Review - Pyewacket by Chris Quinton
Pyewacket
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Volume 3 of Melusine's Cats
Tags: Fantasy Contemporary UK Setting
Posted in Book Reviews on 27 September, 2026
Malcolm is quite happy running the bookstore he inherited, even if he spends most of the day alone except for the giant black cat that is as much a part of the shop as the furniture. Lately, however, there has been a bright spot in the form of Jeff, an archaeologist planning digs in the area and using Malcolm to help with the research. Malcolm may enjoy his time with Jeff, but the man is much younger than him, so a relationship seems unlikely. Neither Malcolm nor Jeff reckons on the machinations of the cat, Pyewacket, one of Mesuline’s guardians.
This third and last-for-now book of the Mesuline’s Cats series features a new pair of men who are a nascent couple and end up forming a warrior triad with one of the shape-shifting cats from another dimension. The warriors are needed for the latest battles in a centuries-long war over the throne of the nearest dimension. Although the two main characters are new to this book, you need to have read the first two books of the series to have the full background on all the characters and the war they’re engaged in.
It’s unclear whether this is the final book of the series or not. At the risk of a minor spoiler, the ending of this story leaves all of the characters in a sort of happy-for-now status. Very few of the major plot lines are resolved, so there’s lots of room for more stories involving Mesuline and her nemesis.
The narration alternates between Malcolm, Jeff, and sometimes a few of the secondary characters. Malcolm makes a great deal out of his age, but we don’t really get an exact idea of what the age gap is between him and Jeff. He seems like a very unassuming man, although he is clearly knowledgeable about history and research.
It feels like we don’t get to know Jeff all that well. As with Malcolm, Jeff’s age is not explicitly defined except to say he’s younger than Malcolm. If Jeff is a full professor at a university, he can’t be that young. The one thing we can really be sure of about Jeff is that he is definitely attracted to Malcolm regardless of any perceived difference in their ages.
“Pyewacket” is available from Smashwords or see Bookshop.org to purchase from an independent bookshop.
