Darlene Ryan Books In Order

Publication Order of Magical Cats Mystery Books

Publication Order of Second Chance Cat Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Orca Soundings Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Darlene Ryan is a Canadian writer of non fiction and young adult genres. She also writes cozy mysteries under the pen name Sofie Kelly. She was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in Canada on Jan 1st, 1950. Darlene won a poetry contest when she was in grade three and has been writing all her life. She also writes under the name Sofie Ryan. She debuted as a novelist in 2004 with the novel Rules of Life. Her first novel as Sofie Kelly was Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, published in 2011, of the magical cats’ mysteries. Darlene Ryan lives in the East coast with her husband and daughter. When she is not busy with her work she practices Wu style tai chi and also enjoys visiting thrift stores. She has owned to having a little crush on Matt Lauer.

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat is the first book of the Magical Cats’ Mysteries. In this book series, Kathleen Paulson, a librarian, is the main character. When she moved to Mayville heights in Minnesota, she could not have imagined that two stray cats would find their way into her life. A tabby, with a catnip addiction, known as Owen and Hercules, a stocky tuxedo cat who like Kathleen Paulson is fond of Barry Manilow. Aside from their fur and Purrs, there is something unusual about these felines. A music festival being held in Mayville is interrupted by murder and Kathleen finds herself as the main suspect. She is also stunned on realizing that the felines, Owen and Hercules, are magical and she has to depend on their skills to solve the purr fect murder! The book opens in Kathleen’s kitchen where she finds the body of a head Funky chicken. She calls Owen sharply but he fails to respond. She searches for him and finds him sprawled on his back in front of the screen door with a neon yellow feather still sticking out of his mouth. Owen rolls over on his side and looks at her with the same goofy expression she receives from stoned students accessing the library. Kathleen crouches down and admonishes Owen for beheading Fred, who is the third chicken Owen has beheaded that week. Owen sits up slowly, stretches, goes to her and puts one paw on her knee. Owen tips his head to one side, looks at Kathleen with his golden eyes, climbs onto her lap and puts his front paws on her chest with the feather still sticking from the corner of his mouth. Kathleen asks Owen to spit out Fred’s head, and Owen turns his head sideways and drops what is left of Fred the Funky chickens head. Kathleen informs Owen that he has a problem as she drops the remnant of the toy’s head on the floor and wipes her hands on her yoga pants.

Meanwhile Hercules comes, climbs over Kathleen’s legs, sniffs the remnants of Fred the Funky chicken’s head and disdainfully looks at Owen, humming like a diesel engine. Hercules climbs onto to her lap too, put a white paw on her shoulder and swats at her hair. As Kathleen debates in her head whether to ask Rebecca, her backyard neighbor, if she has any ideas about what to do with Kathleen’s hair, she remembers that the two felines, Owen and Hercules, had been feral kittens when they came to her a month after she arrived. She had no idea how old they were. They were affectionate with her, but would not let anyone else come near them. Kathleen had sold her car before she moved to Minnesota, and because she could walk everywhere in Mayville, she hadn’t bought another car yet. As she walked around she stumbled on Wisteria Hill, an abandoned Henderson Estate. The owner Everett Henderson had hired her at the library. Owen and Hercules had peered at her from behind raspberry canes and followed her as she explored the overgrown English country garden at the back of the house. There were other grown up cats but these disappeared on sighting her. As she was leaving Owen and Hercules followed down the driveway and Kathleen’s attempts to return them to house were fruitless and in the end she carried them home. There was talk about Wisteria Hill and the feral cats but Kathleen didn’t think that there was anything extraordinary about her cats.

Sleight of Paw is the second book of the Magical Cats Mystery series. Kathleen Paulson never wanted to be the crazy cat lady, but Owen and Hercules followed her and eventually she brought them home with her. After a while, Kathleen realized that Owen and Hercules had magical abilities. When the body of an elderly do- gooder, Agatha Shepherd, is found near Kathleen’s favorite local café, Kathleen relies on the felines unusual talents to solve the murder. Owen can turn invisible and Hercules can walk through walls and this gives the cats access to clues and information Kathleen can not get without arousing suspicion. Someone is hiding dark secrets and it will take Kathleen some furtive investigating to help apprehend the cold blooded murder. Agatha Shepherd was a retired school teacher and seemingly a kind hearted elderly person, who wanted her dead? While Kathleen is investigating the murder, she finds out that Eric, who manages the local café, and old man Harry, an even more fascinating person, have very interesting pasts. During the investigation, Kathleen’s magical cats get into all manner of mischief. The book opens in a driveway as Maggie, who had been commissioned to create a display featuring Eddie Sweeney, a forward for the Minnesota wild hockey team and the pride of the state, is looking for a way to fit it into the back of Roma’s SUV. It is Kathleen’s first real winter in Minnesota, having arrived there at the tail end of the previous winter to work as a librarian and to supervise the renovations to the library building for its forthcoming centennial celebration. Kathleen helps Roma and Maggie fit faux Eddie Sweeney in the SUV. They then drive to the local restaurant. Once at the restaurant they seat strategically to keep an eye on the display in the SUV. After enjoying their ordering they discuss their plans for the week ahead. Maggie had done a collage of photographs of the feral cats at Wisteria Hill where Kathleen found her cats. One of the photos hungs on the waiting room of Roma’s veterinary clinic, and now an animal rescue organization had commissioned Maggie to create a poster for their spay neuter program. Maggie was going to take photos of the three new strays that someone had left on the door step of the clinic the previous week.