I was late coming to Sofie Kelly’s Magical Cats series, and equally late coming to the series she writes under the name Sofie Ryan. Totally Pawstruck is the ninth in the Second Chance Cat mystery series. And, I know I’m to suspend disbelief in reading a cozy mystery. I really did enjoy Totally Pawstruck. But, it’s hard to believe in a Maine community of 13,000 that Sarah Grayson and her circle of friends knows everyone suspected or involved in a murder.

Sarah’s the owner of Second Chance, a shop in the oceanfront town of North Harbor, Maine. Just before Valentine’s Day, she has dinner with a friend and former roommate, Jess Callahan. After they leave The Black Bear, they come across a bizarre scene. A man is lying in the street, and a woman is standing over him. They recognize Stella Hall, a woman in her seventies, who has blood on her coat and on her hands from the glass ball she’s holding. When Sarah tries to help the man in the street, she realizes it’s Vincent Swift, another septuagenarian.

Although the ambulance and the police arrive quickly, Sarah feels better when Detective Michelle Andrews arrives. She doesn’t feel better when Michelle asks Stella if anyone would want to hurt Vincent, and Stella replies, everyone who knows the man, including her, would want to hurt him. And, when Vincent dies, Stella turns to Charlotte’s Angels, the investigative bureau that operates out of Second Chance, and hires them to find the killer.

The more Sarah and her friends investigate, the worse she feels. It seems no one did like Vincent, and so many people have excuses to want him dead. People lost jobs and lives because of him, and even his son changed his name and moved away. Sarah can only feel bad for a man who left behind such a legacy of people who don’t feel bad that he’s dead.

Totally Pawstruck is a typical cozy with a cat, a circle of close friends who investigate murder in a small community, and a romance for the amateur sleuth. It also has a group of seniors who are private investigators. And, it’s a story full of people who care for each other. In other words, it’s a satisfying cozy mystery for those of us who appreciate small towns and people with an interest in maintaining a friendly, small town atmosphere.

Sofie Ryan’s website is https://sofiekelly.com/

Totally Pawstruck by Sofie Ryan. Berkley Prime Crime, 2022. ISBN 9780593201978 (paperback), 288p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I read a galley for a journal review.