From Across State Lines with Cate Conte!

PA Cozy Mystery Writers
Feb 18
4 min read

From Across State Lines Blog Promo Image - Cate Conte

Please give a warm welcome to Cate (aka Liz Mugavero) from Massachusetts…

Cate has always loved stories—especially the twisty, mysterious ones. As Cate Conte, she writes the “Cat Café Mysteries” (St. Martin’s Press) and the “Full Moon Mysteries” (Kensington), featuring witches, crystals, cats, and moon magic—basically, all of her favorite things.

As Liz Mugavero, she is the author of the “Pawsitively Organic Mysteries” (Kensington), the first of which—Kneading to Die—was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Across all of her books, you’ll find cozy communities, strong heroines, cats with big personalities– and of course, plenty of murder and mayhem.

Her love of writing started early—typing out chapters of her favorite books on her mom’s typewriter just to feel like a “real writer.” Her grandfather, a detective, inspired her lifelong fascination with crime and mystery (though the wild stories? All her own).

She studied English at Salem State University and earned a master’s in writing and publishing from Emerson College. Her first mystery was published in 2013, and she hasn’t stopped writing since.

Favorite Holiday: Halloween

Is your book set in the same state that you live in? (please describe the setting)

The Cat Café Mysteries are set in Massachusetts, where I live just outside of Boston. The series takes place on Daybreak Island, a fictional island inspired by Martha’s Vineyard, just off Cape Cod.

Daybreak Island is quintessential New England, picturesque and coastal, shaped by generations of hardy islanders and transformed each summer by an influx of tourists. Visitors arrive by ferry or small plane, stepping into a world that feels both charming and familiar—kind of like an instant homecoming.

The island is made up of five distinct towns. Daybreak Harbor, the main town, is where Maddie lives and runs her cat café. It boasts the main ferry dock, beautiful beaches, a lively downtown and plenty of quirky locals who are never quite what they seem. Maddie’s café, JJ’s House of Purrs, operates out of her Grandpa Leo’s old house and is filled with cats, coffee and more than its fair share of murder investigations.

As Maddie follows clues across the island, the mysteries span all five towns, giving readers a taste of life from every angle: wealthy seasonal residents, year-round locals, fishermen whose livelihoods depend on the summer season and newcomers who’ve reinvented themselves by starting businesses and building new lives. Together, they create a close-knit community that always comes together when needed most.

Introduce us to one of the animals in your story.

Junkyard Johnny, or JJ, is Maddie’s cat. He’s a big orange boy who looks rough and tough, but he squeaks instead of meows – something he’s a little embarrassed about! JJ and Maddie met at Maddie’s grandmother’s gravesite. He was a stray, and Maddie knows her grandma sent him to her.

These days, JJ is the face of the cat café and fully aware of his role. He adores being in the public eye and is something of a local celebrity—recognized at every shop in town and adored by just about everyone.

At the café, JJ keeps a watchful eye over the other cats, especially the kittens, and he’s rarely far from Maddie’s side. Whether she’s grabbing coffee, greeting customers or poking around a murder investigation, JJ is right there with her—keeping tabs on the town and making sure everyone behaves.

Are your mysteries mostly focused on cold cases or current day ones?

I love complicated mysteries so my mysteries always center on a present-day murder—but I love weaving in a cold case as a secondary puzzle. In Purranormal Activity, the crime Maddie is trying to solve doesn’t begin in the present at all. It reaches back forty years, tied to a long-buried disappearance and a missing family member connected to the victim.

It was a ton of fun to write and there’s even a ghost cat involved!

Favorite Animal: All of them! I currently have two rescue dogs but have had many, many cats. And I happen to also love sloths.

Claws Out: A Cat Cafe Mystery #9

A Little Bit About the Book:

The ninth installment in a charming cozy mystery series set on an island off the New England coast and featuring the cat cafe owner Maddie and her cat JJ.

After a long, snowy winter on Daybreak Island, Maddie and her cat cafe crew are finally ready to embrace the spring, though life is anything but calm. With Val and Ethan's wedding taking center stage, Maddie finds herself juggling wedding plans alongside a new and unexpected venture―a generous donation has made her the co-owner of a traveling cat cafe truck. To kick off the new chapter, she seizes the chance to take the truck on its inaugural trip to a cat literary festival in Provincetown, accompanied by her family and some of the shelter crew.

The festival is organized by the renowned cat-romance author Jasmine Prescott, who also runs a beloved cat rescue foundation on Cape Cod. But when Jasmine's longtime friend and fellow author Vivi St. Clair arrives with a boatload full of drama―everything from a dangerous ex-husband to an unwanted Netflix crew―tensions run high. At first, it seems like just another dose of celebrity chaos―until Vivi is found murdered. As new evidence ties Maddie and her cat cafe into the investigation, Maddie must dig deeper into the tangled web of secrets, rivalries, and feline-friendly drama to uncover the truth. The question is: what’s the connection between the cat cafe and Vivi’s untimely death?