents of food (frying fish, hot cream, melted cheese), that I had come home.

Where did your cute name come from? 
Just between us cats, humans can be quite daft. In my case, the Steward Family assumed I was female. (Muffet Cat pauses to cough as if he has a massive hairball). Forgive me, but the idea is simply preposterous. Anyone with half a brain would only need to look at my face to know that I am one hundred percent male. In any case, I was given the humiliating name of Miss Muffet. Fortunately, the veterinarian corrected the family’s error, but I was somewhat stuck with the moniker. It was amended to Muffet Cat and I strive to bear this trite designation with as much dignity as I can muster.

What is a typical day like for you? 
As you know, Truffles, we cats like to spend most of the day sleeping. There are so many sunny nooks in Storyton Hall and as long as human readers aren’t occupying my favorite chairs or window seats, I have my pick of nap spots. I don’t mind all the strange humans who pass through my sprawling manor house. After all, the moment I widen my beautiful golden eyes, I find myself the recipient of dishes of clotted cream or bites of tuna fish. At night, I prowl the grounds. It is my duty to keep the manor house free of rodents. I don’t have a taste for them, so I merely make threats with my sharp claws and magnificent teeth. When my work is done, I spend the remainder of the night curled up on Aunt Octavia’s pillow. She is my favorite human. She is large and soft and keeps treats for me in the pockets of her housedresses.   

What kind of mischief do you and Jane get into in Murder in the Mystery Suite?
Miss Jane employs me as a sort of human detection device. As we cats have superior intuition to humans, I will let her know if a human is not to be trusted by growling, hissing, and flattening my ears when such a person is present. It’s a simple task and I am always rewarded with praise and a tasty morsel from the kitchens.

Now onto some important cat stuff: do you have a favorite toy, food, and napping spot? 
The whole resort is my castle. I come and go as I please, slipping in and out between the feet of guests or bellhops, sleep wherever I chose, and am beloved by those that matter (Aunt Octavia, Jane, and Mrs. Hubbard, the head cook). As for recreation, I am fond of shredding the backs and undersides of chairs. But please do not make this admission public. The results of this hobby have yet to be discovered.

Any idea what your upcoming adventures will be? 
I know a large number of human guests are descending upon Storyton Hall for something called The Murder and Mayhem Week. I have seen them wearing wigs and costumes, but I cannot make sense of it. I do know that the kitchens have been especially busy and that many delicacies will soon be laid out on tea tables and dining room sideboards, so I am keenly looking forward to this event.

Any final thoughts for your adoring public?
Many of you will wish I had more scenes in Murder in the Mystery Suite, but sometimes, humans don’t make the best decisions. Perhaps, when all of the characters have been introduced, I can have more of the spotlight in the second book, Murder in the Jane Austen Parlor. Until then, farewell and happy reading and eating.

A contest for Muffet Cat’s future fans: Share your pet’s name in your pet’s “voice” as well as his or her all-time favorite food and you could win your pick of earrings. If you don’t have pierced ears and you win, Ellery Adams will substitute a similar prize. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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About the book: Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia is the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving.

But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book he won as his prize is missing, Jane realizes one of her guests is an actual murderer. Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There’s no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up…

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!

Anytime I'm asked for a cozy mystery recommendation, inevitably the first words out of my mouth are "anything by Ellery Adams." As the author of the Books by the Bay mysteries, Charmed Pie Shoppe mysteries and many others, her books are simply something extra special. They are masterfully crafted novels that belong on the bookshelf of every fiction reader. This first book in her new series, the Book Retreat Mystery series, is pure catnip for the soul of any book lover.

Jane Steward is a widow and mother of two adorable twin boys. To raise money for the upkeep of her family's beloved Storyton Hall, a resort that caters to bibliophiles, Jane plans to host a Murder and Mayhem Week, complete with a fancy dress ball and prizes for those who most closely emulate their favorite fictional detective. The theme of the week becomes way too literal when a woman dies in town after falling from her runaway horse, and then the winner of the scavenger hunt is found murdered in the Mystery Suite, his valuable prize missing. 

This book is rich in wonderful characters, from the resort staff to the townsfolk to my personal favorites, Jane's Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius. Storyton Hall is a character in itself, dismantled and transported from the English countryside to an isolated valley in western Virginia way back in the 1830s.

This is one of those books that will make you lament why such a locale does not exist. But the true magic occurs when you turn the final page in this enchanting story and realize that for a brief time you've been transported there thanks to the words of such a gifted writer.