I am a sucker for cozy mysteries featuring cat sleuths and this book did not let me down one bit. In this series, our human sleuth Lilian is a grumpy but vivacious 70 year old woman who is not very happy about the prospect of spending a few weeks caring for her much more outgoing younger sister Miriam after she sprained her ankle.

Knowing it was only a matter of time before she irritated her sister enough to end up getting kicked out, the clock is ticking for her to get to know all of Miriam's extremely nosy neighbors: Seth (nice young guy that does errands for Miriam), Terrence (a handsome older man and Miriam's love interest), Patsy (an obnoxious older woman who is also attracted to Terrence) and an unpleasant old man named Leister.

To complement the amateur sleuth team, we also get to meet Saber: Lilian's rather temperamental black cat.

When one of Miriam's neighbors ends up murdered just the day after Lilian showed up, she has to use all of her wits to solve the crime, avoid getting kicked out of her sister's house when a killer is on the loose, keep Saber out of mischief, and discover why everyone is so obsessed with a shiny red rock that seems to appear all over the place when we least expect it.

Fast paced and all-around fun, Sandra does a nice job of offering a story of sisterly rivalry that is amusing and an ever revolving door of neighbors entering Miriam's house that helps move the plot forward. Of course, our story needs to be complemented with Mark a reporter that wants to help Lilian and Warren, the town's detective. If you are into amateur sleuth stories where your MC is not all sugary sweet but still likeable, you will surely enjoy this new series.

Despite the handful of typos and change of verb tenses to present around the 70% mark, it was an all-around solid read. :) ( )

This was my first opportunity to meet Lillian Hardcastle and her paw-some, clever cat Saber. They reminded me of the wonderful relationship that James Mackintosh Qwilleran (Qwill to his friends) has with his cats, Koko and Yum-Yum, in "The Cat Who..." series by Lilian Jackson Braun, but especially when Qwill is talking to Koko about a case or Koko is giving a signal to Qwill about how to proceed with his investigation. Lillian and Saber have that same devotion to one another in the care Lillian gives to Saber, how Lillian talks to Saber, Lillian's recognition to follow Saber's communications, and Saber's intuitive clues and protective vigilance to Lillian and those in Lillian's care.

Lillian leaves home in Tranquil Valley with Saber to care for her sister Miriam recovering from an ankle sprain. A quiet week of helping her sister with household chores becomes quite an adventure. Just as we always pay attention to our cat's newest item of discovery as it inevitably becomes an interesting toy, I wasn't surprised that it is also very important to pay attention to Saber's latest toy discovery. All who love cats will be purring with delight at meeting Saber.

I always love reading About the Author, and reading about Sandra Baublitz really made me smile. The author shared that she loves all animals and has always had dogs and cats, and that was no surprise as, having read this novel, she incorporated some very natural behaviors of cats evident to all who have shared their lives with a cat(s) and gave some tips on how to respond to gain a cat's acceptance being respectful of a cat's nature. The most delightful share was to learn that

"Lillian and Saber crashed the party in Book 2 of the series (A Dog Detective Series). Saber demanded his own series and the Clever Cat was born."

I will follow up my reading of this series to enjoy "A Dog Detective" as Paw is influenced by the Beethoven movies and the author's desire to own a St. Bernard. I also can't wait to read more about Lillian and Saber's adventures together. They are an impressive team with their reporter friend, Mark Carter. ( )