Review of Sofie Kelly's Sleight of Paw

Title: Sleight of Paw (Magical Cats #2)

Author: Sofie Kelly

Publisher: Obsidian Mystery

Formats: Mass Market Paperback & Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publication Date: September 6, 2011

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This is a lighthearted cozy featuring librarian Kathleen Paulson and her two magical cats, Owen and Hercules, in small town Mayville, Minnesota. In this second installment of the series, Kathleen is determined to discover who killed Agatha Shepherd, a former school principal who loved children and helped several teens turn their lives around. When Agatha's body is discovered outside the local diner and Kathleen's friend Roma is arrested, Kathleen decides to investigate Agatha's murder.

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, (see my review) so I was eagerly awaiting the release of this second book. While I enjoyed Sleight of Paw, it wasn't quite as good as the first.

This book is just as funny as the first, with several laugh out loud moments and zany supporting characters. Local artist Maggie is probably one of my favorites, since she's hysterically funny. The novel begins with Kathleen and Ruby helping Maggie stuff a "body" into Ruby's SUV so they can set up an exhibit Maggie put together on local sports for the town's Winterfest. It turns out that the body is actually a mannequin dressed to look like NHL star Eddie Sweeney. Apparently he's so lifelike that members of the small town believe that Ruby's dating the player on the side, which leads to some funny moments. Also, magical kitties Owen and Hercules make a few appearances to comedic effect as well, even if Fred the Funky Chicken (my favorite from the first novel) is not quite as prominent here. I like that in both this and the first novel the cats are important to Kathleen and help her investigation but are not the primary detectives.

While the writing is well done and the characters engaging, the mystery fell a little flat for me this time around for several reasons. The first is that I spotted the villain almost immediately. In fact, I was a bit stunned that he did turn out to be the villain, because it seemed so obvious. The second reason this cozy wasn’t quite as successful for me has to do with the protagonist, Kathleen. In the first novel, Kathleen was implicated in a murder, and she conducts her investigation in an attempt to clear her name. However, in Sleight of Paw, her reasons for looking into Agatha’s death are less personal. Detective Marcus Gordon warns her not to interfere several times, but Kathleen continues to investigate. At times it felt as if she were channeling Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote, butting in where she really wasn’t needed, whereas her involvement in the murder investigation in the first book felt much more natural. And the denouement results from a TSTL moment when in spite of everything her friends tell her, Kathleen goes by herself to look for evidence against the villain. This bothered me a lot, because I really like her character, and she never struck me as being quite that dumb in the first book.

I was also a bit disappointed that the hint at an incipient romance between Kathleen and Detective Marcus Gordon didn’t develop in this book, although there are several scenes with the two that are certainly promising. Hopefully future books in the series will continue with the romance.

Despites its flaws, this is an engaging and irrepressible mystery that’s a lot of fun to read. I’m definitely looking forward to the third book in the series and hoping that we’ll see more of Marcus Gordon in it.

Fred the Funky Chicken Meets Magical Kitties





A few months ago I reviewed several books featuring dogs by Jennifer Crusie, and my friend Cathie asked if I had any recommendations about books with cats. There are apparently TONS of books with cats as characters. I’m clearly behind the curve, because the only books I’ve read about cats usually star ones that turn into hunky 6 feet tall guys. Rawr! But while in Target this weekend, I saw that there was an entire shelf devoted to cat mysteries in the book section, so I picked one up. I am so glad I did, because Sofie Kelly’s Curiosity Thrilled the Cat is hilarious!

This novel is more of a mystery than a romance, although there are hints at a possible romance in the future for the heroine, Kathleen Paulson. Kathleen is a librarian who has recently moved to Mayville, Minnesota, to help renovate the town’s Carnegie funded library for its centenary in 2012. She’s been adopted by two feral kittens, Owen and Hercules, who are gifted with some disconcerting abilities. For one thing, Kathleen thinks the cats listen to and understand her when she talks to them, but she also recognizes that might have more to do with her than any magical powers her cats have. Just when she convinces herself that Owen and Hercules are normal cats, she sees Hercules disappear and walk through a door. Their feline magic powers come in handy when the obnoxious guest conductor in town for the summer festival is murdered and Kathleen becomes a suspect. To make matters worse, the contractor working on the library renovations is dragging his feet, and several suspicious accidents occur. Kathleen has a lot on her hands, and her trusty cats step up to help her solve the mysteries.

There were so many things to like about this novel! The book is narrated in first person, which is extremely effective. Kathleen has a strong and very funny voice, and her relationships with the secondary characters are as interesting and warm as the ones she has with Owen and Hercules. I knew after reading the first line that this book was going to be a hoot, and anyone with pets or small children can relate immediately:

The body was smack in the middle of my freshly scrubbed kitchen floor. Fred the Funky Chicken, minus his head.

Fred is a catnip toy that Kathleen’s neighbor Rebecca keeps buying for Owen in an attempt to make friends with him. Since he and his brother Hercules were feral as kittens, they don’t relate well to anyone other than Kathleen, and Rebecca’s efforts to win over the cats are in vain. Owen shows no signs of interest in her but is swiftly becoming a “chicken-decapitating catnip junkie”. Ms. Kelly’s descriptions of Owen blissed out on catnip, surrounded by furry toy chicken parts made me laugh out loud.

Hercules is no less an intriguing character, despite his disinterest in catnip. Apparently he and Kathleen have an unfortunate taste for Barry Manilow music, which sends Owen howling from the room. I certainly sympathize with Owen on this one.

The town’s residents make for an interesting cast of characters, and the older women of the town have embraced Kathleen as one of their own. Part of what makes this novel so enjoyable is the relationships between these women. At one point Kathleen’s friend Maggie becomes convinced that the library contractor is deliberately targeting Kathleen with accidents at the library. Maggie's determined to follow him and find out exactly what he’s doing. In an attempt to be inconspicuous, Maggie borrows an old, beat-up pick-up truck so they can follow him incognito, but the truck won’t start. When she spots the town vet, Roma, pulling into the parking lot in her SUV, she and Kathleen jump into the SUV and tell Roma to follow him. Much hilarity ensues:

Maggie touched her shoulder. “He’s turning,” she said.

“I see him,” Roma said. “It looks like Will has one of those trucks with a turn signal.”

In the end, the key to solving the various mysteries in Mayville has everything to do with relationships past and present, human and feline. There is a hint at the end of the novel that Ms. Kelly is planning on a romantic relationship for Kathleen in the future, and I can’t wait to see the sequel. This novel was so much fun that I highly recommend it.