Take a curious cat. Add a death shrouded in mystery. What better combination for a whodunit - especially if the cat turns detective or somehow aids in solving the crime? Here for your reading pleasure is a selection of the best feline sleuth mysteries. I'm including only one book by each author, but many have written a series of novels featuring cats and murder. Reading one will lead you to a whole slew of additional reading possibilities, whether you prefer a cat that takes an active role in solving the crime or the pet cat who hangs out with a human crime buster.
Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, by Sofie Kelly. NAL, 2011. Print Length: 336 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (31 reviews). Kindle edition $6.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen's fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there's something more to these felines. When murder interrupts Mayville's Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect. More stunning is her realization that Owen and Hercules are magical - and she's relying on their skills to solve a purr-fect murder." - Publisher.
Only the Cat Knows, by Marian Babson. Minotaur Books, 2010. Print Length: 224 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition $6.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Vanessa and her twin brother Vance are very close. So when someone pushes Vanessa down a flight of stairs and puts her into a coma, Vance wants revenge. He decides that masquerading as Vanessa will lead him to the villain. With her clothes, her makeup, and what he knows about his beloved sister, he pulls it off very well and is on the verge of learning what he needs to know...Until he discovers a serious threat that might destroy all his efforts. There is one pair of eyes he can’t pull the wool over: Gloriana, Vanessa’s beautiful Angora cat who regards her 'mistress' with a dark suspicion. If the cat can’t be won over, then the whole deadly charade is likely to fall apart..." - from the back cover.
A Cat With No Clue, by Lydia Adamson. Signet, 2001. Print Length: 203 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $5.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"For an anniversary present, actress and amateur sleuth Alice Nestleton gifts elderly actor friends Alex and Lila with a meal that is exactly like the one they shared on their first date. But the next day the couple is dead from food poisoning. The only witnesses are the couple's two kittens, so Alice becomes the prime suspect!" - Publisher.
The Cat Who Tailed a Thief, by Lilian Jackson Braun. Jove, 1998. Print Length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (32 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Winter in Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere, begins with a disagreement between the local weatherman, who predicts a normal arctic winter, and the fuzzy caterpillar, whose behavior forecasts abnormally mild conditions. (The latter wins when grandiose plans for an Ice Festival are flooded out by an unprecedented mid-February thaw.) The residents of Pickax are even more concerned, however, with a series of petty larcenies and the Pleasant Street historic houses restoration project. It's up to the town's leading citizen - semiretired journalist/philanthropist Jim Qwilleran, assisted by his Siamese sleuths Koko and Yum Yum, to discover the connection between these events and two murders committed Down Below..." - Barbara Duree for Booklist.
Pawing Through the Past, by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown. Bantam, 2004. Print Length: 368 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (30 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"You'll never get old. Each member of the class of 1980 has received the letter. Mary Minor 'Harry' Haristeen, who is on the organizing committee for Crozet High's twentieth reunion, decides to take it as a compliment. Others think it's a joke. But Mrs. Murphy senses trouble. And the sly tiger cat is soon proven right...when the class womanizer turns up dead with a bullet between his eyes. Then another note followed by another murder makes it clear that someone has waited twenty years to take revenge. While Harry tries to piece together the puzzle, it's up to Mrs. Murphy and her animal pals to sniff out the truth." - from the paperback edition.
Murder Past Due, by Miranda James. Berkley, 2010. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (36 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Everyone in Athena, Mississippi, knows librarian Charlie Harris - and his Maine coon cat named Diesel that he walks on a leash. They also know his former classmate-turned-famous bestselling novelist, Godfrey Priest. But someone in Athena took Godfrey off the bestseller lists - permanently, and with extreme prejudice. Now, Charlie and Diesel must browse through the history section of the town's past to find a killer." - Publisher.
Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta, by Carole Nelson Douglas. Forge Books, 2011. Print Length: 384 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (1 review). Kindle edition $11.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Temple Barr is an ace P.R. wizard when it comes to promoting Las Vegas’ hottest clients. She’s also an amateur sleuth who has caught her share of bad guys. B-movie actress Savannah Ashleigh begs Temple to investigate the suspicious death of her rich aunt’s handyman. Temple happily takes the case, if for no other reason than to take her mind off her chaotic private life. Her ex-fiancé, the Mystifying Max, is back - minus his memory. And current fiancé Matt Devine has shown up from a stint in Chicago with the promise of a surprising future. Which may or may not include Temple. As Temple digs into the man’s untimely demise she finds plenty of suspect and greedy humans swarming around the ailing Aunt Violet, who means to leave her estate to her resident cats. Temple thinks she’s close to solving the case, but it becomes clear to Midnight Louie, Temple’s roommate and ace feline detective, that there are more deaths both human and feline coming..." - Publisher.
Cat in the Dark, by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Harper Collins, 2009. Print Length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (9 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Cat lovers have long acknowledged the special qualities of felines, even those that don't speak, read, open locks, or act like private investigators. Joe Grey and Dulcie can do all of the above and more. While making a nighttime stroll around the quiet village of Molena Point, Joe and Dulcie witness a cat and a slovenly dressed man committing a robbery. The strange cat, Azrael, appears to be as evil as his name implies, and turns out to share the same unique abilities of Joe and Dulcie. The man turns out to be the brother of Mavity Flowers, one of the hard-working older women in the village. The two resident cats, faced with identifying the culprit, come across an investment scam, three deaths, and significant twisting of the plot. Human characters provide the realism in this mysterious fantasy that includes romantic interests and small-town squabbles..." - Pam Johnson for School Library Journal.
The Cat, The Quilt and the Corpse, by Leann Sweeney. NAL, 2009. Print Length: 288 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (43 reviews). Kindle edition $6.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Jillian Hart is content making and selling cat quilts and living quietly in Mercy, S.C., with her three cats, Syrah, Chablis and Merlot. When Syrah is catnapped, Jillian finds not only the thief - thanks to a state-of-the-art alarm system installed by charming PI Tom Stewart - but also a murder mystery to solve..." - Publishers Weekly.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.
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