Fur Love or Money
Second Chance Cat Mystery #11
By Sofie Ryan
ISBN 9780593550243
Author’s website: sofiekelly.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
Secondhand shop owner Sarah Grayson and her rescue cat, Elvis, sniff out the suspect in this new, delightful Second Chance Cat Mystery from New York Times bestselling author, Sofie Ryan.
Sarah Grayson is taking a break from her bustling secondhand shop in small-town Maine to spend time with a friend and her dog. But their purr-fect visit comes to an end when the dog leads them to a storm cellar on a nearby property, where they discover a dead body.
The deceased turns out to be a sticky-fingered financial adviser who swindled millions from investors and who has been presumed dead for the last three years. Unfortunately, suspicion falls on the owner of the property where the body was found—and that owner is a good friend of Charlotte’s Angels’, the senior citizen sleuths who work out of Sarah’s shop. It’s all paws on deck, as the Angels are determined to clear his good name. But with a tight-lipped widow, a possibly shifty sister, and a slew of unhappy investors in the mix, the list of murder suspects seems endless. Sarah, Elvis, and the Angels have a lot of webs to untangle before they can catch the culprit.
Review:
This cozy mystery series has several elements that keep me coming back for more. The characters’ ages span from late teens through young seniors. They are engaging, entertaining, people I would welcome as neighbors. The setting in North Harbor, Maine, sounds gorgeous, and is a popular tour bus destination. There is always humor, but not at another’s expense.
Sarah is the owner of the Second Chance, a popular repurpose shop I’d like to visit. Several of her grandmother’s friends opened their private investigations firm, Charlotte’s Angels, and their office has a permanent space in her shop. In part, she likes to keep an eye on them so they don’t get into trouble, and a couple of the ladies help out in the shop regularly. Sarah also helps them with their cases.
Elvis, Sarah’s black cat, just finished a photo shoot for a cat food company that wanted to use him in an advertisement. He knows he is handsome, and the scar across his nose gives him a rakish look. Elvis had been found by the harbor a few years ago by an old friend of Sarah’s family. Before gifting him to Sarah, Sam named him Elvis because he liked the music of the king. Elvis is a wonderful companion, very opinionated, and a feline lie detector. If someone is petting him and speaking or being questioned, he can tell in a moment if they are telling the truth.
Rose, one of the Angels, had made dog treats for Casey, a dog who rescued her after she was attacked several months ago. They were now good friends with Casey’s owners, Ashley and Keenan, who are expecting their first baby. When Rose and Sarah took the treats to Ashley, Casey was whimpering and looking towards the nearby water. Rose, Sarah, and Ashley took a walk with Casey to see what was upsetting him. He led them to a rental property, then took Sarah to a storm cellar. She could hear a puppy inside, and found a way down to get it. Just before getting out of the cellar, something made her look in the garbage bag tucked beneath a tarp in a corner. The good news was that the pup looked like one that a missing flyer had just gone out for. The bad news was, the body of a man was in the bag, and it looked like he had been murdered.
It was a couple of days before they learned about the murder victim. When his body was not recovered after a fall in Ireland three years ago, Ian Stone was thought to be dead. He was about to be investigated for suspicion of running a huge Ponzi scheme. None of the money was ever found, and his wife, certain he was dead, had recently remarried.
The cottage was owned by Channing, a long-time friend of Angels Rose and Liz. Channing was also a friend of Ian’s father and had known Ian since he was a boy. He didn’t know Ian was renting the cottage as a property management company handled everything. Despite that, Channing was suspected of hiding Ian for the three years since his death was apparently faked. The Angels are determined to find who killed Ian, as whoever killed him may have been the person who helped him hide, freeing Channing from the accusations.
Each character is designed with care. The regulars are vibrant people who love the lives they have, help others, and demonstrate that one doesn’t have to be related by blood to be family. I like how Sarah and Mac, and Rose and Mr. Peterson are both couples, each couple from different generations, as is Sarah’s grandmother, who remarried after being widowed for many years. None of the relationships take top billing over the mysteries, and each couple is adorable in their own way.
This complex mystery is energized by startling plot twists that open or closed doors to potential suspects or motives. The Angels eliminated suspects based on one very specific clue about the killer, which deterred me from the person I was almost certain was the bad guy. The killer was finally revealed, and any open concerns were tidily handled. I am already eagerly awaiting the next in series! I highly recommend both this mystery and the series!
