A Magical Cats Mystery, No 2
Sofie Kelly
Obsidian
September 2011/ ISBN 978-0-451-24353-7
Mystery / Cozy / Paranormal
Amazon
Reviewed
by Laura Hinds
Given a stubborn amateur sleuth librarian as the main character,
a couple of cats with supernatural powers, a murder, a handsome
if hard to figure out homicide investigator, this series and this
installment has “winner” written all over its pages.
Minnesota is cold in winter, and librarian Kathleen Paulson knows
how to dress appropriately. When an elderly citizen is found dead
and the librarian is the second person on the scene, it's no wonder
her warm pants hem happens to capture a piece of potentially incriminating
evidence.
Retired teacher Agatha Shepherd had been tough on many of her pupils
back in the day, but most of them grew into respectable citizens
due to her diligence in setting them on the straight and narrow
path of life. When she is run down and left to die, the secrets
she held may have to come to light in order to find her killer.
Suspects abound, but when Kathleen’s friend, Ruby, is arrested
for the murder, Kathleen knows she has to help her. Police Detective
Marcus Gordon had recently accused Kathleen or murder in another
case, and she knows he hates to be wrong again. Yet she knows her
friend is innocent and sets out to prove it and find the person
responsible, because she doesn’t believe Detective Gordon
will look further than Ruby.
This series is really taking off, and the characters are growing
on readers. I love the magical cats in particular, and found it
a bit disappointing that their powers weren’t featured more
predominantly in this book. The cats were certainly active and mentioned
frequently, but they weren’t vital to the solving of the mystery.
At first, I thought I knew whodunit right away, but then became
convinced I must be wrong. Well I was wrong about being wrong, and
my first suspect was the one involved. Yet I loved how the author
made me question my conclusions and provided enough red herrings
to keep me reading and anxiously awaiting the conclusion.
The book is very well crafted and the characters are likeable.
The mystery comes together nicely, and the groundwork is laid for
more books in the series. I, for one, hope that the author continues
to delve more deeply into the lives of Kathleen and her friends,
as well as her potential relationship with Detective Gordon. It
will be interesting to see what the citizens of the small town of
Mayville Heights still have for hidden secrets, and how the magical
cats, Owen and Hercules, help the friendly librarian be a crime-solving
force to reckon with.
Cozy lovers will enjoy this book a lot, and it is suitable for
the ages of teen - adult. Especially suitable for cat lovers and
bookworms who worship librarians and believe they can solve everything.
Hey, that sounds like me, and I’m waving all four paws in
the air for Sleight of Paw!
Reviews of other
titles in this series
Sleight
of Paw #2
Copycat
Killing #3
Cat
Trick #4
Final
Catcall #5
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