Cat and Shauna have come to a crisis point in their joint ownership of their business. Shauna has fallen in love with mysterious Kevin and is thinking about marriage. Since Shauna is responsible for a lot of the day-to-day activities of running their writer's retreats, this could change the business.

Just as the January bunch of authors is set to arrive, Kevin is found dead in his horse barn. He died of poison and Shauna is the one who bought the cyanide-containing rat poison from the local hardware store. Neither Cat nor her police chief Uncle Pete think Shauna is guilty, but solving the murder has moved to the top of Cat's to-do list.

Meanwhile, Cat is also still trying to understand how her ex-husband Michael died. It seems he was keeping even more secrets from Cat than she had so far discovered. And she is still coming to terms with her new relationship with her old college boyfriend.

I listened to this one and found it rather difficult to keep track of all the various mysteries and characters in this episode. There were so many plot threads that I kept losing track. ( )

3 1/2 Stars

At first I wasn’t sure that I cared for the continuing story-line concerning Cat’s husband Michael and the east coast mob, now that the mystery seems to be wrapped up I feel better about it. But now my main concern with the series going forward is a love triangle with Seth and Dante. In this book Seth hardly appeared and I really don’t want to see a love triangle with a mob boss so I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen and Seth gets to be more then an part time employee

The standalone mystery with this one seemed hardly to matter as the continuing series mystery really took over. ( )

I love Lynn Cahoon and so how I missed that she had another series that spun off from her Tourist Trap Mystery series is beyond me, but I'm delighted to find this!

While this is part of a series it worked well as a stand alone, with enough detail to bring me up to speed in such a way that I was rushing to Amazon to find the other books in this series.

Like her other books, this was an easy (but late night) read that sucked me in - the mystery, the characters, and the clever plot made for a wonderful escape! She kept me guessing with the "whodunnit" and she didn't disappoint! ( )

This third book in the series ties up some loose ends that began with the first book. Cat has gotten some closure concerning the death of her ex-husband, though Shauna is in need of closure herself when her fiancé is found dead in his barn. Some consider her a suspect in his death, but Cat is determined to prove her innocence. The enjoyment of this series lies not only in the intricate plots, but also in the engaging characters and quaint setting. ( )

Cat Latimer has her January writers' retreat people coming. This is her fourth retreat, but only one has gone off without a hitch. This time, the partners are back in the middle of a murder investigation. Cat's friend and business partner, Shauna, has recently gotten engaged and is spending a lot of time at Kevin's ranch. She heads over for dinner, taking a pot of stew for dinner. After returning to the house, she does not trust Cat to get breakfast ready, she is woken in the middle of the night by Cat's Uncle Pete. Kevin is dead, he was poisoned and the poison was in the stew. Not only is Shauna devastated, but she is also a suspect, especially since she recently bought rat poison at the local hardware store. Cat is now investigation Michael's death (her ex-husband) and Kevin's. Will she be able to find the real murderer before something happens to Shauna? Will she be able to find out what happened to Michael without putting herself in danger?

I really enjoyed Shirley, a retired police detective who is on the retreat so she can write a police procedural. She was so funny. You could tell she really liked Uncle Pete, but she tells everyone it is a professional relationship. There is a lot of teasing going on there. She also helps Cat with her investigation of Michael's death and they do some sleuthing together. I hope she sticks around in the next few books as a love interest for Uncle Pete. The other members of the retreat didn't play much of a role in this book, except for the College Student who was there in the college spot. I really enjoy the relationship Cat, Shauna and Seth have in these books. They are partners and best friends, almost like siblings, although Seth really wants to rekindle the high school romance he had with Cat. I was glad to see Michael's murder solved, but I think there is still a bit more for Cat to find out. It is fun to visit Cat and her gang in Colorado and I look forward to my next visit. ( )