A Midwinter’s Tail

A Midwinter’s Tail
Magical Cats: Book 6

Sofie Kelly
Obsidian, 2014

From the back of the book, “Winter in Mayville Heights is busy and not just because of the holidays. Kathleen is hard at work organizing a benefit to raise money for the library’s popular Reading Buddies program. She has her hands full hosting the event. And when a guest at the gala drops dead, her magical cats, Owen and Hercules, will have their paws full helping her solve the murder.

“The victim is the ex of town rascal Burtis Chapman, but she hasn’t lived in the area in years. And though everybody is denying knowledge of why she was back in town, as Kathleen and her detective boyfriend, Marcus, begin nosing around, they discover more people are connected to the deceased than claimed to be. Now Marcus, Kathleen, and her uncanny cats have to unravel this midwinter tale before the case gets cold.”

That’s right – Kathleen finally got together with Marcus. Thank goodness! Their on-again, off-again relationship was making me crazy. It’s stuff like that that can make me stop reading a series of books because it’s just so mind numbing –  for me, anyway. This mystery was another good one. I was really surprised when the murderer was revealed, although when I think about it, the clues were fairly obvious, I just didn’t pick up on them! Like any good mystery, there were a lot of red herrings and possible suspects to sift through, but Kathleen, Owen and Hercules figured it out.

The one thing that bugged me throughout the novel was a consistent misspelling of the victim’s name. She was introduced to the reader as Dayna Chapman. But about 1/3^rd the way in the name was spelled Dana. From then on, through out the rest of the book the spelling of the name went back and forth between Dayna and Dana – sometimes in the same paragraph! Now for some folks, this wouldn’t bother them; but me – it bugged me big time. As we’ve said in previous reviews, misspelling in published novels is inexcusable due to the number of times the book is read/edited before printing. For non-professionally published cats like ourselves, an occasional spelling snafu is acceptable if our humom misses it. Therefore, we are resolved to point out spelling/grammar errors when we find them in published books!

Rating 3 out of 5 paws – Even though I love the way the author makes sure the library figures heavily in this series, the frequent spelling errors (make up your mind, author/editors how you want to spell the victim’s name!) brought the review down a whole paw.

Reviewer: BobbieSue

Copycat Killing

Copycat Killing
Magical Cats: Book 3

Sofie Kelly
Obsidian, 2012

From the back of the book, “It’s been raining cats and dogs in Mayville Heights. The small town’s been deluged, and now the local artists’ co-op is on the verge of flooding. Kathleen has been working hard to help her friends move their creations to the safety of the upstairs studio.

“The artwork survives, but when controversial mask-maker Jaeger Merrill is found drowned in the co-op basement, Kathleen questions whether the death was accidental. With the help of handsome detective Marcus Gordon – and her cats’ extraordinary powers of detection – it’s up to Kathleen to unmask a killer.”

In the further adventures of librarian Kathleen and her 2 magical cats (one can walk through walls, the other can disappear at will) solve not one, but two murders! One of them, decades old. And, poor Kathleen – she’s always getting hurt – mostly by the murderer she uncovers. But in this book she’s standing on the side of a hill when it gives way from all the rain soaked soil and is almost buried alive! Thank goodness her hero, maybe-one-day-boyfriend Marcus, rescued her. The murderer was a surprise, although, I did have my suspicions about him/her. They were just too good to be true! Now, I’m off to the next book (I’ve got 7 more to go in this series!)

Rating: 4 out of 5 paws – good mystery, good story, great cats!

Reviewer: BobbieSue

Sleight of Paw

Sleight of Paw
Magical Cats: Book 2

Sofie Kelly
Obsidian, 2011

From the back of the book, “Kathleen never wanted to be the crazy cat lady. But when Owens and Hercules followed her home from mysterious Wisteria Hill, she realized her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her: her cats have magical abilities. And when a body is found near Kathleen’s favorite local café, she knows Owen’s talent for turning invisible and Hercules’ ability to walk through closed doors will give the felines access to clues Kathleen couldn’t get without arousing suspicion.

“With her pet partners, and perhaps the assistance of a certain handsome detective, Kathleen is determined to find out who kill Agatha Shepherd, an elderly woman who seems to have helped almost everyone in town at one time or another. Someone is hiding dark secrets, and it will take a bit of fur-tive investigating to catch the coldhearted killer.”

