Sometimes, a book just feels as if it finishes a series. I really can’t say that the sixteenth Magical Cats mystery, Sofie Kelly’s Furever After, is the last book. There’s no indication it is, except the wedding seems to sum so much up, and the concluding line is, “We were going to live happily ever after.” We’ll see what happens.
Library director Kathleen Paulson has less than two months until her wedding to police detective Marcus Gordon. Now, she finds herself juggling wedding preparations with a mystery after she finds the body of Will Redfern in the library. Will was the original contractor for the library renovations, but he went to jail after assaulting Kat. Now, she wants to know why he was back in the library, and why it appears he was trying to remove a painting from the wall.
No one has a good word for the dead man, and that bothers Kat, that no one in town seems sad about his death. She had been willing to give the man a second chance, and now she can’t. So, she lets Marcus know she’s going to ask questions about his death, and his connection to the library painting.
Kathleen didn’t think the painting was anything special but a local artist and an art history expert suspect it was part of an art heist from the home of a wealthy collector about six years earlier. When someone breaks into Kat’s house, she knows she’s on the right track.
Like the residents, I had no sympathy for the victim. However, another storyline appealed to me. Riley and Duncan Hollister are two siblings whose father was in prison, and grandfather is a local troublemaker. But, Kat, Marcus, and other people take an interest in the two. Furever After is a mystery, and Kat’s magical cats, Owen and Hercules, put in their appearances. However, it’s also a story of chosen family, hugs, and friends, elements that make the second storyline so appealing. It’s a tear jerker with a lot of love, the best part of the book.
Sofie Kelly’s website is https://sofiekelly.com/
Furever After by Sofie Kelly. Berkley, 2024. ISBN 9780593548738 (hardcover), 304p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley through NetGalley in order to review the book for a journal.
This would be the second long running series I read to end this year.
I can’t say for sure it’s ending, Glen, but it just feels that way. Once you read it, let me know what you think.
I wondered about the end game this book set up. It was also shorter than others, touched several past stories and included cameos from Kathleen and Marcus’ families.
I’m wondering, too, Margaret. I think it could end the series, but I don’t know.
Just wondered which series finished this year. Some seem to go forever and others only have a few stories.
I have to wait for this one to come in at the library
Hopefully, it will be there soon, Sandy.
9AM I’m extremely disappointed in Sofie Kelly, among other authors, for not writing any new books in over 2 years!! Sofie in the Magical Cats Series & the 2nd Chance Series. I love those series! And Sofie should have stayed with Owen & Hercules as her main characters & not shown so much of Marcus. After all this series is named The Magical Cats Cozy Mysteries.
We don’t get a baby Gordon!!??? 😢😢
Tracey, I just said it feels like a series ending. It might not be. I don’t know.
THE MAGICAL CATS SAY FAREWELL
Furever After
The above is from her website about Furever After, so I would guess it’s the last book. I love this series and will miss it.
Thank you, Shelley. I thought so, but wasn’t sure.
I’ve googled Sofie Kelly for a long time looking for the next book in her Magical Cats Mystery Series. I am shocked Sofie would end one of our favorite series without telling us as her beloved readers. If true, Sofie should have written a note to we her readers at the end of Furever After telling us it was the end of the series. I’m so disappointed because I love this series.
I know, Jeanne. I just suspected it was the end, but don’t know for sure.
Thanks so much. I just love Owen & Hercules & Kathleen & friends interacting with each other. If the series ended I think it’s because Kathleen took the emphasis off Owen & Hercules & placed too much on her boyfriend/fiance.