Summary from Amazon:
Things have
been quiet in the coastal town of North Harbor, Maine, since Sarah Grayson and
her rescue cat, Elvis, solved their first murder. Sarah is happy running Second
Chance, the shop where she sells lovingly refurbished and repurposed items. But
then she gets dragged into a controversy over developing the waterfront. Most
of the residents—including Sarah—are for it, but there is one holdout—baker
Lily Carter.
So when Lily is found murdered in her bakery, it looks like somebody wanted to remove the only obstacle to the development. But Sarah soon discovers that nothing is as simple as it seems. Now, with the help of her cat’s uncanny ability to detect a lie, Sarah is narrowing down the suspects. But can she collar the culprit before the ruthless killer pounces again?
So when Lily is found murdered in her bakery, it looks like somebody wanted to remove the only obstacle to the development. But Sarah soon discovers that nothing is as simple as it seems. Now, with the help of her cat’s uncanny ability to detect a lie, Sarah is narrowing down the suspects. But can she collar the culprit before the ruthless killer pounces again?
My Thoughts:
Sarah runs
her second hand shop, Second Chance, in the small town in Maine where she used
to spend her summers with her grandparents.
Now she lives there full time and has help with around the store from
all of her grandmother’s dearest friends.
Needless to say, she doesn’t need anyone else to mother her or nose in
her personal business!
The lovely
little seaside town is in the midst of a controversy over a new waterfront
development that is trying to revitalize their village. Most everyone is for the development as it
will be very financially beneficial to the town but there is one hold out, Lily
and her bakery that is right smack dab in the middle of the future construction
site. Someone desperately wants both
Lily and her building gone!
There is
quite a cast of characters in North Harbor, Maine! At the beginning of the book
I was a bit confused when trying to keep everyone straight but after a few
chapters I had it pretty much straight.
I liked Sarah, the main character, and loved the talk of her shop and of
her redoing old furniture and other household items.
Also, all
of the older grandma-like ladies in her life (Charlotte, Rose, Liz, etc.) were
quite spunky and funny! The only thing that bothered me was I thought some of
the Elvis the cat stuff was a bit hokey but I don’t mind allowing for a bit of
the unbelievable when reading a good story. A cat that can detect when someone
is lying? I’ve read a lot more unbelievable stuff!
I used to
read a lot of cozy mystery books but I haven’t in quite a while because a lot
of them became immature and just too cheesy for my liking. Buy a Whisker is definitely back in that
genre but I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I thought I would! The characters are fun and have just enough
mystery still in some of their backgrounds that I would like to read more in
this series and get to know them better.
The mystery
was not something I saw coming from the beginning which is always a plus for
me. I wasn’t necessarily surprised at
the end but I was kept moving right along in the investigation with “Charlotte’s
Angels” so it kept me reading and wondering-always important! If you like a
good, cozy and light mystery with some fun background characters you will enjoy
Buy a Whisker.
3.5/5 stars
Author's site: http://www.sofieryan.com/
*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
