I like continuity. I started the series at the beginning and after the first book had to find the, at that time out of print, Catswold Portal, to really go back to the beginning. Each further book builds on a fantastic story, one that true cat lovers, in their hearts, wish could be true. Shirley Rousseau Murphy has given concious life to the cats in her books, and that underlying humanity draws one back, tale after tale, to a group of cats, that after the first book, are friends. I wait impatiently for each new story to be unveiled. There are too many series, not enough really good ones. This is one of the best!
Azrael is back in Molena point! Evil is lurking about!
In this volume of the series, Ms. Murphy puts together a masterpiece. Those who have read her previous books are treated to many treasures: Not only does this book perform the normal feat of making sentient cats who can read and speak English sound almost believable, but the mystery plot is actually convoluted enough, and credible enough that I had a tough time deciphering the who-dun-it part until about two thirds of the way through the book. Finally, this book brings together all of the characters that inhabit this wonderful little corner of the world and progresses each of their stories.
Let's start with Azrael - Last we saw him, he was helping a drunken old man perform burglaries in Molena Point so they could pay for their food and booze. This time Azrael leaves the man in Columbia, South America and he is on the trail of some unique talismans that will lead him to a greater place. However, to get there, he helps in creating havoc and much crime all up and down the California coast.
Dillon - the 14 year old girl that has been a special project of Max Harper and Charlie is going through that stage of puberty where the world is against her. In this book, she is even more angry as her mother has started an open affair with a good-looking rich man who moved into the village a few months before. Dillon's rebelliousness leads her to associate with a small crowd of other girls who are also at that stage and who are led by an older teen who eggs them on to mischief.
Kate Osborn is also back. In her case, she is searching for her ancestors and has actually discovered an old law firm that has been holding some jewelry for her for over 30 years. This jewelry leads her to search the accounts of a newspaperman called McCabe who may or may not be related to her. The jewelry itself is unique but an appraiser values it at some few hundreds of dollars stating that the various stones on it are actually made of paste.
One of the early events in the book involves a waiter who falls dead on top of Charlie at the reception that the village is holding for her to celebrate her one-woman show of art works featuring Joe Grey and Dulcie. How about that ruining an evening?
Then, another murder occurs and then two more deaths are reported which affect Kit to an incredible degree. While all of this is going on, there is also a rash of burglaries around the state where only one item of many are stolen. The treasure left behind is substantial, but the one item that is stolen is very expensive. There are no traces left of how the burglaries take place. Even Clyde is affected when one of his cars disappears in the middle of the night!
All of this drive Joe, Dulcie, Kit, Clyde, Wilma, Max, and Charlie absolutely bonkers. They all search for clues and an understanding of each of the crimes. As usual, it is the cats who discover pieces of what's going on and get some evidence to the police.
The story's tension gets cranked up as Kate Osborn is first followed, then her apartment is ransacked, and finally, everything resolves itself with the explanations of what was going on actually making sense and describing the events of the book to a great degree. There are even a few confrontations and battles between Joe and Azrael with the apparent resolution that Azrael may be gone for good this time.
I was happy to see hints that Clyde and Kate may be able to resolve their differences as they are being painted as the perfect couple for each other. Ryan is there, but her romance with Clyde seemed to have cooled off. Charlie and Max are still madly in love. And all the adults try to save Dillon and apparently are making an impact in turning her back from the wrong road that she was almost on. I can't wait to read the next one in the series to see how it will evolve from here.
Highly recommended.
Joe Grey Is The Best!
This selection takes a step furtuer into the lives of Joe Grey and his friends. You will enjoy the talks between Joe and his human friends as well as his command cats. Story moves fast and flows smoothly. With each book we learn more an more about Joe's ablilities and what that means for all of his friends.
Love these cats!
I have read every one of Shirley R Murphy's books. I can't say that about any other author, although I'm working on Agatha Christie ;-) These books raised my spirits while having a depressing stay in a nursing home after a rather bad hip problem. Shirley has a great imagination! If you are tired of the "Cat Who" books, give Shirley a try. Better if read in order, but not necessary.
An old enemy returns, a young friend needs help
When a fully restored antique Packard roadster disappears from Clyde Damen's locked auto shop--the latest in a series of baffling burglaries plaguing the little coastal town of Molena Point--Clyde does the sensible thing: he gets his cat. Joe Grey, the stub-tailed tomcat, is an experienced detective who can speak and read English and reason with the best of them; over the years since discovering this gift he has decided that "if you were given extra talents, you were committed by the power that made all life to give back in kind"--which is why he helps the cops. But even Joe doesn't realize the truth until, walking the roofs in the wee hours of the morning, he picks up a familiar and hated smell. It soon turns out that Azrael, the sinister tomcat who shares the gift of sentience with Joe and his friends Dulcie and Kit, is back in town and up to his usual tricks. (Strewn through the first 22 pages are hints of what he's been doing since we last saw him; to me they suggest a story that Murphy has not yet told.) But there's more to the situation than meets the eye--even feline eyes that can see in the dark. Why is someone so interested in acquiring the antique jewelry inherited by shapeshifter Kate Osborne? Is Azrael connected? And what's to be done about young Dillon Thurwell, who at 14 has fallen in with a bad set and taken to shoplifting? Meanwhile, little Kit detects a gas leak in a neighborhood cottage--and there's a dead man inside. And a young and apparently healthy waiter suddenly drops dead in a village cafe. Then word comes that Kit's human "parents," the octogenarian Greenlaws, have died when their RV hit a semi-truck and burned. But are they dead after all? Facing off repeatedly against their old foe, Joe and his friends struggle to find the solutions to these mysteries (which, as always in Murphy's complex and skillfully plotted tales, turn out to be connected), and along the way begin to get some hints about their own powers. (Azrael is deeply interested in returning to what he deems the original world of the sentient cats, a mysterious underground realm that may have an entrance in San Francisco.) Joe may not fear evil, but evil definitely lurks in this fascinating entry to the series.
