Finding a corpse is a problem for hotel owner Ashley. But when it vanishes before the police arrives, and she realises someone in the hotel is hiding something from her, she knows she has a real problem on her hands…particularly with the kittens that start appearing at the same time.

I picked this up expecting to slate it; after all it had a single one star on amazon. By chapter three I was beginning to think that was a bit unfair as the story had proceeded at a steady pace and the mystery was intriguing. Initially it was slightly too slow for me, but things picked up nicely when the body was found (as they generally do).

On finishing, one star really does seems a little unfair. It has a strong start, good characters and the writing flows well. Written in first person, the grammar errors are down to colloquial speech and acceptable as such and I spotted no typos.

That is not to say there aren’t issues. A camera phone would have produced fast proof of the corpse, a point that is never answered, and most police officers will insist on interviewing both witnesses, not just one.

The real problem is the ending, which is weak. What has really been going on is left up to the characters’ best guess, with no evidence or confirmation at all, and the dark hints dropped about Trevor throughout are never cleared up. While I can understand this as part of a series, the only plot thread really resolved is the cats. I would have expected the story’s individual mystery to have a clearer resolution. Instead I found myself flipping past the word end, wondering where the rest of the story was and feeling a little let down.

It is still a nice introduction to the author’s style, but the ending means I can’t really give it more than a two. While I’d like to read more about Ashley and her inn, because they are good characters, I’d also like to check the ending first… As a free read though, it is a good way to sample the author’s style.