Blog Tour: Meow If It's Murder (Nick and Nora Mysteries #1) by T.C. Lotempio Review, Excerpt, Giveaway

Meow If It's Murder (Nick and Nora Mysteries #1) by T.C. Lotempio

Published  December 2nd 2014 by Berkley

Paperback, 304 pages

Series: Nick and Nora Mysteries

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Source:  I got a copy of this book from the publisher  in exchange of an honest review.
Amazon | Goodreads

Summary from Goodreads

First in a new series!

Nora Charles doesn’t believe in fate, even if she is a crime reporter who shares a name with a character from The Thin Man. In fact, she’s moving back to Cruz, California, to have a quieter life. But after finding an online magazine eager for material, and a stray cat named Nick with a talent for detection, Nora’s not just reporting crimes again. She’s uncovering them…

Back in her hometown, Nora reconnects with old friends and makes some new ones, like Nick, the charming feline who seems determined to be her cat. But not everything about Cruz is friendly. Writing for a local online magazine, Nora investigates the curious death of socialite Lola Grainger. Though it was deemed an accident, Nora suspects foul play. And it seems that her cat does too.

Apparently, Nick used to belong to a P.I. who disappeared while investigating Lola Grainger’s death. The coincidence is spooky, but not as spooky as the clues Nick spells out for her with Scrabble letters—clues that lead her down an increasingly dangerous path. Whether fate put her on this case or not, solving it will take all of Nora’s wits, and maybe a few of Nick’s nine lives. 

After living her life as a crime reporter in Chicago, Nora makes a big move to Cruz, California following her mother's death in order to continue running her mom's sandwich shop. But for Nora, old habit's die hard. After finding an article about Lola Grainger's death, Nora has a hard time dealing with how the case seemed to have been handled. Lola, a friend of her mothers had left plenty of unanswered questions about her death and the crime reporter in Nora can't help been feel that her mother's friend deserves  a more proper investigation.

Interesting story. I liked how it was told from a crime reporter's point of view. It started out with Nora snooping around for questions to report in her article and stumbling into something much more bigger and dangerous then she thought. The cat as the addition to the story was cute, given a little farfetched. I do enjoy animal detectives, but for some reason I felt like Nora was talking way too much to the cat, it was starting to make me feel a little crazy heh. It didn't completely bother me, I still very much enjoyed the story and the mystery behind Nora's death and up until the very end I was completely lost as to who has killed Nora, just when I thought I had it all figured out...

Lotempio's writing is fun and enjoyable. The story was cute and I love that there is a hint of romance for the future of this series.

MEOW IF IT’S MURDER by Toni LoTempio - Excerpt

I put the phone down and leaned back, laced my hands behind my head. The key to all this, I felt certain, was finding someone willing to come clean about what really happened on the yacht that night. From my experience, there was no way all those people were telling the truth. One – or maybe more – was lying.

What I needed to do was figure out who and more importantly, why.

I stood up, stretched, and put down the top on the computer. Nick watched me with his unblinking golden eyes.

“My next move should be to question the other three, see what they have to say about that night. That’s going to require some thought. After all, it’s not like we hang out in the same circles, or that they even frequent Hot Bread for lunch. I can’t just run into them you know.”

Nick jumped up on the counter. His plume of a tail swished, knocking over the plastic case containing my catering menus. They scattered to the floor like autumn leaves. I sighed, bent to retrieve them, then suddenly straightened. I hurried over to the old rolltop desk in the corner, jerked open the bottom drawer where my mother’s impeccable catering records were kept. I thumbed through the folders, and a little cry of triumph escaped my lips as I pulled out one marked KMG. Sure enough, inside were two neatly drawn contracts, bearing both my mother’s signature and that of Lola Grainger, for Hot Bread to cater two of their upcoming company events. I glanced over at Nick, sitting calmly on the counter, licking one paw.

“I get it,” I murmured. “Good point. Now that Lola’s dead, what happens with these contracts?”

I shoved the file folder under one arm and patted Nick on the head. I figured now was as good a time as any to find out.

 Now for the giveaway. Rules are simple. Must live in the US, sorry publisher rules. Must be 13+ year old in order to enter. Has 24 hours to claim their prize.

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