Escape Claws by Linda Reilly

Lara returns to her hometown and her aunt after a sixteen year interval.  She loves her aunt who raised her but she was living in Boston and loved her life there, too.  Now her aunt is having knee problems and is referred to as the local cat lady.  A friend of Lara's calls and says she should come home and see what can be done to help the aunt.

Lyrical Underground and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published December 26th, so watch for it.  It's a good read.

I have a soft spot for cats so they normally will draw me into a story.  The cat she sees at her aunts is the one she had as a child.  It would be too old to survive but she still sees it.  Then she finds out her aunt can't see it.  Lara has a ghostly friend to help her through this mystery.

Blue leads her across the property where she finds a dead body.  He's the man who planned to evict every business downtown to redevelop the area.  He even wanted part of her aunt's land and she said no.  Now he's dead there...

There are more suspects than there is population in the town!  Only one person mourns him, his niece.  He was nice to her.  So how do you figure out who the killer is?

I enjoyed the cats, watched Lara try to decide where she should live, and had no idea who the killer was until the end.  I liked this cozy mystery and will read more in the series.