tellingtailsI like to start my day early. Yeah, I know adults say that teenagers won’t get out of bed in the morning but that’s not true, at least not for me. The morning is my favorite time of the day. It’s quiet and I can think about stuff without people needing to talk to me.

I get up early even in the summer time. It was always a problem for my mom and dad but now that I live with Nonna I can get out of bed when I want and it’s not a big deal. They always wanted to know what I was doing and when I told them the truth—that I was just thinking—they couldn’t take that as a real answer. My grandmother does like to sleep in a little so I try to be quiet. Nonna says that as long as I don’t make a lot of noise or burn the house down she doesn’t care how early I get out of bed. Except she doesn’t use the word “early.” She says “at some unholy hour before even the cows are awake.” Nonna is not a morning person.

Once I’m up and dressed I like to make a kale smoothie—and no, they don’t taste like feet no matter what you-know-who says—and go sit up in the branches of the big elm tree in the front yard. That’s how I saw Mrs. Cameron out running with Reece’s dad.

Mrs. Cameron is just getting started running. I can tell that because I’ve seen Sarah run. Sarah’s my boss at Second Chance. It’s a repurpose shop where old stuff gets fixed and made over. They get a second chance. It’s pretty cool. Anyway, Sarah has been running for a long time. She does races and everything and when she runs her face doesn’t get all red and she doesn’t make a noise like that old bicycle pump we found at Mr. McNamara’s house. Mrs. Cameron has to stop a lot to catch her breath. She bends over and puts her hands on her knees and Reece’s dad pats her on the back and tells her she’s doing great.

I don’t think they were doing anything, you know, funny. Wrong. I think all they were doing was running. But now Mrs. Cameron’s husband has disappeared and Rose says he’s dead and I’m kind of wondering if maybe I’m wrong.


TELLING TAILS is the fourth book in the Second Chance Cat mystery series published by Penguin Random House, January 2017.

The New York Times bestselling author of A Whisker of Trouble returns as secondhand shop owner Sarah Grayson and her rescue cat, Elvis, get caught up in a case of she said, she said.

When Sarah Grayson opened a secondhand shop in the quaint town of North Harbor, Maine, she was expecting peace and quiet. Then she was adopted by a rescue cat named Elvis and a kooky trio of senior sleuths known as Charlotte’s Angels. Now she has nine lives worth of excitement.

Sarah’s friend and employee Rose is delivering a customer’s purchase when the quick errand becomes a deadly escapade. Rose arrives just in time to see the customer murdered by his wife, but before she can call the police, she is knocked out cold. When she wakes up, no one believes her, especially after the woman claims her husband is very much alive and has left her for someone else—and has a text message and empty bank account to prove it.

Despite her convincing story, Sarah is sure something is fishy—and it’s not Elvis’s kitty treats. Sarah, Elvis, and the Angels are determined to unravel this mysterious yarn, before the feral killer pounces again.

# # # # # # # # # # #

About the author
Sofie Ryan is the author of the New York Times bestselling Second Chance Cat Mystery series, featuring re-purpose store owner Sarah Grayson; Charlotte’s Angels, a group of senior sleuths; the world’s oldest computer hacker; and Elvis, a black cat with an uncanny ability to sniff out a lie.

As Sofie Kelly she writes the New York Times bestselling Magical Cats mysteries that feature librarian Sarah Paulson and her two very special cats, Owen and Hercules, who have a magical knack for solving crime.

Connect with Sofie at www.sofiekelly.com or www.sofieryan.com.

All comments are welcomed.

Giveaway: Two people (US entries only, please) selected at random will receive a print copy of Telling Tales. Leave a comment below for your chance to win. The giveaway ends January 5, 2017. Good luck everyone!