Do not mess with the cats!

For a mystery novel, there is very little mystery in this book - notwithstanding the slight twist that the author introduces at the end (two murders committed at the same time are actually committed by two people). There is also no mystery as to who did the dirty deeds and why. Anyone who has followed this series and read it reasonably attentively could figure out who was the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crimes being discussed.

Instead of a mystery, this book delves mostly into two subjects: the human relationships among the tight knit group of Molena Point residents who have daily contact with the super-cats (Joe Grey; Dulcie; and Kit); and also, there is a cougar on the prowl in the hills above the village and both the cats and the humans continue to interact with his, admire him, or fear him.

I was happy to see that Kate was brought back into the series although there is no mention of her special talents directly - they are merely alluded to. Having her hook up with Clyde is problematical but it seems to be the direction for the series. Clyde's current girlfriend - Charlie - is mooning after Max Harper so that is a new twist. Max himself is starting to look at women and is interested in Charlie as well. Wilma Goetz is about the only ones of the regulars who do not appear much in this book. On the other hand, an intriguing new "regular" character is introduced in the form of Dallas Garza, a detective sent down to Molena Point to help.

So, what is the mystery? In the very first chapter, Kit is out patrolling the hills when she comes across a fresh murder scene where two women who were out riding horses have been killed - their throats are slashed and they have multiple stab wounds, besides. The murderer(s) attempts to frame Max Harper by dressing up like him, borrowing his horse for the murders; and having accomplices all over town call the police department with clues that point straight to Harper as the murderer. Unfortunately for the plotters, the red-haired girl from the last two novels is also riding along and she manages to escape the pursuit. Somehow she drops out of sight and most of the book is concerned with the search for her as the one survivor of the grisly mess. This is where the cougar comes in as he hunts in that area and therefore interacts with the cats and the child and the adults.

Coincidentally, three of the people that Max Harper put in jail over the previous few books manage to escape from the federal prison a few miles away and are out at large. This group includes Lee Wark who is a definite cat hater who knows something of their capabilities.

Joe Grey and Dulcie cannot help themselves in getting highly involved in the solution of this crime and in clearing Max Harper's name. They do their usual bit of sleuthing by hiding in various locations and listening in to conversations that they should not be listening to. They also manage to find some of the clues that the human searchers could not possibly have found and direct the police to them.

The book ends with a wild car chase, a scene of blood and destruction as the cougar decides to attack a human, and much hatred and depravity is exposed among the criminal classes but also involving one of the police officers. Once the whole story is revealed, and all the twists and turns of the plot are behind us, we are left to wonder at what the point of this book was. I have no clue by I enjoy spending time "observing" the antics of the cats and what they can manage to learn by simply being themselves.

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