KitKat Reviews The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries #Ace #LGBTQIA #Paranormal #Cozy #Mystery #Series

Title: The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries Collection One
Author: J.J. Brass
Genre: LGBT / Psychic / Cozy
Status: Read
Cats?: Yes, but I don't want to talk about it.

KitKat Says:

I have a new favourite queer cozy mystery series and it's called The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries.

What's so great about the Courtyard Clairvoyant? Well, first of all we've got an asexual aunt and her pansexual niece as main characters. Aunt Elise is currently recovering from a cornea transplant and guess what?  Turns out the cornea she received previously belonged to a psychic!  Now when she looks people in the eye, she can see what they're hiding.

What are you going to do when you find out you're suddenly psychic? You're going to solve mysteries, of course! Especially if you live on a small-town courtyard and your neighbours are all a bunch of gossipy (but mostly friendly) people.

My favourite of the four books I've read was the third in the series: I Spy a Courtyard Casanova.

In this book, Aunt Elise's former fiance arrives on the courtyard. It turns out she left him at the altar many years ago, and seeing him again brings out lots of messy feelings.

I love the way author J.J. Brass shows us this older woman coming to a greater understanding of what it means to be asexual, for her.  It's not like she's been identifying as ace for 50 years.  The idea of identifying as asexual and that there are other people in the world who are a lot like her is pretty new.

I also love the way her niece Val helps along the way. Life can be confusing for anybody, but for someone who is questioning her identity later in life, Elise sometimes feels really discombobulated. She admires the way her niece's generation can be so out and proud while she still feels a need to keep certain matters private.

The other thing I love most about I Spy a Courtyard Casanova is the mystery itself. It starts out looking like a simple theft, but we soon discover an art fraud ring going on right under their noses. Who doesn't love a good art forgery story, am I right?

There are cats in this series but I won't say too much about that. When you get to the fourth book in the series, I Spy a Wedding Dress Mess, you'll find out why.

I highly recommend The Courtyard Clairvoyant for any cozy mystery reader who wants a strong cast of queer characters. This series has got it all kinds of representation covered: characters who are genderqueer, ace, poly-pan, trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, the list goes on! There are even a few straight people in there too. 😛

If you want to sink your teeth into a cozy small-town mystery series with a hearty dose of queer representation, look no further. The Courtyard Clairvoyant Mysteries by J.J. Brass is the series for you!

Find The Courtyard Clairvoyant at Amazon

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Butterball Reviews Cat Tales: Twelve Fabulous Feline Fables

Title: Cat Tales: Twelve Fabulous Feline Fables
Editor: Madeleine Mayfair
Genre:Literary
Status: Read
Presence of Cats: Very much so. A cat for every month of the year.

Butterball Says:

If the cover image from the paperback edition of Cat Tales: Twelve Fabulous Feline Fables seems familiar to you, perhaps that is because you've so often seen it in the Cats Read Mysteries blog header. Madeleine Mayfair, curator of Crazy Cat Stuff and editor of Cat Tales, was kind enough to create our header, so it would be remiss of me not to mention the wonderful anthology of cat stories she has assembled.

In Cat Tales, you will find short stories from a number of literary greats including Edgar Allan Poe, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Mark Twain and Madame la Comtesse d'Aulnoy.

Of particular interest to mystery readers is the inclusion of The Brazilian Cat by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This tale features a large cat rather than a domestic house cat such as myself. The dynamic between the humans of this story and the title character piques one's interest from the outset. And yet, throughout the tale, a mystery slowly simmers in the reader's mind. The wife of the Brazilian Cat's keeper treats the narrator with not-so-subtle ire. Why? They've only just met.

Throughout the commencement of this tale, we eagerly anticipate what action is to come. When a man keeps a jungle cat penned up in his manor house, that cat will surely wreak havoc upon the cast of characters. But how will this come to pass? Will the Brazilian Cat attack at his master's command? Or of his own volition? Who, if anyone, will be slaughtered?

A stunning tale, exactly what we readers have come to expect from a Master of Mystery like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. If you have not read The Brazilian Cat, find it along with eleven other cat tales in the aptly named Cat Tales: Twelve Fabulous Feline Fables edited by Madeleine Mayfair.

Whether cuddly or conniving, playful or ferocious, cats have thoroughly captured the imagination of humans across the centuries...

Find Cat Tales in print or as an ebook from Amazon!

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