a second chance to catch a killer

Sarah Grayson owns the local secondhand store in North Harbor, Maine. She lives with her cat Elvis in a house that has 3 other apartments, all filled with family and friends. And she’s dating Mac, who works at the store with her. Mac helps with repairing and upgrading the furniture while Sarah helps customers and works to keep the store stocked. Mac has also taken on a personal project of building a boat, and Sarah rented a local garage for him to build it in.

When they visit the garage one night, Sarah sees her friend Cleveland standing close to the water. As she gets closer to him, she sees what he’s staring at, a body in the water. She starts running to try to save them, but it’s too late. As she gets closer, her friend stops her, knowing it’s already too late. And he’s called for help already. The only thing they can do now is to pull the body onto the shore, as it’s getting swept out slowly by the tide.

By the time the police and ambulance show up, Sarah and Cleveland have pulled the body free of the water, but Sarah doesn’t know who he is. It’s not until the next day that Sarah learns the body they pulled out was a man named Michael Norris, who notoriously hated the water. As it turns out, when he was in college, he’d been at a party where a woman had drowned, right there at that spot.

As Sarah and her friends, a private investigative team they call Charlotte’s Angels (Charlotte is Sarah’s grandmother), decide to look into the death of Michael, which also leads them to question whether the right person went to jail for the original drowning. But the closer they get to the answers, the closer they get to a killer. Will they figure out who the killer is in time, or will the danger follow Sarah back to the shore where others have lost their lives?

Cat Got Your Killer is a cozy mystery filled with thrifting and decorating, friendship and cake, and some amateur investigating. It’s well balanced, not letting the crime take over but keeping the investigation moving forward step by step. But the best part of this series, the one who steals every scene he’s in, is clearly Elvis, the black cat who can sense lies and beg for treats with the best of them.

I am a fan of this series. It’s gentle and graceful, inviting and warming. And while there are crimes to solve, including murder, these characters emphasize self-care and kindness, making a soothing balance to the harshness of the world. Cat Got Your Killer is book 12 of the Second Chance Cat Mystery by Sofie Ryan, and these mysteries just put the cozy back in cozy mystery. These are the perfect books for readers who like gentle mysteries with a solid community of nice people. And a scene-stealing cat.

Egalleys for Cat Got Your Killer were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.