Elvis is the best

Shop owner Sarah is cleaning out a hoarder house for appraisal and sale when she (well, her cat, Elvis) finds a body in the kitchen. The rest of the story details how Sarah and her friends try to solve the murder. Does that sound like I’m bored? I was bored and I don’t know why. It’s a perfectly capable cozy mystery, but I just didn’t care about the mystery.  I guess because I figured out the who and why during the first few chapters, so I wasn’t really invested in the murder.  I did enjoy the characters.

First, there’s Charlotte’s Angels. This is a group of senior citizens that work with Sarah at her store, Second Chance. They like to solve mysteries (cases) and do a great deal of the work for solving the mystery in the book. There’s Rose and Mr. P: Rose lives on Sarah’s property and Mr. P is Rose’s boyfriend.  Oh, and Mr. P is the group hacker.  The group is rounded out with Charlotte and Liz.  All of these senior citizens run circles around the younger characters, including the police.  Basically, the elders rule the roost and the youngsters just do their best to keep up.

My favorite character is the cat, Elvis.  I’m generally not a fan of cats, but book cats are slowly changing my mind.  Elvis is charming, smart, snarky, sweet and well, a cat.  He finds clues, is a purring lie detector, a good listener and protects Sarah when necessary.  According to Sarah, Elvis is also a backseat driver.  I disagree, but I don’t like to drive anyway.  All I know is that I want a cat like Elvis.

So if you like cats and spunky seniors who just happen to solve crimes, this book might be for you.