Claire Donally

Sunny is covering the much hyped wedding of political heiress to a business mogul, but she finds herself covering the suspicious death of one of the wedding party instead. Now, asked by the bride-to-be for some damage control in the press releases, Sunny is now on the compound as a guest. And her cat Shadow, is a yet-to-be discovered stowaway. Sunny’s boyfriend, Will, is also working in an official capacity as a police officer. Things are going to get worse before they get better, and much of the credit for both of those things goes to Shadow, the extraordinary cat. It’s quite a tale, intricate and intriguing. Cat lovers will appreciate Shadow’s feelings as he copes with Sunny and her somewhat unfavorable actions towards Shadow. At least he thinks they are, not realizing her true motives. Though part of a series, this story works well as a stand-alone.… (mais)

There are so many cozy mysteries that feature cats as purr-fect companions to amateur sleuths and some of the felines even help with critical clues in solving the latest crime but since meeting the cat as created by Claire Donally (pseudonym for the author of many other critically acclaimed cozy mysteries) Shadow is my favorite feline. As I shared in my review of the 1st novel in the series,

"I absolutely purred in my human reading pleasure way for the wondrous names that charismatic Shadow has for humans, the things humans do, the things human say, etc."

In this novel in order for a crime to be solved with insider access to the Kingsburys' waterfront compound it is necessary for Sunny Coolidge to take a break from her usual position at MAX (Maine Adventure X-perience) in Kittery Harbor, Maine, and use her previous reporter experience and also her sleuthing that has been most successful to date. The only one that is not happy about Sunny's need to stay onsite at the Kingsburys’ waterfront compound is Shadow who becomes quite distressed when he views Sunny packing her suitcase. Shadow may be left at home with the "Old One" (a.k.a. Sunny's Dad) but in his ingenious style he's key to the case.

Within this novel, Shadow's experiences are detailed more than ever which I found to be paw-some! It's catnip for human readers from cover to cover!!… (mais)

I've loved every novel of this series! The "Fantastic Fiction" website shares that, "Claire Donally is a pseudonym for the author of many other critically acclaimed cozy mysteries." As the 5th novel was published in 2016, I'm afraid the author and/or the publisher has decided not to continue the series which makes me quite sad.

There are many cozy mysteries that feature a cat(s) as a pet(s) and/or as an assistant(s) to the amateur sleuth(s) in the series but none of the cats speak directly to the audience as in the delight of hearing Shadow's direct commentary. I'm going to miss this little fur face. Shadow had quite a rough life before living with Sunny Coolidge and her father. As Shadow has relaxed "at home" he's been able to become even more adventurous since his days and nights are no longer spent foraging for food or looking for a safe space to nap or sleep.

Each novel in the series can be enjoyed as a stand-alone but part of the true charm of the series is reading of the ever evolving relationships of Shadow and all the individuals and furry faces that Shadow meets through living with (and sometimes following) Sunny. For some purr-fect entertainment, be sure to add this series to your to-read list.… (mais)