Monica Shaughnessy

Cattarina is a Tortie. That in itself makes her a special cat. But, she is also Edgar Allan Poe's cat, which makes her even more special. The Catterina Mysteries series is about how Edgar's kitty solves some mysteries while acting as her companion's feline muse. To the River is a prequel to the series, telling the tale of Catterina's kittenhood behind a shop and her chance meeting with Poe.

I started reading book one of the Catterina series before I realized there was a prequel. I put book one (The Tell-Tail Heart) on hold for just a bit, in order to read this story.

I am a huge Poe fan. Even after more than 170 years his stories still chill the blood of readers, and his genius is still completely apparent. So far, I really like the Cattarina series. Behind every good and creative man is a great cat, of course (ha ha!), and the idea of his kitty helping him find story ideas is just such a creative premise for a book series.

The stories are told from the cat's point of view. I have read other books that tried this type of point of view and failed, but Monica Shaughnessy pulls it off. Catterina is wise and street savvy, plus she loves her companion....her Eddy.

I'm glad I paused my reading of book one long enough to read this prequel. It gave some insight into the characters, and set the scene a bit more for book one.

The cover art is awesome, featuring a Tortie with bewitching amber eyes below a scene of Old London. Just beautiful!

Any cat lover who also enjoys Poe's writing will like this series! :)… (más)

The Tell-Tail Heart is a fanciful story about how Edgar Allan Poe might have found the inspiration for his famous tale, The Tell Tale Heart. The story is told by his cat (and muse), Catterina Poe, a lovely tortoiseshell cat. Someone has murdered two people. Both victims are wealthy women, and both had a glass eye. Beautiful blue glass eyes. What reason would a murderer have for killing people who sport glass eyes? Why two in matching blue? Catterina is on the case.....and she valiantly works to get her master to understand her antics. It's hard to point out murder suspects when humans refuse to understand their cats!

I am a huge Edgar Allan Poe fan, so this story was so much fun to read! Catterina is a street-wise, intelligent kitty. The mystery is engaging and interesting. This series is so creative. The book also includes the text of Poe's a Tell Tale Heart at the end.

The cover art is awesome!

There is a prequel story about how Catterina met Poe and a second book, Black Cats, in the Catterina Mystery series. I'm definitely reading the whole series! :)
… (más)

Annie Bassett is the pen name of writing duo Monica Shaughnessy and Mandy Broughton. This the first book in the Dead and Buried Mystery Series and it looks like it will be a fun one.

Ruby Nash is a recent widow who operates a Search and Rescue business in Austin Texas. Her weimaraner, Sasha, is getting older and Ruby is not sure if she needs to retire her or not. When her mother, Donna, calls her concerned about the disappearance of her fiance, Cecil, Ruby decides to take Sasha and another dog she has trained for the Austin PD to the small town of Dead & Buried to see what she can find out. This was not a good idea and suddenly Ruby is without a contract with the Austin PD and not choice but to move back to Dead & Buried to live with her mom and help her out at the Kiss My Bass Cafe. Once there she continues to investigate the disappearance of Cecil on the side. She meets up with highschool friend Susan who used to run the dog shelter until it closed down due to lack of funds. Suddenly Ruby is the owner of Englebert, a border collie, who she decides to train.

This book is a quick, fun read. There are a lot of characters to meet in this first book in the series but I am sure we will learn more about them all in future books. Ruby, the protaganist, is a strong-willed young lady who loves dogs and will do just about anything to help friends and family. She settles back into Dead & Buried quite quickly, and there is even the beginning of a love triangle. It is not overblown, just the hint in this first book. It is easy to see where she gets her personality once you meet her mother Donna. Donna is struggling with the cafe, but does not want to give it up. She plans an event, Pie-palooza, to raise money to keep the cafe running as well as to give the town a fun activity to participate in. These ladies are a force to be reckoned with.

This is a good introduction to this series and I am looking forward to the next one due out later this year. If you like cozy mysteries, animals and of course pie, pick this book up. It is sure to please.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.… (más)