Part of Series
The Barnes & Noble Review Shirley Rousseau Murphy's popular mystery series features quick-witted cats who are also expert investigators. This installment finds the quiet town of Molena Point, California, devastated by the murder of local celebrity Patty Rose: A former actress famed for her WWII-era Hollywood musicals, Patty was beloved for her many acts of kindness and generosity in the town she'd called home since her retirement. First on the scene after her famous friend is killed, the extraordinary young tortoiseshell Kit takes the lead in this investigation. Trained by one of the finest feline detectives in town, the large gray tomcat named Joe Grey, Kit puts her every instinct to work, following the perpetrator and gathering at great risk all the evidence humans will need to see justice done. Sentient felines Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit soon discover that this brutal crime has far-reaching ties and is more complex than anyone—human or animal—suspects. As usual, the humans who are lucky enough to share the lives of these curiously clever cats do their part—including a frightened child who's taken refuge in a hidden room with only Dulcie to offer her company and comfort and the first faint hope of freedom. Sue Stone
Author
Shirley Rousseau Murphy is the author of over 40 books, including 24 novels for adults, the Dragonbards Trilogy and more for young adults, and many books for children. She is best known for her Joe Grey cat mystery series, consisting of 21 novels, the last of which was published when she was over 90. Now retired, she enjoys hearing from readers who write to her at her website www.srmurphy.com, where the reading order of the books in that series can be found. Murphy grew up in southern California, riding and showing the horses her father trained. After attending the San Francisco Art institute she worked as an interior designer, and later exhibited paintings and welded metal sculpture in the West Coast juried shows. "When my husband Pat and I moved to Panama for a four-year tour in his position with the U. S . Courts, I put away the paints and welding torches, and began to write," she says. Later they lived in Oregon, then Georgia, before moving to California, where she now enjoys the sea and views of the Carmel hills. .
