One of my favorite authors who writes mysteries about felines is Sofie Kelly.
Sofie Kelly is the author of the New York Times best-selling Magical Cats mysteries. As Sofie Ryan she writes the upcoming Second Chance Cat mysteries. In her spare time she cooks, hikes, practices tai chi and makes mixed media journals. She also has a tiny crush on the Today Show's Matt Lauer.
The Magical Cats mystery series focuses on the adventures of librarian Kathleen; and her two cats, Owen and Hercules. Owen and Hercules seemingly possess magical powers – one can disappear and the other can walk through walls.
I fell in love with this series immediately, and I think you will too! Here’s a bit about the books:
In the first volume, CURIOSITY THRILLED THE CAT, librarian Kathleen Paulson moves to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, and hooks up with two stray cats. 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 fur and purrs, there's something more to these felines.
When murder interrupts Mayville's Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect. More stunning is her realization that Owen and Hercules are magical-and she's relying on their skills to solve a purr-fect murder.
In the second adventure, COPYCAT KILLING, 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 up all night helping 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. After she discovers the artist was using an assumed name, she realizes she can't actually assume anything about him. With the help of handsome detective Marcus Gordon—and her cats' extraordinary powers of detection—it's up to Kathleen to unmask a killer.
Of course there is a love interest – hunky detective Marcus Gordon – and in the fifth instalment, FINAL CATCALL, we meet Kathleen’s former fiancée, who’s come to Mayville Heights to win her back.
However something else comes up, a drama group loses its theatre in a neighboring city and is moving to town. The group is led by an old friend, someone she has heard about, and a perky young lady who just happens to be Marcus's younger sister. But when one of the group is killed, found again by Kathleen, she tries to stay out of the investigation. But as the investigation progresses, she and her two furry sidekicks Hercules and Owen must poke around in order to find out who and why before the curtain falls on someone else.
In the recently released A MIDWINTER’S TAIL
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 a 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.
Try one of these books – you fall in love and be like me, impatiently awaiting the next instalment!
Columnist: Toni LoTempio
While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She lists among her favorite mystery/suspense writers Erle Stanley Gardner, Mary Higgins Clark and James Patterson, as well as EJ Copperman, Steve Hockensmith, Victoria Laurie, Ali Brandon, Rita Mae Brown, Miranda James and Sofie Kelly to name only a few! Toni is also passionate about her love for animals, as demonstrated with her four cats: Trixie, Princess, Maxx and, of course, ROCCO, who not only provided the inspiration for the character of Nick the cat in the Nick and Nora mystery series, but who also writes his own blog and does charity work for Nathan Fillion’s charity, Kids Need to Read! Toni’s also devoted to miniseries like The Thorn Birds, Dancing with the Stars, reruns of Murder She Wrote and Castle (of course!). She (and ROCCO, albeit he’s uncredited) pen the Nick and Nora mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime – the first volume, MEOW IF ITS MURDER, debuts Dec. 2, 2014. She, Rocco and company make their home in Clifton, New Jersey, just twenty minutes from the Big Apple – New York. Find them at: www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com or at www.tclotempio.com
