Cat Coming Home (Joe Grey Series #16)

by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Overview

“One of the most entrancing (and effective) detectives in modern cozy mysteries.”
—Booklist

A celebration for cat lovers and mystery aficionados alike, Cat Coming Home—the 16th appearance of feline detective Joe Gray—is a holiday gift from acclaimed author Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Join tomcat Joe and his furry friends, Dulcie and Kit, as they set out to solve a deadly Christmas mystery in Molena Point with the aid of a lonely prison cat. Superior detective fiction with a purr-fectly delightful twist, Cat Coming Home is a dazzling blend of charm and suspense from nine-time Cat Writers’ Association Award winner Murphy. Fans of Lilian Jackson Braun, Rita Mae Brown, and Carole Nelson Douglas, take note!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062018380
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/26/2010
Series:	Joe Grey Series , #16
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	141,687
File size:	757 KB

About the Author

Shirley Rousseau Murphy is the author of twenty mysteries in the Joe Grey series, for which she has won the Cat Writers’ Association Muse Medallion nine years running, and has received ten national Cat Writers’ Association Awards for best novel of the year. She is also a noted children’s book author, and has received five Council of Authors and Journalists Awards. She lives in Carmel, California, where she serves as full-time household help to two demanding feline ladies.

What People are Saying About This

Todd David Schwartz

“This is delightful entertainment. It would be a true cat-tastrophe if you let it pass you by.”

Editorial Reviews

In Murphy's deeply moving 17th Joe Grey mystery (after 2009's Cat Striking Back), yuletide cheer appears in the enchanting form of Misto, a wise old yellow tomcat who returns from a long sojourn in Soledad Prison to Molena Point, Calif., where he's thrilled to connect with cat sleuths Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit, who lend police chief Max Harper and his detectives a helping paw in the close-knit seaside community. Maudie Toola, and her orphaned grandson, Benny, have also returned to Molena Point, where they are celebrating their first Christmas since a family tragedy eight months earlier--the shooting murders of Maudie's son, Martin, and his second wife on an isolated mountain road east of L.A. Since Maudie possesses evidence that could incriminate the killer, Maudie and Benny remain in jeopardy unless the talking cats speak up and fast in this marvelous holiday gift of a tale. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

[A] marvelous holiday gift of a tale.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Cat Coming Home

“A heartwarming and satisfying tale.” — Booklist on Cat Coming Home

“The heartwrenching stories of an orphaned child and a stray cat at Christmas will tug on more than a few heartstrings.” — Romantic Times on Cat Coming Home

“This is delightful entertainment. It would be a true cat-tastrophe if you let it pass you by.” — Todd David Schwartz, CBS Radio, Four Stars (Highest Rating) on Cat Coming Home

From the Publisher

This is delightful entertainment. It would be a true cat-tastrophe if you let it pass you by.

Todd David Schwartz

A heartwarming and satisfying tale.

Booklist on Cat Coming Home

The heartwrenching stories of an orphaned child and a stray cat at Christmas will tug on more than a few heartstrings.

Romantic Times on Cat Coming Home

A quartet of talking cats led by feline detective Joe Grey (Cat Striking Back, 2009, etc.) help the police catch a killer.

After her son and daughter-in-law are shot to death while driving the narrow mountain road to Lake Arrowhead, Maudie Toola takes her grandson Benny away from Los Angeles to start a new life. She hires neighbor Ryan Flannery to add a quilting room to the tiny Tudor she buys at Molena Point. Ryan, recently married to Clyde Damen, is one of the few humans privy to Joe Grey's secret: Clyde's stub-tailed tomcat can speak. When a series of home invasions rocks the quiet central coast village, who better than Joe, and his female companions Dulcie and Kit, to prowl the rooftops looking for trouble and reporting by phone to the police? The Damens' good friend, police Chief Max Harper, is under intense pressure from outraged citizens like Arlie Risso to stop the crime wave. But the intruders just ramp up the action, trashing two local restaurants, breaking into homes and beating up the women who live there alone. Maudie's nephew Jared Coletto moves in to watch out for her, even though his badass brother Vic just knifed Jack Reed in Soledad prison. But can Jared protect Maudie from her son's killer? Only Misto, a yellow tomcat born in Molena Point but most recently a resident of Soledad, knows the answer.

Focusing on menace rather than mystery, Rousseau takes that staple of cozies—companion animals—and puts them in the center of a new hybrid—the talking-cat thriller.

Kirkus Reviews