Rane Aria

Sofie Ryan is off to a great start with her newest series "The Whole Cat and Caboodle" with a special black cat named Elvis as he helps his human Sarah Grayson solve a murder mystery and clear the name of a friend.

 Sarah Grayson is the type of MC I love the read about in cozies. Sometimes a mystery reader has to take their MC actions  with a grain of salt, not so with Sarah. She keeps everything in perspective as she runs her "second chance" thrift/refurbished shop, deals with her family friend, Maddie, accused of murder and her grandmother's best friends taking up the cause to prove Maddie innocence. Sarah takes all the strive without jumping to any conclusions but leads with what she knows and she knows Maddie and knows she didn't do it. She doesn't get drawn into danger and even with her grandmother's friends Liz, Charlotte and Rose (aka Charlie's Angels) they make sure to keep everyone in the loop that includes the police. 

Everything from Sarah's shop to, of course, the amazing feline Elvis was charming given a light touch without going to dark as they waddle through the murder victim's not so clean past. The supporting characters were fun and very dimensional. Sarah deals with repairing a old friendship and rekindling something with Nate Elliott who is now working with the Medical Examiner's office who was once her close friend when they both were teens.
Elvis of course steals the show with his characteristics that make him unusual but still very much a cat.
The pace of the story was easy, the trouble I had was to much descriptive detail in someone's actions to what they were eating I could have done without or skipped.

This was a great start to the new series with alot of charm and humor. I can't wait to see what Sarah and Elvis and "The Angels" get into next!