Not Just Another Review--Fans of Hercules! Look Alikes!

Cat Trick:   

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A Magical Cats Mystery

  He had a Big Mouth...
    Until the Cat Got His Tongue...


By Sofie Kelly




The thing I like most about Sofie Kelly's books is that she is
constantly talking and interacting with her cat characters. Yes,
the cats are magical, but she doesn't dwell on that much, except
when it gets her in trouble! LOL

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/22536530

And boy does Hercules start something this time!

Not only did he leave their vehicle, but he crossed major highways (although he did stop to look both ways) and went into a tent where he found a body! (Of course! LOL)

Now there was speculation about whether Herc could smell that body from so far away...or maybe in addition to his other ability, he has a super-nosed smeller! Well, these cats don't talk, so we probably won't find out, but that's ok... Because of course, it does get us started on solving another crime by Kathleen, who is the Mayville Heights Librarian...

The series is new, but already both cats are enjoying the fan adoration! And since Hercules has some fun markings that are somewhat unique, I invited a number of look-alikes from the fan club to visit! Now we don't see the chest of Herc on the cover,
but I personally think the pic at the top is my favorite...Let us know what you think!

The body in the Tent? He was a man who had originally lived in Mayville Heights and had come back, representing a tour company, to see if they might create a tour stop, which would help the little town as well as provide a nice rest stop and place to eat for tour groups. Everybody thought it was a great idea!

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However, Mike Glazer was just not a nice man! And while you think he would have been happy to interact with his former town members, he acted like he was much too important, and the offerings, such as the huge tent in which he died, was not the quality that he was looking for... Let's face it, nearly everybody that was working on the exhibit that would be used during the negotiations, were already very upset or...hated Mike Glazer!

Now he was dead...and it was determined he'd been murdered!

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Kathleen, by the way, and the town sheriff, got involved earlier in the series and are still touchy with each other since Kathleen seems to be involved whenever there's a murder! In this case, one of her dear friends even asked her to try to solve the crime! But, readers, there was a Kiss in this book, so they also seem to be working to solve the issues or the Sheriff is just giving in??? LOL

A lot of time is spent by town members at a local restaurant, so you'll get to know about how well they eat and all the treats available! The owners will be setting up for the big event, so are trying out a lot of options on the library staff! Yippee! A new baker has also come into town and has a new bake shop! She came under serious suspicion when  Owen found something at the tent that belonged to her!

You guessed it...Owen also escaped, ran across the two roads (looking both ways) and took over the investigation by the cats! BTW, I'm including the comments about the cats looking both ways just to let you know that I personally think that these two cats not only have magical skills, but they are able to understand our language! I'll keep you posted on that opinion as I follow this wonderful series--but of course I will! And I collect cozy cat mystery books, so will eventually have the whole set. Of those out there, Lillian Braun is still my favorite, but Sofie Kelly just might turn out to come in second favorite! or Better!

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Now, for those of us who read Cat Cozies for the cat characters, that's the most important part of the book...but there is also a great murder mystery to be solved! And Kathleen is right there in the end--because fortunately, Hercules, was with her and saves her life!

From whom? Well, of course, the bad guy--can't remember his name, just that Hercules got him good! Hey, just kidding... But it is a fun mystery for all cozy mystery fans!


GABixlerReviews

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Are we done yet?
Got Milk?!

http://attackofthecute.com/on/?i=10098
Hi! I'm a fan, but just came to enjoy some sun!

