Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Cat's Last Meow
    The Cat's Last Meow
    The Cat's Last Meow
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    The Cat's Last Meow

    By Mandy Broughton

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Being a vet, Dr. Heidi Knack already has trouble with disorderly patients and their overbearing owners. But when the beloved cat of a miserly old man is poisoned, it’s up to Heidi to find out who did it. As she’s desperately trying to save her license and appease her best paying patient, she stumbles upon another victim—this time a human. It’s murder, mystery, and mayhem—can she solve the case before she’s the next victim?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMandy Broughton
    Release dateDec 2, 2012
    ISBN9780989497596
    The Cat's Last Meow

    Read more from Mandy Broughton

    Related to The Cat's Last Meow

    Related ebooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Threat

      Jul 8, 2021

      The Threat
      2 min read

    • Article

      Slavery In The Suburbs

      Oct 6, 2021

      Slavery In The Suburbs
      9 min read

    • Article

      In Dogs We Trust

      Jan 18, 2022

      In Dogs We Trust
      6 min read

    • Article

      Leah Swann

      Mar 25, 2020

      Leah Swann, 49, was born in Melbourne where she remembers a childhood “full of daydreaming, playing outside, storytelling, drawing and reading”. She was always filling notebooks with stories and says over time “it dawned on me I was a writer”. A volu

      1 min read

    • Article

      Deadly family Secrets

      Apr 8, 2021

      With her girls and family dog perched on her knee, mum Shanann Watts, 34, beams happily at the camera. ‘Hey guys, my name is Shanann Watts. Say hi, Cece...say hi, Bells,’ she smiles. It’d usually be a touching, enchanting scene. But this is the openi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Down To Earth

      Oct 28, 2021

      MY BIG THANKSGIVING DAY blessings are easy to count. I have two daughters and a Jack Russell who keep me close. A tribe of siblings and a mother who love me and one another. An overgrown backyard that invites flora and fauna to come out of hiding. An

      1 min read

    • Article

      I Helped Jail An Evil Rapist

      Oct 20, 2021

      Ashlea Page, 28, Sydney, NSW Stuffing clothes into my bag, I carefully tiptoed out the front door. Mum and Dad are going to be so mad when they find out, I thought. Aged 16, I had a good relationship with my parents, but I just didn’t like followi

      3 min read

    • Article

      TWISTED PLOT She planned to CUT MY BABY FROM MY BELLY

      Aug 4, 2021

      Surrounded by family and friends, I felt on top of the world. My fiancé Scott, then 26, and I were expecting a little sister for my stepson, Brandon, aged nine. Now, I was enjoying a baby shower for my girl. ‘Thank you!’ I cooed, unwrapping the cute

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Story Of WITCHES

      Oct 20, 2021

      Many of those dressing up as witches and ghouls for Halloween know little of the real history of witches. We see modern incarnations in culture as harmless, like Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch children’s books, and the trainee witches from the Harry P

      3 min read

    • Article

      Removing The Mask

      Apr 25, 2021

      Removing The Mask
      5 min read

    • Article

      Barley The Boy

      May 13, 2020

      There’s no excuse for his crimes, but Aaron Barley had a terrible start in life. He was the child of incest: his mother and father were uncle and niece. But by the age of six he was an orphan – his mother dying of a heart attack and cancer having cla

      1 min read

    • Article

      Taken…TWICE

      Jul 22, 2021

      If you’re planning to watch Abducted in Plain Sight on Netflix, save this read for later. The Berchtolds and the Brobergs met at church in Pocatello, Idaho, USA, in 1972. Bob and Mary Ann Broberg and their three girls, and Robert and Gail Berchtold w

      3 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Animal Angels

      Apr 25, 2023

      Animal Angels
      5 min read

    • Article

      Lech

      Feb 8, 2022

      Lech
      4 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Hard Truth

      Jul 12, 2021

      The Hard Truth
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ashes to Ashes

      Mar 16, 2023

      Ashes to Ashes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ashes to Ashes

      Mar 16, 2023

      Ashes to Ashes
      4 min read

    • Article

      Allison Pearson

      Aug 29, 2019

      Fifteen years ago this month, I fell in love. My husband knew all about it although he did warn me not to get involved. I didn’t listen, I was a woman possessed. I drove to Luton to meet him. The first time he saw me, he jumped up and licked my ear.

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Cat's Last Meow

    3/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Cat's Last Meow - Mandy Broughton

      I

      Never much of a fantasy fan, I knew one thing for certain: Odell Greenry loved Precious every bit as much as Gollum loved his precious. And while both objects of obsession could be possessed neither could be mastered.

      Poisoned! He shoved the cat at me. 

      Poisoned? I re-entered the here-and-now. Why poisoned? The roomful of sycophants hung on my every word, awaiting my judgment. Unlike Gollum, old Odell had money—lots of it—which attracted hangers-on. And I, as the cat expert, received sycophantism by proxy.

      Is the cat ill or not? Another voice. Hmm—round face, flat nose. Mental dredging produced a name—Raul—and occupation—accountant.

