Another easy read. ( )

Enjoyable series with nice and interesting characters.
Character List


Sofie Kelly - Cat Trick (A Magical Cats Mystery #4)

Mayville Heights, Minnesota

Kathleen new head librarian
her cat, Hercules teleports, Owen invisibility
Maggie, closest friend, Years of yoga and tai chi, fair skin and short blond hair,
Liam Stone, part-time bartender and full-time grad student in psychology. dating
Marcus Gordon. Detective, dating
Rebecca neighbor, friend, used to be a hairdresser.
Everett Henderson, businessman and fiancée
Roma Davidson was one of my closest friends in Mayville, the town veterinarian.
Eddie Sweeney—all six foot four inches of muscled hockey player, boyfriend
Oren Kenyon was an extremely talented carpenter, cousin
parents were both actors. sister,Sara aspiring filmmaker. Her twin, Ethan, was a musician.
Harry Taylor, father
Harry Taylor Junior , son
Boris was Junior’s dog, a big, gentle German shepherd
Elizabeth, Harrison Taylor’s daughter, Wren's friend
Eric’s Place
His wife, Susan, worked at the library with me. They had twin boys,
Claire, my favorite waitress,
Mary Lowe works at the library baking the best apple pie, practicing her kickboxing.
Burtis Chapman had a number of small businesses on the go allegedly the town bootlegger.
Ruby, artist.very flamboyant.Her hair currently red 1 side of her head & blue on the other,
Abigail still in the reference section, reshelving some books.
Mia, with her electric-blue hair, new student intern

Mike Glazer, grew up in Mayville Heights,“challenging to work with.”partner in Legacy Tours

Georgia Tepper jet-black hair cut shorter than Maggie’s.vendor for the food tasting,” cupcakes
Olivia Ramsey was a chocolatier who specialized in handmade truffles and caramels.
Earl of Sandwich two lunch wagons that serviced pretty much all the construction sites in area.

Wren Magnusson, as tiny, with white-blond hair and fair skin that seemed even paler this morning. Wren’s mother was going to marry Mike's older brother.














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Cat Trick is the 4th book in Sofie Kelly's Magical Cats Mystery series. Sofie Kelly is the pseudonym of Darlene Ryan, a Young Adult author and artist. There are 8 books in this series so far. The 9th book is coming out in October 2016.

In Cat Trick, Librarian Kathleen Paulson returns with her two cats, Owen and Hercules. Some Mayville Heights business people want to put the little town on the map with a tourist vacation package. A representative of Laurel Tours comes to town. Mike Glazer grew up in Mayville Heights, but he just isn't the bright young man people remember. Glazer has become a loud-mouthed, over opinionated jerk. He manages to offend nearly everyone in town within days of his arrival. Residents try to remain calm and treat him with patience because they want the vacation package to promote the town. Plans fall aside though, when Glazer is found dead. Was he murdered? Kathleen and her two magical felines are embroiled in mystery once again.

I very much enjoy this series. I like cozy mysteries as a quick read break from heavier fiction. And, as a foster parent to orphaned kittens, I love the fact that the two felines are rescue cats from a feral colony that is also featured in the book. Most of the main characters take turns feeding and checking on the feral colony at Wisteria Hill. As a Humane Society volunteer, I enjoy that aspect of the storyline as much as the mystery. :)

Sofie Kelly also has another cozy series written under the name Sofie Ryan: Second Chance Cat Mysteries. And those two pen-names are both in reality the author Darlene Ryan. Confused yet? lol. Whatever name she goes by, I enjoy Ryan-Kelly-whatever-her-name's style. I have book 1 of the Second Chance Cat series on my TBR shelf. I think I might just soak up some sun this afternoon after the gym and give it a whirl. :)

Cats and mysteries. Mysteries and cats. I like that combo. :) And after finishing a rather emotionally heavy book this morning, I need a cozy to brighten my mind back up. Cats in my book, and a real kitty on my lap. :) Great way to spend a warm, almost-spring afternoon.

My rating: 7/10
Ages: 10 ( )

Almost too cutesy, but this is the first book in the series that I have found. The mystery was just a bit obvious as well, but it was an enjoyable read for a fan of “cat cozies”. ( )

A highly entertaining, escapist read, especially (and probably only) if you like cats. These are magical cats and they have very distinctive, strong personalities as well as "superpowers". They help Kathleen solve mysteries in her little Minnesota town, much to the consternation of the detective and chief love interest, Marcus.

I genuinely enjoyed the story overall - great characters, lots of solid dialogue and I really got 'into' the story and didn't want to put the book down. But I have to admit the mystery was a bit secondary to me in this one. I found myself not really caring one way or the other about the murder victim, the suspects, or whether it was solved or not. I *did* think the ending was a bit dumb - Kathleen is either dishonest or acting out of character at the end and it just felt like the author was forcing her character into a TSTL moment. Occupational hazard if you're a cozy writer, I guess.

Luckily, a new adventure with Owen and Hercules (the cats) comes out in October and I'll be looking for it. ( )