"It was Marcus's turn to laugh. "So does that mean that there won't be any cats joining us?"
"Yes, it definitely does." I glanced over at the doorway again. Owen and Hercules had disappeared.
"About six thirty?"
"I'll see you then," I said. "Have a good day."
"I wnt back to finish my breakfast. Owen and Hercules were sitting beside my chair like two adorable, well-behaved cats.
"I'm not fooled," I said, picking up my spoon. "I know you heard enough to figure out that Marcus invited me for dinner, and I'm not taking either one of you."
"Rrrow," Hercules said. It seemed he wasn't happy that Owen had been to Marcus's house and he hadn't. Or he might have been trying to point out the piece of yogurt-cover apple that had just fallen off my spoon onto the floor.
"Nice try," I mumbled around a mouthful of granola. "But it's not as though your brother had a five-course meal when he was visiting Marcus." I glanced down at Owen, who was still in well-behaved mode. "And it's not like he'll be visiting again anytime soon. Emphasis on soon."
"Hercules poked the chunk of apple with a paw and then made a cranky face when he ended up with yogurt on his fur. He held up the sticky paw and glared at me, a sour expression on his face.
"It's only a bit of yogurt," I said. "From soy milk. Look." I held up my spoon and licked the back of the bowl. "Lick it off your foot. You might like it. Abigail made it."
"He looked uncertainly at his paw, glanced over at the sink and then focused on me.
"I shook my head. "No," I said. "I'm not washing your feet again."
"He made annoyed noises in his throat. I figured he was probably muttering "Bite me" in cat..."

~~~

 Check out previous reviews:

http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2011/09/different-kind-of-book-review-guest.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-different-kind-of-review-guest.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2012/12/owen-and-herc-are-back-different-type.html

Sofie Kelly is the pseudonym of young adult writer and mixed-media artist, Darlene Ryan. Sofie/Darlene lives on the east coast with her husband and daughter. In her spare time she practices Wu style tai chi and likes to prowl around thrift stores. And she admits to having a small crush on Matt Lauer.




Please note that Pinterest was used for the pics...I couldn't get their embed process to work today so I've provided the original URL for info...

A Different Kind of Review: Guest Reviewer: Hercules!

Jip en Noah (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
"I wasn't a police officer. I wasn't even a lawyer. I was a
librarian. I knew about books, grant proposals and the
Dewey decimal system. The thing was, because of my
parents' acting careers, I'd seen a lot of subterfuge and I
was pretty good at spotting a liar. Plus I have Hercules and Owen who had the ability to stick their furry noses--
literally--into places they probably had no business being. Of course, I couldn't share that with Marcus, or
anyone else for that matter.
"I tried to imagine his reaction if I told him that my cats' talents went beyond being able to hear a can of tuna being opened from a hundred feet away; that Hercules had the ability to walk through walls and Owen could disappear whenever it suited him, which was generally at the worst possible time for me. How could I explain it to anyone else when I didn't even understand it all myself? At best, I'd end up somewhere having my head examined, at worst the cats would."

CopyCat Killing:
 No More Pussyfooting Around...

 A Magical Cats Mystery

By Sofie Kelly


Hi, I'm Hercules, one of the stars in the Magical Cats Mystery Series. First, I want you to know that any pictures presented anywhere is really us--we use stand-ins for publicity. Otherwise, our lives would be just too, too tedious...you know how fans are...especially when they learn that we have special abilities. People are just so silly about that and I have to say, I need my quiet time--hence the decision not to reveal our true beautiful selves!

Sofie Kelly's latest has more humor and fun between Mom and us... And, a lot more mystery. What's more fun than having a mystery cozy with cats?! My Mom, Kathleen Paulson, is a very smart lady so she told us that cat lovers will enjoy her talking with me and Owen; while mystery lovers will be following deaths within an artist co-op and a long-ago murder that was literally uncovered!

Mom moved to Mayville Heights to become the head librarian and we all debuted in Curiosity Thrilled the Cat. I don't know why Owen got to tell you about that first story, because I am the main detective--just so you know, especially since I can go anywhere to find the clues! Anyway, Mom is also a volunteer who helps to feed and protect a group of feral cats in our town. In fact, she found Owen and me out there! It was during her scheduled feeding with Marcus--well, you would probably call him a potential beau...but we call him an interloper...

Anyway, while Mom and Marcus were out at Wisteria Hill, they both took a little time to check out the area around the building. There had been a lot of rain and much flooding and Mom had also been helping her friend Maggie because the artist co-op building had flooded. She made me promise not to tell you what she did while there...it's so funny but she's a little embarrassed about it--pssst, but it involved a big dead rat...that wasn't dead!

While Mom was looking around she heard rushing water and went to investigate. Whoosh! She was on a hillside and suddenly that hill slid down with her with it! If I had been there, I could have warned her, but, no, she had Marcus with her and he was clear across the property. Wouldn't you know, she had been able to hang on to the purple piece of stuff she had seen and stuffed it in her pocket, which is why she had gotten too close. Who knew it would be an important clue later?!

In fact, she had forgotten about it because of what she discovered at the bottom of that hill--a human skull!

"I looked at Owen. "I have to get up." He made grumbly
noises but he jumped down to the floor and trailed behind
me into the kitchen. Hercules came through the door from the
porch. Literally through. The energy in the kitchen seemed
to change somehow and there he was. It still made me jump.
"Owen looked at my keys on the table and meowed. "We're
still trying to figure out what happened to Tom." I said to
Hercules...
"Hercules interrupted my recitation with a loud
meow.
"I don't know how he knew Pearl was at Wisteria Hill. He
just did."
"The cat didn't raise any more objections..."

Did I tell you Marcus is a cop? Well, he was quickly there to help Mom, but as soon as she pointed to that big round bunch of bones, they both started to move very carefully. The skull had been bludgeoned; this was now a crime scene... Later they had discovered that the body, long dead, had been the father of our vet! I mean, we didn't really like her for "needle-point" reasons, but we sure were sorry for her finding out that her father had never left them--he had been killed and left there!

While all of the police people went to that scene for their investigation, Mom went to help Maggie again. They were heading out with boxes when Maggie decided to check the level of the water in the basement one more time...And almost slid down the steps when she caught sight of the man's body laying half-way into the water! Mom helped Maggie sit on a step and went to check if the man was alive...and saw that not only was he dead, but it was the man they had just been talking about that had caused a scene at the co-op's meeting and argued with Maggie...

Well, with two murders and two friends of Mom in the middle of things, you just know we had to be involved in solving those crimes--besides Marcus doesn't like it when Mom gets involved--we do take sides with Mom! Mostly though, we just listened and helped Mom work out all the clues and, of course, I found the pen part--a major addition to identifying one of the guilty ones involved!

I just know you're going to love CopyCat Killing! And, I'm supposed to add that this book is BRH Highly Recommended! If you know what that means, let me know... In the meantime, Meow! Which means see ya next time!


GABixlerReviews

Sofie Kelly is the pseudonym of young adult writer and mixed-media artist, Darlene Ryan. Sofie/Darlene lives on the east coast with her husband and daughter. In her spare time she practices Wu style tai chi and likes to prowl around thrift stores. And she admits to having a small crush on Matt Lauer.

A Different Kind of Book Review: Guest Reviewer: Owen - A Cat Lover Special!

Image by emildom75 via Flickr

Easton gave me a practiced celebrity-greeting
the-little-people smile. Unpack one of those
computers just for him? When pigs fly, I
thought.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a pig that suddenly
launched itself onto the conductor's head.
It was a cat.
My cat. Owen.
For a moment Owen perched on top of Easton's
head, tail twitching, like some sort of kitty
Davy Crockett hat. Before any of us could
move, he leaped over to the top of one of the
bookshelves, shook himself and gave us a
wide-eyed stare. What was he doing at the
library? How the heck had he gotten into my
bag without my noticing?
~~~

