North Harbor, Maine, has been quiet since Sarah Grayson and her rescue cat, Elvis, solved a murder that cleared their friend's name. Sarah is happy giving items a second chance at her store Second Chance. But now there's controversy over developing the waterfront which the residents are all for - except for baker Lily Carter. So when Lily is found murdered in her bakery, everyone thinks it's over the development. But Sarah isn't so sure, and it's up to her and Elvis to find the motive and the murderer.

A fun follow-up to the first book, The Whole Cat and Caboodle. Once again we have great characters (I love Elvis!), and a great setting. I love the Second Chance shop and I love that the characters actually still do work there even though they want to solve the murder. The mystery was good. Some things were convenient but I suppose that's how it goes sometimes. I'm looking forward to book #3!

Sarah Grayson runs Second Chance - a shop in the oceanfront town of North Harbor, Maine, where she sells items that have been lovingly repurposed and refurbished. Elvis, the stray cat that has chosen Sarah as his companion, charms all the customers that come into the store. And when Sarah's elderly friend Maddie is found with the body of a dead man in her garden, it's up to Elvis and Sarah to clear the old lady's name and to make sure the real murderer doesn't get a second chance to kill again.

I have to mention Elvis first.. I love him. He has cattitude, but he's so charming and smart and you can't help but fall in love with him. At first I did have trouble keeping names straight since there are a few old women who hang out together in this story. But I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, the setting, the second hand store aptly named Second Chance, the mystery. I especially enjoyed the main character's reluctance to get involved with finding out who the murderer is - that was very refreshing! I feel like I have to mention that there were a lot of errors in chapter 15 and it was distracting. With that being said I still can't wait to read more in this series!

There was something about this book; I enjoyed it more than the last one, even though Ryan used more than a couple tried and true tropes.  Somehow she just made it work.

Sarah's friend and employee Mac, he of the simmering romantic tension and secret past, has just had his past come to visit.  When her dead body is found, Mac is, of course, the prime suspect.  Sarah's grandmother's friends kick in to gear to help dig Mac out of being rail-roaded for a crime he didn't commit.

As I said, tropes galore.  But Ryan makes subtle choices that perhaps make the story work: the seniors that investigate are actually licensed private detectives (or at least, one of them is, and the rest are legitimately working with him) and they always cooperate with law enforcement.  That's not to say there aren't a few moments where belief must be suspended (the final scene comes to mind), but for the most part, this isn't some insane slapstick caper.

I've been head down in a lot of historical fiction and popular science lately, and this was a nice, light break that offered a well plotted mystery to boot.  Just what I needed.

Meh.  Definitely not the strongest in the series so far.  Ryan had a Rear Window theme going on in the plot, and I'm not a fan of the trope, although I give her credit for using it as an effective device for bringing society's view of seniors, and how easily they're dismissed, into the book's storyline.

The mystery itself was obfuscated by both the question of whether or not a crime took place at all, and the lack of any clear motive until very nearly the end of the book.  By the time it's revealed that a crime did take place, it was pretty clear who had to have done it.

While I generally love the setting (I find the whole repurposing thing interesting), and I like the characters, I found Rose (the witness the maybe crime), in particular, a bit trying.  She was just a little too exaggerated.  There's a weird romance vibe going on in the series too; it's not quite a love triangle but the potential is obvious.  Meanwhile nothing but internal musing has been going on for 4 books and I'm tired of hearing about it.  One party of the triangle, Nick, seems to have zero chemistry with the MC and was a total ass in this book. Total. ass.

I'll read the next one on the strength of the author's other books, and how much I usually enjoy them.  Hopefully the mystery, at least, will be a better one.

Another fun mystery in the Second Chance Cat series, The Fast and the Furriest dug into the shadowy past of Mac, the enigmatic handyman at Second Chances. And what a story it was! It would've made for a great soap opera plot even Elvis the cat could get in to (as long as it wasn't on during Jeopardy, of course.) When Erin Fellows shows up in town looking for Mac and is later found dead, Mac comes under suspicion after an eyewitness places him at the scene. Sarah's sassy senior friends, an informal PI agency calling themselves "Charlotte's Angels", kick into gear to solve the murder to save their friend.

I always enjoy this series, it's a relaxing, light read and the charming characters make it feel like I'm catching up with old friends. I have to say, Sarah is stubbornly clueless about Nick's interest, maybe he needs to step up his game? I enjoyed their "field trips" they took in the course of their investigation (Stevie's alibi made me laugh) and it all came together for an exciting ending, Mr. P. certainly is a man of many talents.

Overall, The Fast and the Furriest is a delightful addition to an already great series. This book can easily be be read as a standalone or an entry into the series, as any references to prior books are summed up nicely and it would be easy for readers new to the series to understand.