Sydney
McCall has left a high-profile advertising job in New York
to return to Deer Park, North Carolina where she will help
her sister, Kat, run the local no-kill animal shelter. Sydney
will use her considerable advertising and PR skills to help
with fund-raising events.
First
up, is a planned cat cafe at the coffee shop owned by their
friend, Dayna Harper. Dayna bought the business from the McCall
sisters after their father, who ran it previously, passed
away a couple of years before. There is an immediate problem,
however, in the form of the landlord, Trowbridge Littleton,
who is adamantly opposed to the idea, and in fact, wants to
close the animal shelter down completely.
After
a public argument between Kat and Trowbridge, he is murdered
in his office! Kat and Sydney discover his body, and because
of the bad blood between them, the local police suspect Kat!
When they don’t seem to be looking at any other potential
suspects, Sydney dons the Nancy Drew hat she’s always
wanted to wear and begins some amateur sleuthing to prove
her sister is innocent. Soon enough there are plenty of other
suspects and a variety of motives, but Detective Bennington
remains highly suspicious of Kat. The younger detective, Will
Worthington, who happens to be an old high school crush of
Sydney’s, is more open and willing to listen. There
might just be a hint of romance between the two as well, particularly
since Sydney also left her cheating ex-fiancé behind
in New York.
This
is a fun and fast read and is a lovely start to a charming
new series. The murder is well planned and I did not guess
who the killer was. I enjoyed getting to know these characters
and look forward to their development in future books. One
of my favorites is the wandering shelter cat, Toby, who not
only decides that Sydney is his forever person and adopts
her, he is also crucial to the outcome of the case.
One can
never go wrong with a cozy mystery that features loyal siblings
and an animal shelter. When you add a special cat like Toby,
it’s a guarantee that readers will be purring from the
first page to the last. I can’t wait for the next installment!
Reviewers Note: T. C. LoTempio also writes the Nick
and Nora Mysteries
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