Paws and Effect: A Magical Cats Mystery by Sofie Kelly

             I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but this series really does get better and better.  Every Magical Cats Mystery book I read, I seem to enjoy a little bit more than the one before it.  That is not something I can say about every series, but I certainly can about this one.

                The citizens of Mayville Heights, Minnesota are in a debate over a new development that wants to come to town.  Librarian Kathleen Paulson is against the development, but she respects the opinions of those who are for it.  One of the big concerns Kathleen has is about the feral cats she takes care of.  People have a tendency to abandon their personally owned cats with the feral cats so they can be found by either Kathleen or one of her friends who also cares for them.  If there is a development being built near where the cats live, Kathleen worries that people will start to leave their cats in other places, never to be found.  Her boyfriend, Marcus, has a different concern.  His main problem is the fact that these cats are being abandoned in the first place.           

                As Kathleen concentrates on stopping the development, a coalition representing an environmental group has come to town to survey the land.  They are hoping to find something environmental that will prevent the developers from being able to build.  Ironically enough, this three-member team consists of all old friends of Marcus’s from his college days.  He gets a warm greeting from two of the members, Dani and John, but Travis is still holding a grudge towards Marcus from long ago.  It is a grudge and an anger that only increases when Dani is found dead.  The last person to have knowingly seen Dani alive is Marcus.  With evidence found at the crime scene, and Marcus refusing to tell all he knows, Marcus becomes the prime suspect.

                Of course, Kathleen does not believe for a second that Marcus is guilty.  Neither does his partner on the police force, Hope.  Kathleen and Hope decide to work together in order to clear Marcus’s name, although, after a while, Kathleen comes to question this decision.

                Kathleen must also decide whether or not to trust Marcus’s father when he comes to town.  Elliot is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and he is a man who is used to getting his way.  Still, Elliot says he wants to help with Marcus’s case in any way he can.  Now Kathleen has to figure out how much to trust Elliot, especially since Marcus does not want him around.

                Another person Kathleen must contend with is Simon Janes.  He is the father of Mia, Kathleen’s teenage worker at the library, and a contributor to one of the library’s reading programs.  He has the business contacts Kathleen needs to found out the information that will help clear Marcus’s name.  The problem is, Simon tends to pop up at the oddest of times.  It seems that he may be romantically interested in Kathleen, and I’m curious to see where this storyline is going to go.  Kathleen and Marcus are happily together now.  I would hate to see something break them apart.