The Big Kitty
A Sunny and Shadow Mystery, No 1
Claire Donally

Berkley Prime Crime
May 2012/ 978-0-425-24802-7
Mystery/Cozy/Amateur Sleuth
Amazon

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

Newspaper reporter Sunny Coolidge took a leave of absence from her job in New York to come back home to Kittery Harbor, Maine, to take care of her father after he had a heart attack. The move back to Maine became permanent after the New York Standard had budget cuts and she was let go. As bad as that was, it was the man she was seeing who fired her, making the situation even more painful.

Kittery, Maine is a small town that suddenly faces a big time crime. When Ada Spruance dies from a fall down the cellar stairs at her home, Sunny's journalist antenna picks up that this was murder. After all, Ada had asked Sunny to help her find a winning lottery ticket worth at least six million dollars. Ada had misplaced the ticket in her house, and the time to collect was running down fast. One of Ada's many cats (she was the cat-lady in town) adopts Sunny. His name is Shadow and it suits him well, as he often shadows Sunny around at home. While out and about. Shadow proves himself as a highly intelligent feline and is integral to the story.

The Big Kitty is a fantastic first book in what will be a very well received new series. Author Donally has a knack for bringing her characters (human and feline) fully to life and sharing their feelings and innermost thoughts. I fell in love with the book right away. If you are a cozy mystery lover who happens to love cats as well, you will too.

Maine is a nice setting, and the description of the area is realistic. The small town politics is also spot on. There is no shortage of suspects or motives in the case, and the situation exacerbates into more danger for Sunny. There is even a touch of romance as Sunny and policeman Will Price get to know each other while investigating the Ada's murder. The Big Kitty is a fun read, fast paced, but yet slow enough to make a reader feel the day to day unhurried pace of rural Maine. Four paws up for this new series!