      I knew the routine. Frowning, I laid Precious on the exam table that stood in for her shrine to examine the hairless brute yet again. Of course she struggled, so I took charge. Like a jackhammer to concrete, that was the approach she understood.

      Well? Raul, arms folded, tapped a manicured finger on the sleeve of his suit. Quite a well-paid accountant, I surmised, judging by his attire, even if he reminded me of a feral hog. Looked down his snout at me, too. Why would he ask about the health of a cat he clearly hated?

      I stroked Precious. She’s fine.

      Hearing that, she swiped me twice with her blades. Oops, this was one critter I shouldn’t pet.

      I could feel the tension leave the room. When I glanced around, seeing that I knew all the party-goers from my weekly feline ministrations brought a sick thought. Did that make me a sycophant too?

      Nope, not possible. I surveyed the crowd again. The old man’s lawyer stood over his wheelchair like a gargoyle ready to pounce. Odell did love his money, so of course he loved having the lawyer around who helped him keep it. The accountant? Not so much. The accountant only counted beans. As for the gargoyle, I didn't know its name. All I knew was that he was huge, so huge he made me want to whisper when he was around.

      Then there was Halyn with her rag, dusting the corner shelf. Could be the perfect witch, Halyn. Attractive, black hair, long face, a spell-caster disguised as a live-in housekeeper. Even her dusting resembled magic, casting the grime away. Had to be how she survived working for the old miser, weaving her spells. What kind of a name was it, Halyn? Made up, no doubt. Couldn’t be her true one.

      The Senior Brigade twittered in another corner. Not social-media twittering, either. All a-flutter over nothing. Couldn’t bother catching their names, I simply thought of them as Red, White, and Blue. Hair color, of course. The only other characteristic I knew was that one brought Odell food; one ate most of it, and the last fluffed up his cushions. Why they visited the old man every day escaped me, since he was as rude to them as he was to his other underlings.

      And then there was old Moneybags's nephew—Kento. I knew him because Odell constantly blamed him, by name, for all the world’s ills. Hard to spot, easy to miss, Kento was generally forgotten until things went wrong. Like a mouse in a cage with a python, Kento cowered, holding something in a large picture frame close. 

      I sighed. It was time for a diagnosis, which Odell wasn’t going to like. No point delaying. The cat’s perfectly fine.

      Poppycock! Odell shouted.

      Used to it by now, still I cringed. Heidi Knack, doctor of veterinary medicine and concierge animal doc, I put up with a lot.

      I tugged my ringing ear. She's a healthy eighteen-year-old cat. As I relocated the ugly brute from the exam table to Odell's lap, my hand must have pressed her belly, because she flinched.

      See there? Odell screeched again. If she was fine, she wouldn’t twitch like that. She's ill, I tell you! Poisoned! His face, usually gray, was flushed from shouting.

      Hold everything, old man, I said. Bring your voice down to where it won’t deafen the canines, and turn up your hearing aid. Reluctantly, I put Precious back on the exam table for a third time.

      Odell glowered. Don't need a new hearing aid, need a new vet.

      Didn't say you needed a new aid. I said TURN IT UP. I palpated the cat’s abdomen again—no reaction.

      When Precious snarled, I resisted the urge, barely, to whack her. No other vet in Texas would come out weekly to attend this monster.

      Odell rapped on the arm of his chair and the gargoyle wheeled him close to the exam table. New vet, young lady, Odell growled, new vet.

      More money, old miser, more money, I growled back.

      Hmph! He blew his stale coffee breath my way.

      I felt all around Precious's abdomen. She didn't exactly flinch, but she did squirm, so I cradled her close trying not to get skewered. Didn’t work. Vampire cat, I rubbed my bleeding hand.

      Look, she's fine, I said. What are you feeding her?

      Odell glared. I’ve told you, she needs real food.

      I shook my head. Nope. She's a cat. She needs cat food. She’s off her diet, isn’t she?

      The old man smiled. She eats what a warrior cat needs.

      Warrior cat? Why did I bother to ask? So, what does a warrior eat?

      Halyn spoke up. Bacon. And squab.

      I planted my fists on my hips. Squab? Bacon? I should add an idiot surcharge to my fees. Are you really that ignorant?

      She’s depressed, Odell said. She needs to hunt, and she feels bad when she can’t.

      Hunt, my foot. Mercy killing, that’s what she needed. I rubbed my head. Now a headache to go with ringing ears and bleeding hand. So that’s what’s been happening to the birds in your backyard. I’m sure you know the neighbors have complained.

      She needs meat, I tell you. Odell rapped on his chair again. The gargoyle pulled it back to the room’s center. Makes her feel strong.

      She can’t take it, Odell. She needs cat food that’s gentle on her digestion. She’s as far from a warrior cat as is felinely possible. She’s a retired Best in Show, that’s all. She does not need to eat birds.

      Already late for my next house call, I knew I should have skipped this stop. I must love pain, that’s why I’m a vet.

      Kento put in

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1