ppcfransen 's review for:

Cat Killed A Rat by ReGina Welling, Erin Lynn
1.0
I never before realised this, but formatting, too, can be off-putting. This book has too much white space between paragraphs. White space, to me, means scene brake. Took a bit to get used to that here it merely meant 'get ready for the next paragraph'.

Next thing that bothered me were the main characters. Very likely, they are the authors' avatars. Or at the very least, author wishfulfillment (Mary Sues). They are just so … Well, EV is tall and slim, and behind the scenes she has a lot of influence in the village, but she doesn't like to be in the foreground about that (I think we're supposed to think she's modest) and organises an annual fox hunt for kids. But other than Chloe there's not a single person in the village that seems to like her. There's something about her that rubs me the wrong way too, and it's not just her feudal ideas about local government.

'With a lifetime of history in this place, EV was not interested in seeing the Pines become the type of town governed by one person. The Selectmen system worked well here. Three leaders meant three varying perspectives on every issue. To her, the terms mayor and dictator were very similar in concept, (...)
If she had to, she could pull rank. As the largest landowner and the only daughter of the founding family, her opinion held enough authority to put a stop to the whole thing.' 

To me feudal lord and dictator are similar in concept. At least a mayor is elected to be in charge temporarily.

Then there's Chloe, who writes a gossip column for a village that seems to thrive on gossip. What's the point? Doesn't everyone already know about whatever she writes in her column?

Gossip plays a big part in this story. It's local gossip that considers the first death a murder. EV and Chloe consider it murder too after they inspect the scene. If it was an accident, the ladder would be in a different position, they reason. What they forget: the scene was released, which means the police were not concerned about keeping the integrity of the scene. Perhaps the police moved the ladder.

Actually, that's very likely, even if the police immediately rule it a murder. The speed at which Detective Nate and Deputy Dalton are willing to share details of the police investigation with EV and Chloe suggests they have no clue about proper police procedure. 

In the end, there was not enough sleuthing for me and particularly in the first 60 pages to much talk of talk of sex and romance (and not even in a way that makes a chicklit enjoyable).