The Whole Cat and Caboodle:
Second Chance Cat Mystery
Brand New Series
Cozy Mystery
An Obsidian Mystery
Published by The Penguin Group
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0451419941
E-Book File Size: 2017 KB
ASIN: B00F9EZBG0
Welcome to the oceanfront town of North Harbor, Maine. Sarah Grayson owns and operates Second Chance, a shop that sells used items that have be given makeovers and some have been totally repurposed. She even holds classes so people can transform their own pieces.
Sarah’s grandmother holds the mortgage and several of her grandmother’s friends work at Second Chance. Sarah has known them most of her life and they are her friends as well as her grandmother’s. Mac, a retired financial planner, is Sarah right hand. Together they turn some people’s junk into beautiful treasures. Elvis is the store mascot and not your typical cat. Elvis has used up his nine lives but was rescued by Sarah. The big black cat with the scar on his nose from one of his battles goes everywhere with Sarah and seems to understand every word she says and humans in general.
When one of Sarah’s elderly friends fails to show up for a class everyone gets worried. Maddie would never miss a class. When they find her she is in her garden with a man who is very dead. Maddie is the prime suspect, of course, but Sarah and all her friends know she could never hurt anyone. Before the murderer has a second chance to kill someone else they need to clear Maddie and find the real killer.
An excellent debut!
This cozy has a really great twist. While Sarah is the main character (with Elvis coming in at a very close second) she is not the one doing the investigating at least at the start. She is more a wrangler of the group who has set up an office in the store and started calling themselves Charlie’s Angels. Senior citizens, Liz, Rose and Charlotte along with a little help from Mr. P. (Bosley) are trying to track back through dead man’s past to see who could have killed him. They happen to turn up plenty of suspects. They also add a whole caboodle of humor to this story too. Elvis also becomes quite an asset as the story plays out.
Added to the character mix is Nick, Sarah’s “old high school flame” who works for the coroner’s office and Michelle Andrews, she and Sarah used to be best friends but not anymore and she is the detective that caught the case. Can old flames reignite? Can old friends come back together and be friends again?
If you have read the Magical Cat Mysteries by Sofie Kelly you will quickly realize the Sofie Ryan is the same author. She has a unique way of writing especially for her feline characters. They jump right off the page and into your heart.
This is a wonderful start to a new series with group of characters I already love. I am looking forward to book #2.
Find out more about Sofie Ryan on her webpage here.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
I just read this one and am happy to hear that it is the first in a series!