Sarah Grayson and her trusty companion, Elvis, race to tail the right suspects in the fifth installment of the New York Times bestselling Second Chance Cat Mysteries.Sarah Grayson owns Second Chance, a shop that sells lovingly refurbished items, in the charming town of North Harbor, Maine. But she couldn’t run the store without the help of her right-hand man, Mac–or her dashing rescue cat, Elvis. dashing rescue cat, Elvis.
Mac’s life before North Harbor has always been a little bit mysterious, but it becomes a lot more intriguing when a woman from his past shows up in town, and then turns up dead. Suspicion falls on Mac, but Sarah–and Elvis–know he can’t be the killer, and they hope they can prove his innocence quick as a whisker.
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I enjoyed this book. The characters were fun and the story progressed well. I did find myself wishing that I had read past installments of the series before this book. I think it would have added to my knowledge and understanding of the characters and their relationships with each other. Overall a fun book!
Sub-Themes: cats, elderly friends, small town business owner
Can You Start the Series in the Middle? I did. I will admit that since the story revolves around one of the supporting characters, I found myself often wondering what had been said about him and his backstory in future installments. If I had a choice, I’d probably start this series from the beginning.
If You Like: Laura Bradford’s Emergency Dessert Squad books, you’ll enjoy this series.
The Fast and the Furriest by Sofie Ryan is the fifth installment in A Second Chance Cat Mystery series. Sarah Grayson owns Second Chance in North Harbor, Maine. Sarah is refurbishing an item for the shop when she is approached by Erin Fellowes looking for Mac McKenzie (a part-time employee of Sarah’s). Mac is a private man who has not shared any details of his past. When Mac returns Sarah passes along the message from Erin. Later that evening Mac shows up at Sarah’s house. He was unable to find Erin and wants to tell Sarah about his past. His wife, Leila has been in a coma for two years from a carbon monoxide leak in their home. Mac was the main suspect and Leila’s parents sued for guardianship. While they are talking, Detective Michelle Andrews shows up looking for Mac. Erin Fellowes was found dead and a witness claims Mac was arguing with her before her death. Sarah with help from Elvis (her cat) and Charlotte’s Angels goes about locating Erin’s killer and discovering what happened to Leila two years prior.
The Fast and Furriest can be a standalone. The necessary details are provided in the book. I enjoyed the author’s writing style. The Fast and Furriest is a light, entertaining cozy mystery. The story has a good pace and great characters (Mr. P is one of my favorites). I love Sarah’s business and her creative ideas. I like the interactions between the characters along with the scenes between Elvis and Sarah. The author is adept at dialogue. The mystery is nicely constructed. Clues are provided to aid readers in identifying the culprit. There is also misdirection that could send you down the wrong path. I appreciated getting to know Mac in this story. I hope we will see him again in the future books. It will be interesting to see what develops between Sarah and Nick. There are those cozy moments that readers love (cooking, going out, gossip, friendship, and family) as well as light-hearted humor. If you are looking for a charming cozy mystery with a smart main character and an adorable cat, then you should check out The Fast and the Furriest.
A cat who can tell when you’re lying, a woman who solves mysteries and a teensy bit of romance…I’m in!
I’ve said before that I’m a sucker for cat mysteries. This one was exactly what I wanted. I hadn’t read anything by Sofie Ryan before this book. I’m glad I’ve rectified that choice. Ryan’s story is tight, the writing flows well and I was sucked right in. I wanted to know what would happen with these characters. I liked Mac, even if he was the one being looked at for murder. I liked Sarah, too. There’s certainly chemistry between Sarah and Mac, so I wanted to know where that would go.
I liked Elvis most of all. He’s a black cat with an uncanny ability to tell if someone is lying. I love that. Cats can be so touchy with certain things people do and I liked this detail in the story. Plus, he’s cute!
I didn’t figure out the mystery until it was revealed at the end and I’m glad. I liked being taken on the ride through the story.
If you’re interested in a cute mystery with a touch of romance and cat, then this is a book to check out.
My favourite so far and I have loved every book in the Second Chance Car mysteries. The warm relationship among the chat is the star of each book for me. The Fast and the Furriest is the perfect example when they draw together to prove Mac innocent of murder. It was great discovering why he had left his high-powered job and turned his back on his old life. Wow!
The Fast and The Furriest is the fifth book in the A Second Chance Cat Mystery series.
Sarah Grayson and the Charlotte’s Angel have a case that hits close to home this time.
Sarah was busy sanding a metal cart when a stunning, mid-thirties stunning lady, Erin Fellows, approaches her and asks to see Mac, her handyman, that it is very important that she speak with him. When Mac gets the message he tries calling Erin but the calls keep going to voicemail, so he heads out to look for her, telling Sarah that he looked all over downtown North Harbor. Later there is a knock on the door and Sarah finds detective Michelle Andrews at the door and wanting to talk to Mac. Knowing this can’t be good, Sarah calls a lawyer, Josh Evans and the three of them meet with Michelle at the police station. Soon a witness comes forward who claims he saw Mac talking to Erin downtown. So, Mac is arrested for Erin’s murder and soon Michelle is taken off the case because of her being friends with Mac and Sarah.
Liz, Rose, and Charlotte, almost known as Charlotte’s Angels along with Mr. P set off to clear Mac from the murder charge. With the information that Mac shares from his past, they set off to investigate a company that manufactures skin care products for possible mismanagement. (This is Mac’s story to tell, so I will let the readers hear his story as they read the book.)
As always, Charlottes are very determined to have justice served. Once again Rose and Mr. P excel and also provide a few light humor moments.
A very well told story and one that kept me in the dark until the end.
I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
I would like to thank Penguins First to Read program for a free digital advanced reader copy of this book.
This is such a great cozy read. I haven’t read the prior books in the series but it didn’t seem to matter too much. I know I was missing out on some character background information but that had no impact on my understanding of the overall story.
Sarah Grayson owns a Second Chance shop and employs some of her closest friends and family to help out there. She believes she knows them well but also understands that they are entitled to their private lives as well. When a woman shows up at the shop wanting to speak to Mac, one of her employees, about believing that he did not have anything to do with his wife ending up in a coma, Sarah realizes she doesn’t know her employee as well as she thought she did. With the help of the Angels, Sarah is determined to prove Mac’s innocence and find out who hurt his wife.
This was a quick read and really enjoyable. All the characters are quite likable and the interactions between them are cute and quirky. It’s fun to witness the romantic tension between Sarah and Nick (especially when his mom wants them to get together!).
I will definitely be reading the other books in this series when I’m looking for a light, feel good read!