Paws and Effect: A Magical Cats Mystery (Magical Cats, #8)

by Sofie Kelly

Resourceful librarian Kathleen Paulson needs the help of her magical cats, Owen and Hercules, to clear the name of someone close to her heart in this mystery in the New York Times bestselling series...
 
Kathleen is excited to meet three old pals of her beau, Detective Marcus Gordon, while they visit charming Mayville Heights on business. But the reunion is cut short when one of the friends is killed—and the evidence points toward Marcus as the murderer.
 
Though it seems she doesn’t know all of Marcus’s secrets, Kathleen is sure he’s no killer. With his suspect status sidelining him from investigating the case, it’s up to Kathleen and her feline partners-in-crime to find whoever is framing Marcus—and make sure the good detective hasn’t found his last clue.

• ISBN10: 0451472160
• ISBN13: 9780451472168
• Publish Date: 4 October 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451472168

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

It does't sound good that my favourite character in this series is Fred the Funky Chicken, but it's true.  The other characters are all likeable in the best cozy-mystery way, but my heart goes out to Fred the Funky Chicken every time.**   I'm not going to pretend that this book isn't everything a modern cozy is; the magical cats pretty much give the game away.  But Kelly does't over-play that magical hand and doesn't try to hide the deux ex machina-like effect this has on her ability to plot her mysteries.  She also creates likeable, believable, characters that enjoy a reasonable amount of realistic conflict; some of which is resolved and some of it isn't.     The murder plot was decent-ish.  I was side-eyeing the murderer for awhile but there weren't any puzzle pieces to play with, just one big whopper of a clue that solved the whole thing for everybody at once.  Or at least, for the reader and the MC; everyone else would need more proof, of course, thus allowing our MC to stumble into mortal peril.  A reader comes to understand this is the nature of cozies though, and at least this peril was believable.  Sort of.  (How did the murder find them??)   So Paws and Effect is everything you'd expect a contemporary cozy to be anymore, but better than most of the rest; a bit more solid and well written.  A fun, fluffy bit of fiction for lazy afternoons.

[Mystereity Reviews]

See this and all my reviews at Mystereity Reviews

Kathleen is out to breakfast with boyfriend Marcus when they unexpectedly meet up with Marcus's old college friends; John, Danielle and Travis. Not long after, Danielle is found dead - and the evidence seems to implicate Marcus, who doesn't have a good alibi. Kathleen knows there's something Marcus isn't telling her, but she also knows that Marcus did not murder his friend. With the help of her friends and her magical cats, Owen and Hercules, Kathleen wades through the secrets between friends to catch a killer.

This is such a cute series, and I always enjoy visiting Kathleen and the gang in Mayville Heights. I can't believe we're up to #8 of Owen and Hercules and their shenanigans! As usual, they're busy walking through walls, making themselves invisible, and biting the heads of catnip chickens while smugly pointing out clues.

This was a great plot, I liked that details about the victim were filled in as the story went along, because you don't really get to "know" her before she is killed and those details gave clues to who the killer was. I guessed who did it early on, based on what I thought was a clue and it turns out I was on the right track, but the "clue" wasn't a clue at all, or even a red herring.

This can easily be read as a standalone, as past events aren't really a part of this story and the few references don't hinder this book for new readers. But I definitely recomend reading the other books in the series because magical cats. Owen and Hercules are the real stars of this series, if only because their antics add some humor and whimsy to the series.

Overall, another great book in an enjoyable series and I don't hesitate in recommending this series to cozy mystery fans.

[Silvara]

Check out my other reviews, discussions and link ups at Fantasy of the Silver Dragon.

I received this book for free from Berkley Prime Crime in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I love how even though Owen and Hercules are magical cats, they still act like cats. Sometimes cats in paranormal cozies act too human, or just don't act the way you expect a cat to act. But that isn't the case for these two.

I had two guesses as to who the killer was, it turned out that my 2nd guess was right. Though I had no idea about the why. When it was finally revealed, it made sense though. I love how the books in this series don't always seem to focus on the sleuthing 100% of the time, and yet you don't feel like it's slow or have the need to skim ahead to get to a "good part." Because all if it is pretty much a "good part."

I like getting to know the secondary characters better in each book. And while Hercules, Owen, and Kathleen are my favorites, it's fun to see what the other characters are up to. They're all fleshed out enough that they feel distinct, and are easy to remember even though it's been 9 months since I read the last book.

This was a very quick read for me, mostly because I didn't want to stop reading once I had started! I do recommend that you not drink anything while reading the opening pages however. That first scene was hysterical and had me laughing out loud! If you haven't tried this series yet, you need to do so!

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon