Sleight of Paw (A Magical Cats Mystery)

Sofie Kelly

Obsidian (Penguin USA); mystery, fiction

Release Date:  September 6, 2011

Small-town librarian Kathleen Paulson never wanted to be the crazy cat lady. But after Owen and Hercules followed her home, she realized her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her-her cats have magical abilities.

When the body of elderly do-gooder Agatha Shepherd is found near Kath’s favorite local café, she knows Owen’s talent for turning invisible and Hercules’s ability to walk through walls will give the felines access to clues Kath couldn’t get without arousing suspicion. Someone is hiding some dark secrets-and it will take a bit of furtive investigating to catch the cold-hearted killer.

A well-crafted book will introduce a theme and carry it out to the end. It appears as though the theme in this book was “no edits”.  The book is riddled with errors, including the main character being served a “peace of pie”.  I understand that mistakes may slip past the most diligent eyes, but a professionally produced book should not have page upon page of errors. This isn’t Great Aunt Joan putting together a family history, it is a publishing giant asking the public to part with their hard-earned dollars.

Beyond the glaring errors, the book was acceptable.  I wouldn’t call it good, but it wasn’t horrible.  I do not think the “magical cats” are presented in a very believable way.  I would have found it much more enjoyable if the cats had just been smart and adventurous, rather than having them walk through solid walls for no apparent reason.

The mystery kicked along nicely and was fairly easy to solve.  There was just one piece that I could not figure out, and lo and behold, it is not revealed at the end! I’m sure it will come out in future installations of this series, but I doubt I will still be interested.

My verdict:  Skip it.  I could give it a lukewarm recommendation if it wasn’t full of errors, but it is, so spend your money elsewhere.