Friday, January 12, 2018

Escape Claws (A Cat Lady Mystery #1)

Author:  Linda Reilly
Genre:  Mystery

Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781516104192
Lyrical Underground Publishing
202 Pages
$15.00; $3.99 Amazon
December 26, 2017

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For the first time in sixteen years, Lara Caphart has returned to her hometown of Whisker Jog, New Hampshire.  She wants to reconnect with her estranged Aunt Fran, who's having some difficulty looking after herself - and her eleven cats.  Taking care of a clowder of kitties is easy, but keeping fran from being harassed by local bully Theo Barnes is hard.  The wealthy builder has set his sights on Fran's property, and is determined to make her an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Then Lara spots a blue-eyed Ragdoll cat that she swears is the reincarnation of her beloved Blue, her childhood pet.  Pursuing the feline to the edge of Fran's yard, she stumbles upon the body of Theo Barnes, clearly a victim of foul play.  To get her and Fran off the suspect list, Lara finds herself following the cat's clues in search of a killer.  Is Blue's ghost really trying to help her solve a murder, or has Lara inhaled too much catnip?

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Lara Caphart is a struggling artist who lives in Boston.  When she receives a telephone call from her friend Sherry telling her how her Aunt Fran is in trouble and needs help, she takes time off from her part-time job to return to Whisker Jog, New Hampshire and see if she can help her.

When she arrives, she finds that her aunt has knee problems and has trouble getting around, and that she's turned her home into a mini-cat sanctuary, with eleven of the furballs.  Lara immediately begins cleaning up while reconnecting, and tries to decide how to get Fran part-time help when she returns to Boston.

She coaxes Fran into having lunch with her at Sherry and her mother's cafe, and while there they witness an encounter with blowhard Theo Barnes and townspeople.  She also discovers that Theo is intent on buying a parcel of land Fran owns, and since he's also Sherry's landlord, has given them notice to vacate by the end of the year.  It seems he has grand plans which includes condos nearby.

Lara also discovers that Fran is caring for two children - Brooke and Darryl while their mother is working.  It seems Darryl has trouble reading, but when she looks in on him, she sees that he is reading perfectly...with her childhood pet Blue by his side.  But Lara wonders how that could be, knowing Blue, a Ragdoll, couldn't still be around.  When she tells Fran, Fran insists it must have been one of the other cats she saw.

Then Lara is awakened in the middle of the night by voices outside, she looks but only sees her aunt.  Not wanting to disturb her, she goes back to bed.  The next morning while doing chores, she sees Blue again and follows her, but before she can get close she sees something that startles her - the body of Theo Barnes.

When the police arrive, they determine he's been murdered and Lara thinks they're trying to pin the murder on her aunt.  Knowing it's not possible, she's determined to find out who killed him.  But after speaking with Sherry, she discovers that Theo wasn't liked by anyone except his niece Mary, which isn't going to make her task an easy one.  Yet she discovers that she has help in an unlikely form - that of Blue, who seems to be an expert at finding clues for Lara to follow...

First off, let me say that I love books with cats, and so was intrigued by this book.  I was pleased that Blue played quite a large role in the book also.  I liked the fact that Lara was pretty much a normal person.  She didn't go around poking her nose into everyone's business, most of her questions were 'in her head', so to speak.  Which is why it puzzled me when Josette called her nosy and said she was trying to pin the murder on her.  All Lara said to her was "Josette you must have  been so horrified when you got back that morning and heard about Theo."  How can you interpret that as saying she killed her husband?  It's an innocuous question you might ask anyone if you didn't know them well enough to realize they disliked their ex-spouse. 

I also would have liked to have known what happened to the letters Lara wrote.  We understand that Fran had hers, but she never said how they were returned - in which case if Lara's mom returned them, then why would Fran be upset with Lara?  Wouldn't she be able to decipher the fact that if her letters were returned, then Lara's were probably not sent?  Clarification would have been nice.  We also gather that Lara's mom wasn't a nice person, but is she still alive?  Nothing is ever said; only that her father passed away; and we're not told what her upbringing was like in Boston with a mother like that.  I would like to see this expanded on.

The last thing that irked me is that 56 is not old; while it is middle-aged, I know people in their fifties who have fulfilled lives and are as active as younger people.  (I live in Las Vegas and see it quite a bit).  From the way Fran was described earlier in the book, I pictured her closer to eighty.  Yes, I understand the knee problem, but she's withdrawn from life, so I thought she was a lot older.  Even with bad knees, she must be taking some sort of medication to help that will at least allow her some ease of pain.  It's like her entire zest for life (if she had any) was taken away.

Aside from this, I liked most of the characters and also liked the fact that she's opening the cat sanctuary.  It will be interesting to read about the stories of the different cats that pass through along with the people who adopt them (with Blue's approval, of course). 

When the mystery was solved and we find out the identity of the murderer, I can say that it came as a surprise, which is rare.  The plot was very well done and the ending was thoroughly satisfactory.  It is a great start to a new series, and I look forward to the next and where it will take us.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Claws-Linda-Reilly/dp/1516104196?

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2255166752

More on Linda Reilly's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/r/linda-reilly/           

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