The Whole Cat and Caboodle

This series has been on my TBR pile for a long time. I'm so glad I finally brought it to the top of the stack and started reading!

Sarah Grayson makes a living from finding, refinishing/repurposing and reselling items in her shop, Second Chance. In this first book in the series, she also gives a second chance to a stray cat. She names him Elvis. :) When her elderly friend Maddie doesn't show up for a class she's giving at the local community center, Sarah and Elvis go to check on her. Maddie is fine....but the man sitting at her patio table is not. He's dead. And not from natural causes. Maddie is immediately the top suspect in the murder, but turns out her friend was hiding a life of crime and deceit. There are several people who might show more have wanted to see the cad and trickster dead. Sarah is determined to discover the killer's identity and clear her friend's name.

All in all, a great start to a cozy series! I love Elvis the Cat! Sarah is a great main character. She's intelligent and feisty when necessary. The story has a nice mix of humor and mystery. There were plenty of twists, suspects and investigation to make the story interesting. It kept my attention from start to finish.

I own the physical book, but opted to listen to the audio book version. Narrated by Marguerite Gavin, the audio from Tantor Audio is just over 8 hours. At first I found the narrator's voice a bit too nasal and annoying, but was still able to get invested in the story. Gavin reads at a nice even pace....I just didn't like her voice. I have partial hearing loss, but was still able to hear and understand the entire audio book.

There are five books in this series so far, with a sixth coming out in 2019. Sofie Ryan is a pseudonym for author Darlene Ryan. She also writes cozies under the name Sofie Kelly (Magical Cats series -- one of my favorites!). show less

This is how cozy writing should be done. Title to the contrary... ;)

Synopsis from book back (edited for brevity):
Sarah Grayson is the proprietor of Second Chance, a shop in North Harbor, Maine. At the shop, she sells used items that she has refurbished and repurposed. But her favorite pet project so far has been adopting a stray cat she names Elvis. ... The big black cat with a scar across his nose turned up at a local bar ... and hopped in Sarah’s truck. Since then, he’s been her constant companion and the furry favorite of everyone who comes into the store.

When Sarah’s elderly friend Maddie is found with the body of a dead man in her garden, the kindly old lady becomes the prime suspect in the murder. So it’s up to Sarah and show more Elvis to clear her friend’s name and make sure the real murderer doesn’t get a second chance.

I love this book. The characters are all incredibly likeable and the circle of friends spans at least three generations, including, for once, a teenager that is neither sullen nor maladjusted, and a senior citizen with mad tech skills. Extra points to the author for busting out of stereotypes. The author doesn't shoe-horn drama where it shouldn't be either. Conflicts are handled reasonable and rationally. I kept waiting for forced angst and was delighted every time I didn't find any. These characters are all very three-dimensional and fully formed; we don't learn every single thing about their backstories. We learn enough to be getting on with and there's enough left unknown to keep further books rich and interesting.

Lord, I almost forgot to mention Elvis. What can I say? This cat is a bucket of awesome. Non-cat-lovers will scoff at his almost preternatural intelligence but those of us that are owned by cats know better. And he is not without a mysterious past of his own. All by himself, he brings one star of goodness to the book.

Sarah finds herself riding herd on her grandmother's friends as they investigate the murder. I was dreading several things about this story line, but all for naught. I expected this "investigation" to drown in it's own silliness, but everything was done rationally - there weren't any mad interrogations; information came as an outcome of natural conversations. The story started with scorn towards the police and their ability to solve the mystery so I resigned myself to subterfuge and competition. Wrong again. Nothing but cooperation. There was a third thing, but I can't actually remember what it was - I just know it didn't happen.

Most of the setting backdrop is Sarah's Second Chance Shop and Sam's bar. Each of these are described beautifully but sparingly. I didn't get a massive info dump, but I could picture each clearly. I loved the details about what Sarah sold in the shop as well - just enough to add colour, I thought, without getting off-track or bogged down in tangents.

The murder plot was done adequately. If that sounds like I'm damning with faint praise, I'm not. I'm not going to rave about how twisty, clever, or complicated it is, because it's none of those things. But it was a good, well thought out puzzle, with a lot of solid suspects. Clues aren't dropped haphazardly for the reader to guess early; I learned information as the characters did and every single character was intelligent and tuned in. I've read so many cozies where the clues are there in blazing, flashing neon and the author makes the MC so freaking stupid or stubborn, it drives me insane. None of that going on here.

I deducted 1/2 star for two reasons: while there isn't a love triangle in this book, nor even a hint of one, there are two very good looking, strong male characters that anyone would love bringing home to keep for themselves. I've not yet seen an author do this and not turn it into a love triangle. But mostly, someone at Penguin should be slapped upside the head for the number of editing errors in this book. Not story editing errors - the story had zero continuity errors that I could find - but I was tripping over a plethora of wrong, missing, or transposed words. Chapter 15, in particular, was ripe with them. This is the kind of thing that ought to show up on someone's performance review. At the very least, someone at Penguin should be red with embarrassment over it.

I've been reading a lot of very average cozies lately - some good ones too, but a lot of average ones. New entries like this restore my faith that I'll not run out of high quality, light, and entertaining mystery reads any time soon. show less

THE WHOLE CAT AND CABOODLE is a fun start to Sofie Ryan’s new cozy mystery series with a gregarious feline called Elvis taking center stage. Elvis’ person is Sarah Grayson, and she runs a nifty shop selling vintage and refurbished items in North Harbor, Maine.

