Cat Cafe Mystery Books in Order

The Cat Cafe Mystery books center on Maddie James, a woman who returns to Daybreak Island, just off the Massachusetts coast, expecting a temporary stop and getting a whole new life instead. What begins with family grief and a reluctant homecoming quickly turns into a fresh business plan, a stray orange cat named JJ, and a murder that makes it impossible for Maddie to stay on the sidelines. By the end of Cat About Town, it is clear this island is going to keep her busy.

JJ helps. Usually.

One of the big pleasures of the series is its setting. Daybreak Island feels like the kind of place where everyone knows the gossip before breakfast and every holiday becomes a full-town production. The harbor, the inns, the shops, the ferries, and the old family homes all matter. So do the island politics. When people clash here, the arguments tend to come with history, and that makes each case feel personal instead of random.

Maddie's main project across the books is JJ's House of Purrs, her cat cafe and rescue space. That business gives the series its heart. Cats are constantly being fostered, adopted, worried over, or blamed for getting into places they should not be. Around the cafe, Maddie is surrounded by family, friends, volunteers, local business owners, and a rotating collection of island personalities. Those relationships carry forward from book to book, so even when a murder is new, the world around it feels settled and familiar.

The mysteries themselves stay firmly in cozy territory, but they are not all the same. One book may revolve around the grand opening of the cafe. Another pulls Maddie into a Christmas mess, a Halloween spectacle, a rescue fundraiser, or a literary festival. Later books widen the circle with a mobile cat cafe, old disappearances, celebrity visitors, and ghost stories that may or may not be more than rumors. Through it all, Maddie keeps doing what cozy leads do best, asking questions she really should leave alone.

She rarely leaves well enough alone.

If you like animal-themed cozies, family-centered mysteries, and a strong sense of place, this series is easy to sink into. The tone is warm, lightly funny, and affectionate toward its community, but it never forgets that small islands can hold very long memories. Start with Cat About Town and read in order if you can. Maddie's personal life, the cat cafe, and the island's tangled relationships all deepen as the books go on.