Escape Claws

I love it!! Escape Claws is the first in Linda Reilly's new Cat Lady Mysteries series, and I can't wait for the next one to come out! This mystery pulled me in from the very beginning and kept my attention throughout. It was definitely hard to put down, and equally hard to have a favorite feline. After receiving a call from her best friend, Sherri, that Aunt Fran was having trouble with a town bully and also was caring for too many cats, Lara took a few days off from her part time job in Boston, along with her artistic paintings, and headed for Whisker Jog, NH. It will be her first visit there in 16 years, since her parents moved from there to Sudbury, Massachusetts. Lara didn't hear anything from Fran after writing to her several times, and while she didn't forget her beloved aunt, her life finally took different directions. Lara's heart aches when she sees the state of disrepair of Aunt Fran's home and how much older than her 50+ years Fran looks. Hesitant to listen to Lara, Fran does let he into her home. One of the first tasks she takes on for Fran is cleaning the dozen litter boxes for the eleven cats she cares for, strays or abandoned and left on her doorstep. She learns that Fran has a rapidly-degenerative arthritis, for which her doctor recommends knee replacements. She simply can't see her way to have surgery and find someone to care for her cats while she has the replacements. And the cats are her closest family members now. A local businessman, Theo, is trying to bully Fran into selling a strip of land she owns so he can add it to one he already owns, build, and sell condos. She doesn't want to sell, but he is not leaving her many options, and on what she collects on disability barely covers her needs. The sale would certainly help her financially. Lara wants to help, provide all the solutions, and get back to Boston as her funds are very limited. The following morning, Lara is outdoors and sees what looks like the cat she loved as a child, a Ragdoll cat named Blue. Deciding it could be a descendent of Blue, she follows it - and finds the body of Theo, murdered during the night hours - possibly when Lara heard raised voices during the night? Fran is a person of interest in the murder, especially with the history she had with the bully. Lara and Fran, Sherri and Daisy, and children that Fran looks after are such wonderful, caring characters! Lara's best friend Sherri owned a cafe near Fran's, and Daisy, her mother, helps her with anything needed in the cafe. They are all very well defined, especially as Lara begins to learn a secret or two about Fran. These are the characters who really make the novel work beautifully! Well, them and the cats... There is a rich assortment of folks in Whisker Jog, and Lara begins to feel her attachment to the town grow again. She decides that she is staying as long as the killer is on the loose, but the murder doesn't seem to be solving itself. Figuring out who the bad guy/ gal might be seemed easy, at first, as most of the folks in town are simply good people. I had one who I thought was the killer, but I was so wrong. The real murderer was a complete surprise to me, one that I had never considered! The novel ends with great satisfaction, and I hope the next one is out soon! I highly recommend Escape Claws to every cat lady and cozy mystery lover who enjoys well-executed stories full of strong, friendly people and adorable cats - even the one named Blue that Aunt Fran says she never had. Hmm. Maybe next time we'll find out where Blue ... or her descendents ... might have come from.