Shirley Rousseau Murphy, Cat Cross Their Graves

Cat Cross Their Graves

Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Harper Collins, Jan 2005, $24.95, 320 pp.

ISBN 0060578084

In the town of Molena Point, three sentient, intelligent cats live with their human companions who love them dearly but the felines keep a secret even from their closest human friends. The youngest cat Kit hears a shot ring out at the Otter Pine Inn and when she goes to investigate she finds the body of the proprietor, ex-movie star Patty Rose. Kit loved Polly so when she gets the scent of the gunman, she followed him to his house where she finds evidence that would convict him in court if she could ever figure out a way out of the cottage.

Dulcie, the more mature feline, is worried about a young girl Lori who is hiding out in a secret place to the library. Her father is keeping her a prisoner, locking all the doors and windows so she can't get out. When the man who killed Polly kidnaps Lori, Kit chews on the ropes while the man is sleeping, enabling them to escape. Kit calls in a tip to the police but the horror is far from over, leaving it to the third cat Joe Grey to try to link the three crimes.

There's a special kind of magic in a Joe Grey mystery even when he steps out of the limelight to allow his female felines to shine. The trio are so believably portrayed readers will actually accept these intelligent cats exist somewhere in California. CAT CROSS THEIR GRAVES is a fantastic mystery where humans are only minor feeders, villains, or victims as the police department relies on the anonymous tips of the felines to solve crimes.

Harriet Klausner