Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Review: Cat on the Money by Shirley Rousseau Murphy


Genre:
Mystery

Format:
E-Book

Publisher:
Ad Stellae Books

Release Date:
September 2010









This is a novella from the Joe Grey Mystery series. The story was originally partially published in the magazine “Cats Magazine”. Now, it’s only available as an e-book.

I love the Joe Grey series. This series was my first introduction to cat mystery type books. Through a strange anomaly Joe, his girlfriend Dulcie, and a few of their feline friends are able to talk. They keep most of their conversations between themselves and their humans. Joe’s human is Clyde. Joe gives Clyde a run for his money as he persists in helping the police rid the small village of Molena Point of crime.

One of my favorite quotes of this series came from the first book, before Clyde knew Joe could talk. Joe found a way to use a phone and he said, “This is Joe, your cat.” I laughed at that line for the longest time (I guess you have to read it for yourself to get the humor of it. LOL)

Anyway, in this book Joe is once again sticking his nose into police business. Captain Max Harper doesn’t know about Joe’s speaking talents. He continually receives anonymous tips leading to solving many crimes in recent years, but how would he feel if he knew the tips came from his close friend’s cat?

A woman is found dead in the Otter Pine Inn’s tearoom. She bares a striking resemblance to the inn’s owner Patty Rose, a Hollywood star from the forties. It turns out she’s one of the contestants from the inn’s Patty Rose look-alike contest.

Unbeknownst to Harper, Joe begins his investigation which leads to his old nemesis Azrael. Another cat with speaking abilities, but this cat is a criminal. He helps his human steal. When several stores begin reporting thefts, it looks like they are connected with the murder. Joe intends to find out what his old friend is up to now.

I can’t help but love this series even though it’s part fantasy, as well as mystery. The writing is crisp and even the kitty dialogue sounds realistic to me. I can easily envision my own cats talking to me like this. LOL

I do wish this book was longer though. I would have liked there to be more to this story and read more about the characters. However, it’s a short story and works well as that. This is a long series so there are many more books in it that I can read to get my Joe Grey fix.



Disclosure: I bought this one for my Nook and is part of my own e-book collection. All opinions expressed are my own.




3 comments:

  1. I have yet to read a story in this series. It's been on my to-try list for a while. Would this work as a stand-alone or should I start at the beginning?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do think this novella is a stand-alone. There are no continuing storylines involved. So, yes, I think it can be read on its own. But...it's more fun to start at the beginning. LOL

      Delete

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