Set in New Hampshire, this cosy mystery features a Ragdoll cat -- among others. If you love cats, you'll enjoy this tale with plenty of feline characters providing the title ESCAPE CLAWS. Lara Caphart has come to the small town of Whisker Jog to check on her senior relative who is gaining the name of the mad cat lady. Normally, that's Aunt Fran's affair, but now she has a damaged knee and can't manage as well as she used to... the house could do with some cleaning. Luckily Lara likes cats, though eleven at once is somewhat overwhelming.

Lara is an artist, working in a Boston bakery to pay the bills, and she has a friend in town, Sherry Bowker, who runs a café, so that is where she heads for lunch, bringing Aunt Fran. From then on we meet various townsfolk, including the usual single man delighted to meet a new single lady. Aunt Fran needs knee replacements, but has nobody to care for the cats while she recovers, so she has been deferring the operations. This is such a valid point that I instantly identified with the situation. I also understood why Aunt Fran doesn't want to sell a stretch of land that is a home for red salamanders, to the local property developer. However, Lara is too busy making friends, to be prepared for finding a dead man sprawled on that land.

I enjoyed the characterisation. So little happens in the locale that the journalist has a day job as accountant. Crime is shocking and affects everyone. Not that everyone is upset by the death, far from it. But those who find it convenient may now be suspects. Not to mention, Lara doesn't want to leave her vulnerable aunt until the killer is caught. We see how people are interdependent and small business is the lifeblood of the town. Aunt Fran is actually a good role model for the older person, wanting to be self-sufficient, with a valuable store of memories. Her lively cats keep her from being lonely or bored. And Lara does drawing and painting, and describes how she sells her work, so she is not just a token artist.

Linda Reilly has created a totally credible and well written cosy mystery, with a very slight touch of the paranormal, which might be accounted for by the number of cats. I enjoyed every page. Previously this Berkshires author has written a series about a fry cook, but I think the Cat Lady Mysteries is a great idea, if only because an artist is out and about and a good observer. ESCAPE CLAWS is a smashing start and I'll be looking out for more.

Book Summary

Here, killer, killer, killer . . .

For the first time in sixteen years, Lara Caphart has returned to her hometown of Whisker Jog, New Hampshire. She wants to reconnect with her estranged Aunt Fran, who's having some difficulty looking after herself-and her eleven cats. Taking care of a clowder of kitties is easy, but keeping Fran from being harassed by local bully Theo Barnes is hard. The wealthy builder has his sights set on Fran's property, and is determined to make her an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Then Lara spots a blue-eyed ragdoll cat that she swears is the reincarnation of her beloved Blue, her childhood pet. Pursuing the feline to the edge of Fran's yard, she stumbles upon the body of Theo Barnes, clearly a victim of foul play. To get her and Fran off the suspect list, Lara finds herself following the cat's clues in search of a killer. Is Blue's ghost really trying to help her solve a murder, or has Lara inhaled too much catnip?

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