The Nine Lives of a Cat, 1860 Style

Today we’re sharing something we just discovered yesterday on The Public Domain Review (a great resource if you’re looking for public domain material). What we found is an 1860 book called The Nine Lives of a Cat: A Tale of Wonder. It was written by Charles Bennett and published in London by Griffith and Farran. Bennett bills this tome as a “tale of wonder … told for children,” but it’s hardly the sort of children’s tale that would pass muster today.

Things were different for cats--and kids--back then

When we first meet the cat who is the star of the story, we see her stealing a fish. Then we learn that the cat pays a disproportionate penalty for this offense:

But when she was young,
Poor Kitty was hung;

Fortunately, though, this is a resourceful cat who keeps a knife in her pocket, so she manages to free herself. Now she’s down to eight lives.

And that is pretty much how the story goes: The cat suffers some potentially deadly calamity only to escape with her life, thanks to her own ability and cleverness. Some of these near-death experiences are the result of the cat’s own actions. She is burned while trying to snag meat off the fire and falls off a house while chasing a mouse, for example. But, disturbingly, she is also nearly done in three times by the deliberate actions of humans. One person attempts to hang her, as we’ve already seen; one attempts to drown her; and one attempts to shoot her. The disturbing part of these incidents is not that they happen at all, but that they’re mentioned so casually. The boy who tries to drown the cat isn’t described as “naughty” or “wicked” or any of the HBO words we might use; he’s just a kid having some fun.

Here, the cat falls of a house but survives by landing on her feet.

We do have to wonder if any 19th-century children were inspired by this or similar stories to try to harm cats or other animals. We suspect the answer is yes, but sadly, we also suspect that not much inspiration would have been needed in an age when violence toward animals was so accepted that it could be included in a children’s story without comment.

We’re glad humans—many of them, anyway—see things differently today.

In case you’re wondering, the cat lives to an old age and finally dies. Not exactly uplifting, although the author does remind us that the cat had lived nine lives, so we guess that’s something.

We suppose there is a moral to the story, but we’re not quite sure what it is. We're willing to entertain ideas in the comments.

Read with caution

If you’re interested in exploring how cats were portrayed in the past—or what children’s books were like in the past—we think The Nine Lives of a Cat is worth a look. None of the illustrations are horribly graphic, but we know some of you find any depictions of animal abuse upsetting. If you fall into that category, you should definitely skip this book. For others of you, we recommend taking a look at it not because it’s a great read—we thought it was awfully clunky and mostly not very enjoyable—but because it’s a piece of cat history. Also, the “Catalogue of New and Popular Works” at the back of the book is pretty interesting all by itself.

Cat Classics in Print: Space Cat Visits Venus

Today’s classic in print is the second slim volume in the Space Cats series, Space Cat Visits Venus, written by Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone. This particular book was first published in 1955 and has recently been republished by Dover. We probably enjoyed the story of Space Cat’s visit to Venus even more than the original Space Cat, which means we liked it quite a lot.

The plot

We first met the little tabby named Flyball as a kitten in his first book. Now he is grown up and no one tries to tell him anymore that he shouldn’t go into space. As if he would listen anyway. In a remarkably short period of time, people have built a whole city on the surface of the moon (we do have to wonder how they managed to get funding for that, but let’s not talk about money), and they’re preparing a mission to Venus. Once again astronaut Fred Stone and his sidekick Flyball will head off to explore.

Flyball has hopes that there will be lots of mice to chase on Venus, as there are none on the moon and that’s a real drag. Even if there don’t turn out to be mice on Venus, Flyball does have some improvements to enjoy. He has a brand-new hammock that has been built to be even more comfy than his original homemade one, and he and Fred have a new spaceship that has an actual name—Halley.

Not surprisingly, they find Venus to be a strange place with an ammonia atmosphere (at least at high altitudes), a beach of blue pebbles, and sentient plants that seem to be leading them in a certain direction. Oh, and the plants think at them. There is a certain type of moss that enables telepathic communication between plants and Earthlings and even between cat and human. All Flyball and Fred have to do is keep a bit of moss with them and they’ll be able to think at each other all the time. This is neat at first, but if you think about it, having someone be able to hear all your thoughts would get tiresome, not to mention embarrassing, after a while.

It turns out the Venus plants (and the little blue Venus mouse that Flyball is not supposed to chase!) need some help from the Earthlings. Soon Earth and Venus are off to an early promising relationship of mutual aid and cooperation. The cynic in old SoLT thinks that in reality humans would be overtaken by greed and ruin the whole planet while exploiting its amazing resources for profit. But this is supposed to be a fun and positive story, so check your cynicism at the door, please.

Our verdict

Space Cat Visits Venus is indeed a fun book. We read it in one evening and found the story and illustrations every bit as delightful as the original Space Cat. Once again Flyball goes off on a space adventure, discovering previously unknown life forms. He and Fred are brave and curious but also respectful and compassionate toward the life they meet—not a bad lesson for humans to learn, we think.

So if you’re looking for a light read for yourself or a great chapter book for the cat- or space-loving kid in your life, we highly recommend Space Cat Visits Venus.

