Monday 16 November 2020

Book ~ "Alfie the Christmas Cat" (2020) Rachel Wells

From Goodreads ~ Christmas is around the corner and Alfie and George can’t wait. This year, the residents of Edgar road have come together to put on a festive show and raise money for a local homeless shelter.

As December approaches, plans are in full swing: auditions are being held, props are being built, Alfie and George are rehearsing daily and everyone is having a very merry time.

But then things start to go wrong. And when the residents arrive at the theatre one morning to discover their set has been trashed, it becomes clear someone is trying to sabotage their performance.

Alfie and George know it’s up to them to find the culprit and save the day. Because, after all, the show must go on.

Alfie is a doorstep cat who has many families.  He lives with Claire and Jonathan and their young children.  Polly and Matt (and their young children and cat), and their children, Sylvie and Marcus (and Sylvie's daughter) and Harold (Marcus' father who also has a cat) are their neighbours and Franceska and Tomasz )and their teenage children) are former neighbours.  All the families are very good friends with each other, thanks to Alfie.  Alfie is the adopted "dad" to a cat named George.

Connie, Sylvie's daughter, is dating Franceska and Tomasz' son, Aleksy.  They are doing a school project and decide to do something to help the local homeless shelter.  After brainstorming with everyone, including the cats, they come up with idea of having a Christmas show and giving the proceeds to the homeless shelter.  Plus they will ask for donations of clothing, etc.  The neighbourhood pitches in and they have quiet a show planned.  But someone starts sabotaging it but know one knows who.  Alfie takes it upon himself to find out what's going on. 

This is the seventh and latest in Alfie series and I liked it (I've read them all).  Though it's part of a series, it works as a stand alone.  It is written in first person perspective in Alfie's voice.  We can see the conversations he has with other cats and now Pickles.  Plus he understands the conversations of humans around him (rather than "blah blah blah blah blah Alfie blah blah blah).  Though he can't talk back to them in their language, he does try to communicate in cat-talk and expressions.

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