This book takes place in winter and in winter in Minnesota is super cold – not that I’ve ever been there – but the way the author writes about the cold chilled me to my bones!! Of course, the fact that there was a cold-blooded killer on the loose didn’t help! No, the book didn’t scare me but who the murderer turned out to be surprised me big time! Owen and Hercules do help Kathleen solve the mystery and Owen does his part in saving his person’s life (he did the same in the first book.) I wish I could make myself invisible!

Rating 4 out of 5 paws for being a fun (if you can call a murder mystery fun) and, at times, humorous story of a determined librarian and her equally determined feline companions.

Reviewer: BobbieSue

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat
Magical Cats: Book 1

Sofie Kelly
Obsidian, 2011

From the back of the book: “When Kathleen Paulson leaves her life in Boston and moves to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she has no idea that two strays will nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction, and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen’s fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the furs and purrs, there seems to be something more to these felines.

“When murder interrupts Mayville’s Wild Rose Summer Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect. More stunning is her realization that Owen and Hercules are truly special—perhaps even magical. Suddenly she’s relying on their skills to solve this crime and save her reputation. With a little legwork from her four-legged friends, Kathleen may be able to solve this purr-fect murder….”

I love reading books that have both cats and libraries in them!! Its so much like home! In this new-to-LoC cozy mystery series, Kathleen is a librarian who not only adopts two semi-feral cats but helps the local veterinarian take care of a feral cat colony! The two cats, Owen and Hercules, do have magical powers – Hercules can walk through solid doors and Owen can make himself invisible! Both of these talents help their human solve mysteries and keep her from getting killed by the murderers she uncovers.

This book does a good job of laying the foundation for what should be a good series of mysteries for me to read. I enjoyed it and if I had been paying close attention I might’ve had a better idea of who the murderer was, but I wasn’t and I didn’t so I was quite surprise when it turned out to be — – ha! You thought I’d tell you who! I’m not offering any spoilers because I want you to enjoy this little cozy.

Rating 4 out of 5 paws for surprising me with who the murderer was – someone I didn’t even suspect at all!

Reviewer: BobbieSue

A Familiar Tail

A Familiar Tail
A Witch’s Cat Mystery #1

Delia James
Obsidian, an imprint of Penguin Random House, 2016

From the back of the book: “Unlucky-in-love artist Annabelle Britton decides that a visit to the seaside town of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is the perfect way to get over her problems. But when she stumbles upon a smoky gray cat named Alistair and follows him into a charming cottage, Annabelle finds herself in a whole spellbook full of trouble.

“Suddenly saddled with a witch’s wand and a furry familiar, Annabelle meets a friendly group of women who use their spells, charms, and potions to keep the people of Portsmouth safe. But despite their gifts, the witches can’t prevent every wicked deed in town….

“Soon, the mystery surrounding Alistair’s former owner, who died under unusual circumstances, grows when another local turns up dead. Armed with magic, friends, and the charmed cat who adopted her, rather than the other way around, Annabelle sets out to paw through the evidence and uncover a killer.”

Wow! I enjoyed this book so much I read it straight through in one day! It’s always exciting to start a new book, especially when the book is a new series and the author has to do a lot of world-building. Love it! Portsmouth, New Hampshire – never been there, by the way – is wonderfully described – I felt I was there amongst the gardens, old shops and cottages and fancy houses. And of course, the star of the book is Alistair, a lovely gray cat who is magical and helps Annabelle solve the mystery – actually, he knows what’s really going on, but you know humans. They are inept at discerning our obvious clues so it takes his new person the whole book to figure it out.

Speaking of which, the mystery was well done – I didn’t figure out who the culprit was, nor any clue as to why, until it was revealed towards the end of the book. I hope the follow-up books are just as well done as this one; I’m seriously looking forward to them!!! The book is perfect reading for any mystery lover of any age – as long as you don’t mind practicing witches!

Rating: 4 ½ paws out of 5 – my highest rating, without it being a 5-paw rating, ever! Why 4 ½ and not 5? Well, while the story was fabulous, I’m not likely to read it again and there was no real emotional investment on my part which is the hallmark of a 5 paw book!

Reviewer:

BobbieSue