The Windmill Murders is the eleventh book in Mandy Morton’s The No.2 Feline Detective Agency series.
Our two ginger cats, Caramel and Toffee, are taking over the blog today. Let’s see what they have to say about The Windmill Murders.
Caramel and Toffee (together): Swish your tails, twitch your whiskers, and put your paws up. Hettie and Tilly, our catective friends are back!
Caramel: I love Hettie and Tilly series. They remind me a lot of the rat-and-squirrel-catching adventures that my sister Toffee and I have. Let meow give you a brief description of the story. Tilly’s been digging up her family roots and she learns that she might be related to the Skrimshaws of the Skrimshaws Priory where the first-born females were called Matilda.
Tilly writes to them, hoping someone would reply – if they are still alive, that is. Tilly’s also read about a notorious witchfinder general who murdered a Matilda and her kittens; Tilly’s been getting nightmares since then.
Toffee: Cals, you forgot about the Butter sisters’ unexpected trip which left Bruiser, Tilly, and Hettie in charge of their bakery. Oh boy, was that a disaster in making. Though the Butter sisters left instructions and frozen goodies, the trio could barely manage the morning crowd. It ends well, as the Butter sisters return sooner than expected.
Then, Tilly receives a letter from her great-aunts of Skrimshaws Priory. They have invited her for tea. Bruiser, Dolly (on whom Bruiser has his hotpaws), Tilly and Hettie plan a Sunday trip to the ancient windmill where the Skrimshaws sisters live.
Caramel: *swishes a paw at Toffee* Are you going to steal my spotlight or what? Let me continue. As they reach the place, they learn a group of Hippie cats have camped in the fields. They claim to be decedents of a rival group and want to overpower the Skrimshaws sisters.
Toffee (interrupts Caramel): The meeting doesn’t go as planned. The Skrimshaws sisters start to fight with each other, making Tilly and Hettie walk away. No tea or biscuits.
Caramel: *swishes tail* Don’t interrupt me.
Both cats start fighting and Rekha interrupts them.
Rekha: Hey! Stop it! You are supposed to tell my readers about the book.
Caramel digs her nails into Rekha’s feet.
Caramel: Don’t interrupt me! Heavy rains force the group to spend night at the caravan. Tilly cannot sleep well so she goes out early in the morning and meets Sister Constance. She says the occupants of the windmill are her younger sisters Romew and Remew. They took over the place, abandoned Constance (the real heir), and changed their names to Matilda. Tilly somehow manages to bang her head against a headstone. She returns to the caravan. At the same time, the hippies come over, accusing them of murder.
Toffee: The Matilda sisters are found murdered in their home. The hippies believe Tilly, Hettie, Bruiser, and Dolly are responsible. They lock them up in the windmill and the leader claims to overtake the field and the Priory from the Skrimshaws, and burn Hettie, Tilly, Dolly, and Bruiser to death for murder.
Hettie and Tilly must prove their innocence and escape from death before it’s too late.
Caramel starts a paw fight with Toffee: How’s that for escape from death? Me-ha-ha-h! Toffee walks away and continues the narration…
Toffee: It was interesting to learn more about Tilly’s family. We aren’t rescued pets, but we felt bad when we heard Tilly was in a bad shape when Hettie rescued her. The flashbacks/nightmares that Tilly got piqued my curiosity. She has no clue why she’s been dreaming about being a Matilda from the 1600s until someone tells her she might be visiting one of her pawstlives.
Caramel starts to jump around Toffee, trying to coerce her into a paw fight.
Toffee *rolls her eyes*: I don’t know about my pawstlife but my sister was surely a pain-in-the-backside in her previous life.
Caramel: My turn! My turn! Phew! I am tired. *gulps water hastily and vomits on the floor* Boy, that felt good! Keep in mind that the four informed their friends that they were meeting Tilly’s great-aunts for tea. But it’s been two days since and they haven’t arrived. Their friends are worried. Time’s a-ticking for the group. Until there’s some sort of progress, they will be meeting their end soon.
Toffee: Hettie and Tilly are the best catectives ever! They dig out clues, claws and learn who killed the Matilda sisters. Not just that, they somehow manage to bring justice to Sister Constance.
Caramel: Claws, murders, history, witches, a spot of horror, and whole lotta fun. I loved every bit of this book.
Toffee: I second that! Oh, don’t forget about the delicious goodies that the Butter sisters bake. Cream horns, bacon baps, pastries, buns, breads, ooh my mouth’s watering. *drools*
Caramel: Yeah, my sister and I have decided to give the Butter sisters bakery and No 2 Detective Agency office a visit. We love baked goodies and murder mysteries. What about you?
Caramel and Toffee together: We love Mandy Morton, Hettie and Tilly. We loved The Windmill Murders meow-much. If you are looking for a story that makes the fur on your spine stand straight, makes you dig your claws into someone’s flesh, drool over baked goodies, you meowght want to give The Windmill Murders by Mandy Morton a try.
The Book Decoder 
Love it when Caramel and Toffee take over the blog! And love Hetty and Tilly too–can’t wait to read this book.
Thank you 😊
Looking forward to reading your review.
Lovely review, indeed.
Thank you, Yagnesh ji 😊