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: Two by Clea Simon

On this Mysterious Monday, we are excited to share our thoughts on not one but two new releases from one of our favorite authors, Clea Simon. First up is Cross My Path, the latest in the Blackie and Care mystery series, and next is Fear on Four Paws, the latest in the Pru Marlowe Pet Noir series.

Cross My Path

This book picks up the story of a young pink-haired private investigator named Care and her feline companion, Blackie. They live in a run-down port town where work is hard to come by and the living is hard. Care, though, is building a reputation and a clientele, even if many clients can barely pay her. Now she has two jobs, one for a woman seeking something that belonged to her missing brother, the other for a man seeking his younger work companion who has gone missing. Meanwhile, she is also trying to figure out what her former acquaintance AD, who is supposed to be in prison, is doing walking the streets, and she’s still trying to protect young Tick, the growing boy she feels an almost motherly attachment to. These tasks all keep taking her to the docks, a dangerous part of town where it is rumored that trade is about to start up again. The question is, trade in what, and why do people Care knows keep turning up dead?

The story is told entirely from Blackie’s point of view. He is a unique cat (or maybe not so unique—who knows?) in that he used to be someone else. Specifically, he used to be Care’s former mentor, now deceased. The first two books in this series dealt largely with Blackie coming to understand who he now is and who he once was. Now he knows, but there are still many things he does not know about his former life. We love how devoted he is to Care, to protecting her, and we love getting to see the world through his senses. He is one of the most fascinating feline characters we have ever read, and his character grows with each book.

We think Cross My Path is the best book in the series so far. The story, set in a dark world, is completely engrossing, filled with characters who keep you wondering what they’re really up to. It’s hard to tell who Care should trust, and the consequences if she chooses wrong could be deadly for her and Blackie. This is not a cozy by any means, but if you’re up for something grittier and featuring a truly great cat, we highly recommend Cross My Path and the whole Care and Blackie series!

Fear on Four Paws

We have been wanting to try the Pru Marlowe series for a while now, and we are so happy we finally got a chance to. Pru is an animal behaviorist who has the ability to communicate with animals, although she doesn’t always interpret their messages correctly. She’s also a former wild child who speeds around in her muscle car, drinks a fair amount of bourbon, and sleeps with local police detective Jim Creighton. In this book, Pru gets involved in a murder investigation after a bear is illegally trapped and Pru finds her boss, Albert, passed out at the scene. Unfortunately for Albert, there’s also a body—a human one—stashed in a cabin used by him and his buddies.

Albert is your basic disgusting slob, but Pru knows he couldn’t have organized the trapping of the bear, much less killed anyone, and so she has to help him clear his name. Trouble is, the only known witness is his ferret, Frank, but given the messages Pru gets from him, she has to wonder what he’s holding back. Meanwhile, local pets belonging to well-off newcomers keep going missing, only to turn up a short while later, found by a nice young man who often receives a small reward for his efforts. Pru suspects that something weird is going on there too.

The main cat in this book is Wallis, Pru’s tabby with an attitude. We enjoyed their blunt exchanges. Wallis is quick to comment on whatever Pru is up to, but it’s really up to the ferret, Frank, to help put together the pieces of this mystery.

We enjoyed Fear on Four Paws a lot. Pru is not a polished person by any means—she is who she is, and we like that. We also like how Clea Simon handles the animal communication parts of the story. It’s not always clear what the animal is trying to tell Pru, and Pru just might get the sensation of a mouth full of fur along with the communication. The plot is also a real puzzler. We did not figure it out at all, and the end had us turning pages like crazy to find out what would happen. Fun!

 Both of these books are great reads, and we give them both a very enthusiastic Two Paws Up!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of these books in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you something was good unless we really liked it!

The links below are Amazon Associates links. If you purchase anything through these links, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Think Before You Wish, or, Let Your Cat Be a Cat

Have you ever wished your cat could be someone else? First of all, why on earth would you wish for something like that? And second, you should be careful what you wish for, as the old widow in this US folk story found out the hard way.

Once upon a time, there was an old widow woman whose only companion in life was her faithful cat. Woman and cat spent hours every day in their comfortable chair near the fireplace, the woman reading and the cat curled on her lap, purring. They so enjoyed this spot that they often spent not only the day but also the night alternately reading and dozing before the fire.

And that is where they were late one night, the woman snoring contentedly as the final embers of the fire faded, when suddenly the cat stood up, arched his back, and hissed. The woman stirred herself awake and was startled to see a short but lithe figure standing between her and the fire.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded, reaching for the cane she kept propped against her chair.

“Greetings! I am your elf,” said the figure.

The woman’s fingers brushed against the cane but only succeed in knocking it to the floor.

“Let me get that for you,” the figure offered, stepping closer.

“No! You stay where you are, you … you.… What did you say you are again?”

“An elf. I’m your personal wish elf, come to grant you three wishes. Whatever you want, just name it, Granny.”

The cat hissed. The woman laughed. “No such thing as elves,” she said.

“And yet here I am,” the elf replied quite reasonably. “Come on, just tell me your wishes, I’ll grant them, and we’ll both be happy. I’ll be that much closer to making my monthly wish quota, and you’ll get some stuff you want. What can it hurt to wish?”

