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Last Licks

Sniffing out a murderer… When Sunny Coolidge's curmudgeonly boss, Oliver Barnstable, lands in rehab after breaking his leg, Sunny is stuck shuttling between their offices in Kittery Harbor, Maine, and the facility where Ollie is recuperating. And if putting up with temper tantrums from her boss wasn't enough, his rehab roommate, Gardner Scatterwell, is a shameless flirt. But when Scatterwell dies unexpectedly in the night, Ollie is convinced it wasn't from natural causes. He gives Sunny a new assignment—find out who killed the old tomcat. And speaking of cats, Shadow, Sunny's feline partner in crime, takes a peculiar interest in the rehab's resident angel of death—a calico cat called Portia, with an uncanny talent for cozying up to patients right before they pass away. Together, Sunny and Shadow will have to nose out clues to discover if Portia's jinx had anything to do with Gardner's passing—or if all his catting around finally got him fixed.

Клэр Донелли

Детективы18+

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

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LAST LICKS

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with 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.

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Contents

Praise for the Sunny & Shadow Mysteries

Also by Claire Donally

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6