Shirley Rousseau Murphy Cat Breaking Free

Cat Breaking Free

Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Harper Collins, Dec 2005, $24.95, 352 pp.

ISBN 0060578092

The small and quaint California village of Molena Point is home to very unusual creatures: Joe Grey, Dulcie and Kit. The three cats have human intelligence, the digestive system of a human being, and can talk to humans. Joe Grey is not happy that his human companion Clyde has a new neighbor Chicci Barb, a woman he once dated who stole five hundred dollars from him.

Spying on her, he notices that she has two rough looking hombres come to her home. The three felines also see her around town, sitting for hours in various restaurants taking notes on the comings and goings of the stores she has under surveillance. Kit sees the notes and thinks Chichi and her company are planning a robbery. It was only four days ago that the school caught on fire diverting the police from a successful jewel robbery. Three feral cats that Kit used to run with when she was a kitten are in a cage in the home of the male criminals that Chichi was entertaining. Joe and Dulcie try to free them but instead get caught. Kit must find them and free them in order to anonymously help the police stop the crooks.

The latest Joe Grey mystery is just as exciting as the other books in this purrfect series. The sentient and talkative felines are so realistically portrayed that readers will forget that such cats only exist between the pages of a book. Cat lovers, fans of the Mrs. Murphy series by Rita Mae Brown, and anyone who likes a charming and intricately plotted who done-it will definitely want to read CAT BREAKING FREE.

Harriet Klausner