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.

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.

“The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool: these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep.” - Chanakya

Oh, Celia keeps on keeping on . . . and what she keeps on with is writing funny, insightful, and suspenseful and, yes, totally hot books that cheer me up and engross me. Mostly quick reads, always with an undercurrent of the human condition, Celia is, in a word, AWESOME!

So, here is the thing. She has a new series, Tiger Tails, that reaches, and in some ways exceeds, her other super-fun series. Ahhh… better than a cup of cocoa on a cold day. Well, even better when you can read her tales while drinking a cup of cocoa, just sayin’.

Now, it’s a tale of a tail – or rather, a bunch of tails. Being literally shoved out of the closet is never pleasant. And for the tigers, well, they never wanted to come out of the “Shifter Closet” at all, no matter what the lions and wolves and bears chose to do. But, things being as they always are, secrets don’t last. And this whopper is going to cause a world of hurt for the tigers. Because, well, grabbing a tiger by the tail has a whole other meaning in Celia’s newest world.

This new series by Celia is a blast. So far centering around the “coming-out-of-the-closet” of the tigers in her much-like-ours world, the first story, Fast and the Furriest introduces us to the tiger pride, and its leader, Ares. Poor Ares. Even though the lions and wolves and bears (Oh, My!) are “Out” to the public, the tigers just want to be left alone. And they stay hidden – that is, until they are rudely shoved out of the closet by an article, complete with photos, in a nasty little bit of yellow journalism. An article printed under the byline of the woman Ares thought was his. Oops. Of course, it doesn’t help that the article points out that, if you can pull a tiger’s tail, he (or she) belongs to you forever. Ah, Hell, thou hast no idiocy such as that of a human shifter stalker. “Uh, hey, lady? Really not cool to terrorize the poor pregnant tiger lady up a tree trying to pull her tail. Uh, yeah, I said PREGNANT tiger LADY.” Oy. Needless to say, it was a zoo. And it doesn’t help that DoPE (Department of Paraphysical Entities) is trying to capture high ranking female shifters in order to force them to mate with humans, so that said humans puppet masters can take over the shifter groups and control them (read: Turn them into war machines). Again, Oy.

As with all of Celia’s work, there is both a large dose of humor and an even larger dose of pathos to be had in her stories. Humans in this world pretty much suck – not surprising – and there are deeper stories here of the ‘human’ condition. But be prepared to burst out laughing in public as well, if you are brave enough to read on the train ;-)

I received Fast and the Furriest from Celia in exchange for a realistic review. I posted this review in a couple of spots, but I apparently pulled a Senior Moment and wandered away while posting, hence a late post to my site and multiple others. Oops! I still Love Ya, Celia!!!