It is once again and already time to select our five
favorite cat cozy mysteries of the year. There were lots of tough choices to be
made, and it was hard to have to leave some very good reads off the list. In
the end, we chose the books that entertained us the most, that made us want to
go back and read them again (and still we had to leave some off!). Our
favorites have a few common themes: realistic human characters, often with complex
relationships or life situations; clever cats who are far more than token
characters; a mystery that is fun to try to solve, rather than dark and
gruesome; and often, a little magic.
So, in the order in which we originally reviewed them, here
are our favorites:
A Midwinter’s Tail by Sofie Kelly, in which librarian Kathleen Paulson gets caught up in a mystery
when a woman suddenly dies during a library fundraiser. And of course there are
the two magical cats, Owen and Hercules, whose purrsonalities (sorry, I couldn’t
resist) are entertaining in themselves.
Meow If It’s Murder by T. C. LoTempio, in which former crime reporter and current sandwich-shop
owner Nora Charles teams up with a stocky tuxedo cat to solve a murder in Cruz,
California. The cat, Nick, once belonged to a private investigator who has gone
missing. We love Nick’s skill with Scrabble tiles, arranging them just so to
help Nora spell out clues.
Hiss and Tell by Claire Donally, in which Sunny Coolidge and a gray tom named Shadow become
embroiled in the strange goings-on in the lead-up to a high-profile society
wedding. The mystery (of course there is a suspicious death) is top-notch, and
the scene in which Shadow romps through a posh event while being chased by
security is hilarious and worth the price of admission.
Paws and Effect by Leighann Dobbs, in which we see the magical cats of Mystic Notch, New Hampshire, work to
protect a mysterious box that must not fall into the hands of those who would
use it for evil. This series has ghosts, which we love, but certain ghosts can
only be seen by certain people (or cats). We also enjoyed seeing the world
through the eyes of Pandora the cat as she matures into her abilities.
Look Both Ways by Carol J. Perry, in which Maralee “Lee” Barrett buys a bureau with a link to a
well-known murder and soon finds herself involved in a much more recent murder
(and by “recent” I mean “Lee finds the body”). Lee is oh so slowly learning what
to do with her gift (or curse) of “gazing,” or seeing visions in shiny objects
like the mirror on that bureau. This series features a big yellow-striped cat
named O’Ryan who may once have been a witch’s familiar—and boy, is it a good
thing for Lee that O’Ryan hangs around!
