Absolute perfection.  If you loved Remarkably Bright Creatures with an octopus narrator, you will love Pony Confidential with a Pony narrator.  

Teacher and mom Penny is shocked to be arrested and extradited to Ithaca from California for a murder she supposedly committed 25 years ago when she was only 12 years old.  The only one who can clear her name is her elderly Pony, who hasn't seen her since then.  Her marriage is strained as her daughter has high anxiety and needs to go away to boarding school.   She would do anything to help her daughter but can't believe the situation she has found herself in.   Sharing a jail cell with Dawn, who murdered her husband in order to protect her children, Penny has plenty of time to reflect on her life and how she has come into this terrible dilemma.   She is stuck in prison until the time she goes to trial, with a child lawyer named Lisa and character witnesses who keep ending up dead. 

This is a multi POV story- not only do we get to hear Penny's inner dialogue, but Pony's as well.   Pony crosses the country multiple times and shares his journey with companions as a goat, a rat and a dog.   The dialogue they share is pure and heartwarming.   This book creates a sense of joy, wonder, and relationship.  What does it mean to love unconditionally?

I would shelve this as a "cozy mystery" and also quite heartwarming.  It is my favorite mystery of 2024 and in my top ten books out of 600 books I have read this year.  A debut novel from a fresh new voice in fiction, Pony Confidential made me laugh and cry.  It was exactly what I needed to help me through a very dark time in my life.