Клэр Донелли - Last Licks

Praise for the Sunny & Shadow Mysteries

Cat Nap

“Donally, who paints a pleasing portrait of a small town and its inhabitants, plays fair with clues, but the identity of the killer and the motive nonetheless come as a shock. And she earns further stripes for this cat-centric whodunit.”

— Richmond Times-Dispatch

“One of my favorite cat cozy series on the shelves today. A special kitty and a fun cast of human characters . . . A must read for all ailurophiles.”

— Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries & More

The Big Kitty

“Small-town Maine hasn’t been this dangerous since Jessica Fletcher started finding dead bodies in Cabot Cove! In this debut, Sunny Coolidge, with the able assistance of a ‘big kitty’ named Shadow, proves she has the skills to make a successful amateur sleuth. Cozy mystery lovers will adore Shadow and pine for many more adventures for him and Sunny.”

—Miranda James, New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries

“Applause for paws—Sunny and Shadow take Best in Show!”

—Susan Wittig Albert, national bestselling author of Death Come Quickly

“Deftly combines heartwarming humor and nail-biting suspense for a fun read that leaves you looking forward to Sunny and Shadow’s next adventure.”

—Ali Brandon, national bestselling author of Words with Fiends, a Black Cat Bookshop Mystery

“A purrfect debut. Four paws up and a tip of the tail.”

—Carolyn Hart, national bestselling author of What the Cat Saw

“A charming, witty, exciting new entry in the genre, featuring the best realized and most personable fictional character on four legs. You’ll love Shadow. And Sunny’s fun, too.”

—Parnell Hall, author of The KenKen Killings

“A fun amateur-sleuth tale . . . [A] whimsical spin to the lighthearted whodunit.”

— The Mystery Gazette

“With a deft hand at plotting, an appealing small-town setting, and a determined protagonist, Donally has created a series opener that aficionados of whodunits and felines will find rubs them exactly the right way.”

— Richmond Times-Dispatch

“[Sunny and Shadow are] a cute twosome . . . I am looking forward to the next in the series!”

— Book Dilettante

“Interesting and engaging . . . [An] enjoyable novel.”

— Genre Go Round Reviews

“A lighthearted romp with plenty of suspects in a quirky little town . . . A great start to a series that shows much promise.”

— Escape with Dollycas into a Good Book

“ The Big Kitty falls squarely between dark, intense thrillers and comic detective romps . . . A fast, enjoyable read.”

— Fresh Fiction

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Claire Donally

THE BIG KITTY

CAT NAP

LAST LICKS

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) LLC

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

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A Penguin Random House Company

LAST LICKS

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with Tekno Books

Copyright © 2014 by Tekno Books.

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.

BERKLEY® PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC,

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-14306-7

PUBLISHING HISTORY

Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / May 2014

Cover illustration by Mary Ann Lasher.

Cover design by George Long.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Version_1

Contents

Praise for the Sunny & Shadow Mysteries

Also by Claire Donally

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

To the youngest member of our family, my grandnephew, sweet baby James.

And as usual,

many thanks to Larry Segriff of Tekno Books and Shannon Jamieson Vazquez of Berkley Prime Crime, who have so ably shepherded this project along.

1

The midsummer sunwas finally going down—not that the brilliant afternoon sunshine had given him much in the way of trouble. He’d found a good patch of shade to lounge in when the sun was still high overhead. It not only kept him comfortable, but allowed him to stay inconspicuous as he checked out the area around him.

Now it looked as if that had paid off. He kept still, only his eyes moving to follow her. She took silly, flouncy steps, her head bobbing in time with her skinny legs as she wandered along in her haphazard way.

She came right past him, not even looking in his direction. He wondered how far she could run on those ridiculous legs—and how fast.

Doesn’t she know it’s dangerous to come down around here, especially when it starts to get dark? His eyes narrowed and he dropped his head a little, taking a couple of slow steps after her. Well, I guess she’s going to find out she’d have been better off staying with her little ones.

She paused to examine something on the ground, completely unaware that she was being stalked. He looked right and left. No one around to stop him, no place for her to run . . .

He made his move, uncoiling powerful muscles, leaping for her, reaching out for her back . . .

She unfurled her wings and took off, leaving his claws a bare inch short of her tail feathers.

He recovered before he sprawled on the ground and rose up to sit on his haunches, his tail flicking around in annoyance as he glared upward. The prey that had gotten away fluttered to a branch high, high out of reach, dropping for a landing onto those absurd-looking legs.

Stupid bird, he thought, sulkily licking the back of his paw and then running it along his whiskers. Maybe she learned her lesson and won’t come around here again .

An unexpectedly cool breeze ruffled his gray fur, and he glanced at the house behind him. Where were his people? Hanging around in the yard was fun, but he’d just missed out on a picnic supper. There was a stout door between him and his bowl and dish in the kitchen. He needed a two-legged type to open that for him.

Where were they?

*

Sunny Coolidge puffeda little as she trailed her father around the cinder track. They’d made six circuits of the quarter-mile track and had as many more to go before Dad finished his daily three-mile walking quota. That was a pretty good showing for a guy who a year and a half ago had been flat on his back after a heart attack.