Raining Cats and Cats is a whodunnit mystery novel by Maggie Pill. Lorilee Porter is an elderly widow who has a close bond with cats. Living in Florida in a house full of stray cats and a semi-adopted teenager named Jess Pall, Lorilee finds herself in a conundrum when her annoying neighbor Mitzi Talbot's teenage son, Chris, becomes embroiled in a criminal investigation that Mitzi can't help but delve into. Meanwhile, Jess, who works at the local veterinarian's clinic, develops an unlikely friendship with Chris alongside a crush on a girl named Birdy. With Chris on the verge of going to juvenile prison, Lorilee and Jess take it upon themselves to clear Chris' name and find the real culprits behind the home robberies that led to the death of Ricky Fulmer, only to end up in a precarious situation themselves.

A captivating sleuth story full of mystery, intrigue, and many cats doing cat things, Raining Cats and Cats is just the book you need for a cozy afternoon. Maggie Pill weaves an absorbing yarn for whodunnit aficionados and cat lovers, a tale filled with suspense and plenty of thrills. The fast-paced plot has its share of curveballs, immersing you in the pages until the end. But it's the well-developed characters that steal the show. Lorilee and Jess have a mentor/parent relationship dynamic and bond over their mutual love of animals. I also enjoyed the distinct quirky traits of each cat in the story. As someone who has grown up around cats in the house and lives with two goofy furballs, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and can't recommend it enough.

Raining Cats and Cats by Maggie Pill introduces Lorilee Porter, who lives in Tampa, Florida, with eight cats and her teenage ward Jess. Lorilee is reclusive, Jess is a loner, and the two of them share a love of cats. After Hurricane Ian, Chris, the son of Lorilee’s neighbor, is detained for a robbery that led to the death of one of his friends. It seems that Chris’s car ended up in a lake with stolen goods inside and he swam away from it, leaving his friend to drown. His mother claims he was sick and went to bed early. Lorilee and Jess think that Chris’s actions are out of character and resolve to prove him innocent.

Maggie Pill delivers a healthy dose of sarcasm through her depiction of Lorilee. The story is told from two perspectives, so readers will view the events from both Lorilee's and Jess’s viewpoints with sage witticisms and a generous measure of teenage jargon. In addition to the main plot, readers will pick up many interesting facts about cats, their physiology, and their care, as Lorilee takes in strays and boarders, while Jess’s job involves helping a veterinarian. On many occasions, books focus on the brave actions of younger protagonists, but Lorilee is an older sleuth, and she proves that her age and connections help her as she and Jess work together to solve a crime that goes much deeper than most people would believe. Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries with pets will love Raining Cats and Cats.