Sarah gets dragged into a murder mystery when her grandmother’s friend Maddie is arrested for murdering her boyfriend. Well, Sarah actually gets involved in the case because she wants to keep a group of dear elderly friends out of trouble. They are a stubborn and determined bunch wanting to find the real murderer on their own, and Sarah promises investigators that she’ll keep them out of of trouble. Or at least try to!

The mystery was good and the plot moved quickly, but show more what I loved most was the cast of characters. Elvis the cat was an intriguing little fellow, savvy about what’s going on and able to give the humans a push in the right direction. Cat cozy mystery fans will love him. Sarah was likable and easy to connect with. I enjoyed her back story, and her complicated relationship with her childhood friend Michelle Andrews and old flame Nick Elliott. Sarah’s group of elderly friends were a lot of fun and provided several good laughs along the way. Looking forward to the next book in the series!

Source: Review copy from the publisher show less

Loved it! It's a nicely paced mystery with loveable characters and an Elvis to die for! For some reasons, I now have a strange yearning to make teacup gardens...

Sarah Grayson runs Second Chance - a shop in the oceanfront town of North Harbor, Maine, where she sells items that have been lovingly repurposed and refurbished. Elvis, the stray cat that has chosen Sarah as his companion, charms all the customers that come into the store. And when Sarah's elderly friend Maddie is found with the body of a dead man in her garden, it's up to Elvis and Sarah to clear the old lady's name and to make sure the real murderer doesn't get a second chance to kill again.

I have to mention Elvis first.. I love him. He has cattitude, but he's so charming and smart and you can't help but fall in love with him. At first I did have trouble keeping names straight since there are a few old women who hang out together in show more this story. But I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, the setting, the second hand store aptly named Second Chance, the mystery. I especially enjoyed the main character's reluctance to get involved with finding out who the murderer is - that was very refreshing! I feel like I have to mention that there were a lot of errors in chapter 15 and it was distracting. With that being said I still can't wait to read more in this series! show less

This was the cozy I had been jonsing for. Little old lady detective caper, a dash of found family, and a great

When Sarah Grayson returned home after her radio show was cancelled she decided to open a second-hand shop, and seems to be doing pretty well. On one morning she's giving a class at the local retirement home, and her friend Maddie doesn't show up - which isn't like her. So after the class Sarah and her elderly friend Charlotte go to Maddie's home and find her sitting in her backyard alongside her boyfriend Arthur Fenety...who happens to be dead. When the police suspect Maddie of the murder, none of the women can believe it. Since the three elderly friends - Charlotte, Rose, and Liz - are determined to find the killer, all Sarah can do is stick by them and hope for the best...

First off, I'm going to say that I absolutely love cats. I show more have several of my own, and they are indeed quirky characters with a mind of their own. However, since my cats aren't magical, and Sarah's cat Elvis isn't either, I have to wonder why he watches Jeopardy. Cats aren't big on television. They'd rather eat, sleep, and play. They aren't too fond of being unable to move, so I can't imagine that any cat would take kindly to being carried around in a duffel bag tied up to their neck with only their head poking out. There would be a fight about that one. So no, I didn't get the feeling that Elvis was "real."

Then, I am honestly really, really, tired of protagonists proclaiming they can't cook. It's not that hard to make basic food and no one has to be a gourmet cook, but it's pretty easy to make a hamburger, chicken breast, or even salmon. Personally, I think Sarah is just lazy and would rather eat out. Making scrambled eggs isn't even worth cleaning the pan. If you're setting off fire alarms, you're not paying attention, which brings me to another another thing: (and proves Sarah just doesn't want to learn to cook).

Mac remarks that Sarah pays more attention to detail than he does. No, she doesn't, or she'd be able to cook. That statement was just blown out of the water. Also, if he's going to build a boat of his own, shouldn't he be paying attention to details himself and be able to paint those details. Also, why would you paint a beautiful wood table? Varnish it to its original color. I wouldn't buy a wood table from a second hand store that I'd eventually have to strip the paint from to return it to its original glory. Just sayin'

I also didn't understand why Sarah spent her time hanging around with three elderly women. Yes, I get they were trying to solve a murder together, but from conversations it's apparent that these ladies are probably most of her social life. Who hangs around with someone who's nearly sixty years older than you are? Yes, be fond of your grandparents by all means; but their friends shouldn't be your social life.

Also, the book was more centered on Rose, Liz, and Charlotte, who seemed to blend into each other and they're just not that interesting. If this book had been labeled as being about senior sleuths we would have been forewarned, because honestly, it really is about them in the long run. Sarah's love interest just floats in and out of the book when he's needed to make an appearance, as does her friend Jess. I also didn't get why Sarah would allow the three women to 'create an office' at her place of business.

The murder investigation itself didn't really begin until almost half of the book, around page 190, and by then I'd already lost interest in the book. When I did get to the end it felt forced and as if the author just needed to find someone as the murderer. We weren't really given clues so it wasn't pointing toward anyone at all, which was disappointing.

The book would have been better, in my opinion, if Sarah actually had a reason to investigate instead of just keeping an eye on the three women (and, I have to wonder, since Maddie was the one suspected of murder, why wasn't she helping find the killer? - after all, it would have been her head in the noose, not her friends'). I also would have liked to have more descriptions of the town and the harbor, which were practically non-existent here. This one, unfortunately, was a letdown, but I will perhaps try the second in the series as many times the author hones the characters and the books. Hopefully this will be the case in this series. show less