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The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1)
The Big Kitty - Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1
Author: Claire Donally
Sunny Coolidge left her New York City newspaper job to go back to Maine and take care of her ailing father. But there’s not much excitement -- or interesting work -- in Kittery Harbor. So when Ada Spruance, the town’s elderly cat lady, asks for help finding her supposedly-winning lottery ticket, Sunny agrees. But when she arrives at ...  more »
PBS Market Price: $8.09 or $4.19+1 credit
ISBN-13: 9780425248027
ISBN-10: 042524802X
Publication Date: 5/1/2012
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 64

3.9 stars, based on 64 ratings
Publisher: Berkley
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 2
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

dollycas avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 704 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Meet Sunny Coolidge, a New York journalist who has returned home to Kittery Harbor, Maine, to take care of her father after his heart attack. She finds work at the local travel agency for Ollie Barnstable a.k.a "Ollie the Barnacle"" but she hopes it is temporary and that she will be able to land a job at a local newspaper.

She is surprised one day when Ada Spuance, the eldery woman everyone calls "the cat lady" comes into the office and asks Sunny to help her find a winning lottery ticket. Sunny is not sure the winning ticket even exists but agrees to help Ada search her cat filled home. She thinks there may be a story she can write for the paper to impress the editor enough to hire her.

Sunny arrives to begin her search and she has a "Shadow", a stray tomcat has followed her right up to the house. When there is no answer at the front door they stroll around to the back of the house and find an open entrance to the basement. Her investigative nature pushes her forward and she discovers poor Ada Spuance dead at the bottom of the stairs.

Did her fall have something to do with the lottery ticket? Was it an accident or MURDER? With her tomcat sidekick Sunny is going to find out. "Following the trail of the purrloined ticket" Sunny and her feline friend better be careful or the made find their very own tickets punched.

Dollycas's Thoughts

Sunny made some interesting decisions which made this a very interesting mystery. I may not have agreed with her actions but they set in action quite a chain of events. Shadow's inquisitive nature also drove this story. They are purr-fect partners.

It had several humorous moments, but the ladies of the neighborhood, especially one special lady, sneaking rich, sweet and "unhealthy" food to Sunny's dad really made me giggle.

This is a light hearted romp with plenty of suspects in a quirky little town. It is a great start to a series that shows much promise.
ASJ avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 341 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Very good first novel If you like cats in cozy this is a very good one. We get to hear what the cat is thinking. Characters are well written and mystery is good. I will read book two when it comes out.
dizz avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 646 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I agree with all the first reviewer said, but the book still didn't hold my interest. Nice cover, though.

However, I would recommend it if you like lightweight American cozies - not particularly memorable, but not the dark sort that lead to nightmares either.
Shellaree avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 270 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Book 1 in a series. I really, really wanted to like this book. I love cats and I love cozy mysteries. But this was just not quite for me. The cat character was written so we "know" his thoughts. I didn't really care for the way that was written as I would have preferred name for his people instead of "Old One", old "Old One", etc.
The main character wasn't too bad, but it was somewhat hard to connect with her for some reason.
Toward the end, there was a bit of lightness which I wish had been through out all the books as that is one of things I really like about cozy mysteries.
I probably won't read the rest of the series as there are others I like much more even though this wasn't too bad.
Read All 12 Book Reviews of "The Big Kitty Sunny Shadow Bk 1"

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ladycholla avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 2081 more book reviews
Good story, not too hard to figure out the culprit, but didn't know his true identity until later on in the story.
Cute stuff with the cat.
reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 36 more book reviews
Interesting read. Fun characters. Much better after I got further along in the book.
moondance120 avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 422 more book reviews
Sunny Coolidge returns to her hometown of Kittery Harbor, Maine to care for her ailing father. When the town's resident cat lady is found dead, Sunny works to prove that it was murder. She acquires on of the deceased former kitties and the two of them work together to find the culprit. Interesting feature to "hear" the cat's view of everything. Good start to a series. 3.5 stars
DJinVC avatar reviewed The Big Kitty (Sunny & Shadow, Bk 1) on + 10 more book reviews
I liked the characters in this book and would read this author again. The cat's actions are fairly believable and lends a little whimsey to the story.

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