The Big Kitty

Sunny's father had a heart attack and she returned to her hometown to take care of him. Unfortunately, her newspaper in NY fired her while she was on leave in a wave of cutbacks. She couldn't get a job on the local newspaper, but got hired for miniscule pay at an internet town tourism site. When she shows kindness to the town crazy cat lady, Ada Spruance, she succumbs to a desperate request to help search for a winning lottery ticket before it expires. Sunny suspects that it may not be missing, but maybe stolen. Sunny tips the newspaper off and after everybody in Kittery Harbor - and neighboring towns - know about the missing ticket, Sunny finds Ada dead. Initially the local police chief wants to dismiss it as an accident, but Sunny show more gets to write a special piece for the newspaper highlighting the questions surrounding Ada's death. The ink is barely dry on the story when attempts to permanently shut Sunny up begin. Somewhere along the way, one of the scores of cats at poor Ada's cat house attaches himself to Sunny. His name is shadow and he has had a hard-luck life and is drawn to Sunny's kind nature. He also witnessed the murder of Ada and wants to ensure Sunny is safe, in his own cat logic. A few chapters are told from Shadow's point of view and they are very well done.

I liked Sunny a lot - more than I do most cozy characters. I found her logical and a person I could spent time with. Her responses to events where believable and understandable. The one drawback was that she was a bit naive for having been a NYC reporter when it came to the Meth drug connection. She was unaware of signs for a Meth user etc, which seems contrary to being a big city reporter. Her relationship with her ailing father and the distrustful Shadow are sincere and sealed the deal on my really liking the character. The seemingly obligatory police love interest, Will, is also a great, level character. Sunny's dad, Mike, is cantankerous and plays tricks on the Shadow since he didn't agree to a pet, but in the end grudgly appreciates Shadow. Shadow is perhaps the best characterization of a sidekick pet in any cozy I have read. He is a hard-luck kitty who is skeptical he will find a gentle home where he isn't kicked or beaten, and when he finds Sunny, he will fight to keep this kind human safe.

Kittery Harbor is a fictional town with a lot of elements to keep the series interesting. It is a harbor with shipping activity - yet just big enough to have some crime and tourism - while keeping a small town feel. The plot starts out simple but develops as the story goes along. Although the likely suspect is identified the suspense comes from not knowing where this person is, even though he appears to be following Sunny and making attempts to stop her. The pacing was steady throughout the book.

The confrontation with the killer was well done, and even realistic in many aspects. Shadow's role in the confrontation was well thought out and executed with a sure hand. I have to say it has everything I could ask for in a cozy with smart writing and well portrayed characters. This may have just become my favorite cozy series. I am looking forward to the next book.

1st in Sunny and Shadow Mystery

Main Character: Sunny Coolidge, former NY City reporter & Shadow the cat

Setting: Modern Day, Kittery Harbor Maine

Obtained Through: from publisher for an honest review

Mystery and My Musings Blog
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Sunny Coolidge left her New York City newspaper job to go back to Maine and take care of her ailing father. But there’s not much excitement—or interesting work—in Kittery Harbor. So when Ada Spruance, the town’s elderly cat lady, asks for help finding her supposedly-winning lottery ticket, Sunny agrees. But when she arrives at Ada’s, with a stray tomcat named Shadow tagging along, they discover the poor woman dead at the bottom of her stairs. Was it an accident—or did Ada’s death have to do with that missing lottery ticket, which turns out to be worth six million dollars?

Town Constable Will Price suspects the worst. And Sunny’s reporter instincts soon drive her to do some investigating of her own. Even Shadow seems to show more have a nose for detective work. Following the trail of the purrloined ticket, Sunny and Shadow try to shed some light on a killer’s dark motives—before their own numbers are up... Sunny & Shadow #1 show less

The "Fantastic Fiction" website shares that, "Claire Donally is a pseudonym for the author of many other critically acclaimed cozy mysteries." I can only say that I hope some day the author will reveal himself/herself! Until then as a "wannabe" sleuth, I will keep my suspicion under wraps. Without a doubt, the author is very attuned to cat behavior and catitude and has spent time imagining what a cat may be thinking as he/she enjoys his/her daily life. I was captivated, charmed, amused, and marvelously entertained!

I am very thankful to Lyn Anderson (member of the Fans of Jenn McKinlay FB group) who posted covers of the 1st four (4) books in the series that she had discovered at her local used bookstore and to all the members who show more joyfully commented their own delight in reading the novels. I've only read the opening novel in the series and I can't wait to read more about Shadow's adventures. 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.

I often don't agree with tagline reviews on the back cover of paperbacks but in this case I'll make an exception as Susan Wittig Albert said it purrfectly, "Applause for paws---Sunny and Shadow take Best in Show!" show less

Ada Spruance was your typical, elderly cat-person. She loved cats right up till the day she died. . . or was murdered. Sunny Coolidge has moved back to her small home town to care for her ailing father. When she promises to help Ada look for a missing lottery ticket, her life became overly complicated with Ada's death. Add to that a large grey tomcat called Shadow and a handsome police named Will Price, and you have have the makings of a entertaining mystery that will especially appeal to cat lovers.
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My first foray into any book by Claire Donally, and the walk was not bad. The setting is Maine, and I enjoy the jaunt into areas I have never visited. Donally does not dwell on the setting, but seems the journey into cat psychology. Shadow, the stray and detective cat of this series, almost narrates the whole story. Shadow explains many of the actions of cats. This adventure deals with a lost winning lottery ticket and the happy conclusion when the ticket is found. This is one of those "cozy" mysteries that does not center on sex and graphic violence. The author does briefly enter into the problems of the day.

The Big Kitty is the first book in the A Sunny and Shadow Mystery series.

Sunny Coolidge has returned to Kittery Harbor, the town where she grew up, to take care of her father. Ada Spruance, the elderly cat lady of Kittery, asks Sunny if she could help her look for the winning lottery ticket that she has lost. The deadline for turning in the winning tickets coming up very soon. As Sunny is getting ready to head home after this meeting, Sunny finds a large grey cat on sitting on her car. Shadow, as the cat is known, pretty much forces Sunny to take him home with her. On Saturday, Sunny and Shadow head over to Ada's house to help look for the ticket, only to find Ada has apparently fallen down the basement stairs and has died from the show more fall. The town constable tends to agree with Sunny that Ada must have been pushed. The sheriff is saying it is an accident. With the help of Shadow and the constable Sunny is able to piece together who the killer was.

I, for one, think that our animals are a lot smarter than some people think. It was fun watching Shadow "help" Sunny with the investigation.

A very enjoyable story. show less

The Big Kitty is the first book in the A Sunny and Shadow Mystery series.

Sunny Coolidge has returned to Kittery Harbor, the town where she grew up, to take care of her father. Ada Spruance, the elderly cat lady of Kittery, asks Sunny if she could help her look for the winning lottery ticket that she has lost. The deadline for turning in the winning tickets coming up very soon. As Sunny is getting ready to head home after this meeting, Sunny finds a large grey cat on sitting on her car. Shadow, as the cat is known, pretty much forces Sunny to take him home with her. On Saturday, Sunny and Shadow head over to Ada's house to help look for the ticket, only to find Ada has apparently fallen down the basement stairs and has died from the show more fall. The town constable tends to agree with Sunny that Ada must have been pushed. The sheriff is saying it is an accident. With the help of Shadow and the constable Sunny is able to piece together who the killer was.

I, for one, think that our animals are a lot smarter than some people think. It was fun watching Shadow "help" Sunny with the investigation.

A very enjoyable story. show less