Curiosity Thrilled
   The Cat


A Magical Cats Mystery
First in Series
"Something Whiskered This Way Comes..."


By Sofie Kelly












Hello! My name is Owen and I'm one of the two main characters in this book! I'm the one that...disappears...


Actually, I think I was asked to tell the story about the murder because I set up the storyline, sort of... You see, I jumped and appeared on the head of Gregor Easton. No, it wasn't a head statue, it was the real guy, who just happened to be criticizing my Mom at the time! I had to do something, didn't I?


Mom had been hired to become the head librarian and oversee a major renovation to The Mayville Heights Free Public Library. It was almost done but the contractor seemed to be taking sooooo long. And that had caused Gregor Easton, a well-known composer and conductor who was guest artist for the Wild Rose Summer Music Festival, to be frustrated because no internet access, as promised in the new brochure, was yet available!


Although things became calm and Easton finally left, Mom was concerned enough to get up early the next day and go to find an independent contractor, Oren, to ask for his help in getting the computer tables put together and try to move the renovation along while the main contractor handled the power. She knew Oren worked mornings at the Stratton Theatre. But she couldn't find Oren right away and started looking. She found, instead, Gregor Easton...He was dead!


Worse, a note was later found that indicated that Mom had invited Gregor to meet her at the Library, where the police found other clues that revealed that he had probably been killed there!

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Mom was in bigggg trouble, so Herc and I knew we had to help. We took turns guarding Mom because she decided she was going to try to find out what was really going on since she knew she was a suspect! But while we were doing it, Mom caught on to our secrets big-time! We were busted! But Hercules was to blame! Let her tell you...


"My knees started to shake. I sat down. Hard. Hercules had vanished. He hadn't darted past me. He hadn't run around the corner. He'd walked through a solid wooden door just as if it wasn't there. I could see it again in my head without closing my eyes. He'd vanished through that door and it was almost as though there was a faint pop as the end of his tail disappeared..." Hercules," I called. "C'mon, puss. Where are you?" There was silence and then a faint "Meow" from the other side of the closed door. He was in there. Somehow he was in there. I grabbed the doorknob. Locked. I twisted the knob in frustration. Of course it was locked. The room was part of a murder investigation..."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gattou/2235349193/

You all will see that both Herc and I found many clues--even though Mom didn't realize what they meant right away. Then she began to put things together until, wow, a killer came after her! Well, needless to say, we were right there to save her life. While Herc went for help, I took a flying leap--well, let Mom tell you, I get mad just thinking about it!

"Owen appeared in midair, teeth bared, ears flattened against his head. He landed, yowling on [the killer's] head and dug in his claws..." Mom took over once she was able and then help was coming!

I have to tell you, folks, that this was really a very complicated case. The police were trying, and we were gathering clues, but it was Mom who, after her own life had been saved, finally put together who had killed Easton. A truly great whodunit for all you readers!

Oh, Mom thinks that you might want to know a little more about me and Herc. Well, Mom came to visit an old abandoned mansion near to her new home when we were just kits. We recognized her love as soon as we saw her and followed her home! But she didn't know we could do tricks...and, frankly, I'll bet she wonders sometime if we are ghost cats, since that old mansion is supposed to be haunted...

I just know we'll be back at BRH in the future, cause the owner here loves cats too and even collects cat mystery books! How Cool is That! She said to add that this book is highly recommended as a great whodunit, especially for all of you who love cats too!

Meow!
Thanks for Inviting Me!
Owen