At this point the woman realized she must be having a dream. This elf—or whatever it was—was right. What could it hurt to wish?

“All right,” she said. “First, I wish I were rich. And not just a little bit rich—I want to be filthy rich. Second, I wish I were young again, and beautiful. Third, I wish my cat here were a handsome young man. But not too young. Something Channing Tatum-ish. You got that?”

“Sure, Granny. Wealth, youth, pretty plaything. This is all standard stuff. You’ll have it when you wake in the morning. If you’re not completely satisfied, call 1-800—”

“Oh, get out already!”

With that, the elf vanished. Chuckling at the mere thought of a “personal wish elf,” the woman dozed off again.

The next morning, the woman woke to find herself in a luxurious bed in the most extravagantly furnished bedroom she could imagine. Seeing a mirror on the wall, she slipped out of bed—without any pain or creaking joints, she noticed—and hurried to look at herself. Her hair was once again long and blond, her wrinkles and age spots were gone, and—she smiled and then opened her mouth to be sure—yes, she had a full set of her own teeth! If all this had happened, then the cat …

She turned to see a shirtless Channing Tatum lounging on a chair, staring seductively at her.

“Darling!” she squealed and ran to him, squeezing herself into the chair with him.

He put his arms around her and kissed her passionately. It was perfect—everything she had wished for.

Then Channing said, “Now don’t you wish you’d never had me fixed?”

Adapted from the story “Three Wishes” in Frank de Caro’s The Folktale Cat (August House, 1992).

Illustration via Adobe Stock.

Reminder!

The Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop happens right here tomorrow! So get out those not-quite-right pet photos and be ready to hop and have some Friday fun.

The Linky will open at 12:01 a.m.

All pets are welcome!

#PetPhotoFails

Book Review: Claws of Death

On this Mysterious Monday, we are pleased to bring you our short review of Claws of Death, the second Cat Lady mystery from Linda Reilly. We missed the first book in this series, but we had no trouble at all getting right into this book, which features a small cat shelter, a retired actress, and a mysterious ghostly cat that only one person can see.

The plot

The action happens in Whisker Jog, New Hampshire, where Lara Caphart and her aunt Fran run a cat shelter, and where famous but aging Hollywood star Deanna Daltry has decided to retire. Deanna adopts two adorable kittens—Noodle and Doodle—from the shelter. That’s terrific, but Lara has misgivings about the housekeeper, Nancy, who doesn’t like cats. Her misgivings tick up several  notches when she discovers a murdered man on Deanna’s property. Could he be connected to Deanna’s past somehow, or perhaps to Nancy’s past? Has Lara unwittingly adopted two innocent kittens out to a murderer? Everyone tells her not to get involved, but she can’t help herself, knowing that the kittens could be in danger.

Fortunately, she has help (see next section).

The cats

The main cats in this story are of course Noodle and Doodle and the cats at the shelter. We won’t introduce all of them here, but there’s Frankie, who wants to be an only cat; Ballou, a feral who’s learning to be more comfortable around humans; Bootsie, who’s been waiting forever to find a home; and Munster, the shelter’s unofficial greeter.

And then there’s the real main cat, Blue. She is a ghostly Ragdoll who appears at will but only to Lara. Blue has a talent for pointing out clues by pushing important papers and such in Lara’s direction (not that Lara always pays attention at first). And though she can’t be seen by others, Blue can influence them by moving objects to get their attention. The object-moving thing works for distracting crazed killers too!

Our verdict

So basically, we want Blue to come visit us (wouldn’t that be so cool?). And we want to go to Whisker Jog and visit Lara’s cat shelter. We would try to plan our trip for when they’re not having a murder, though, because it sounds like there are some dangerous people in the area.

What I am trying to say is that we loved Claws of Death. The plot is excellent and kept us guessing right up to the end (and no, we did not figure out whodunnit before the killer was revealed), and the characters are people (and cats) you really want to spend time with. We loved seeing the cats at the shelter meet their new families, even though things don’t always turn out as planned. And of course we loved seeing how the cats touch people’s lives, even if those people don’t like cats.

Claws of Death has just the right mix of charm and mayhem, and we highly recommend it!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Cat Classics in Print: Space Cat

Today’s Cat Classic in Print is one for you fans of cats and space—and cats in space. It’s the children’s book Space Cat, written by Ruthven Todd and illustrated by Paul Galdone, and first published in 1952. This thin volume has recently been released in a new edition by Dover and will be followed by three more books in the series (Space Cat Visits Venus, Space Cat Meets Mars, and Space Cat and the Kittens), to be released over the coming months. We enjoyed this book both because it has a cat in a spaceship and because it offers a glimpse into the fantastical world of space as envisioned by humans nearly a decade before they actually left Earth’s orbit.

A teeny little bit about Ruthven Todd

We suspect not a lot of you have heard of Ruthven Todd (we certainly hadn’t). Well, Todd (1914–1978) was an Edinburgh-born poet and novelist who was also an artist, an amateur botanist, and a William Blake scholar. He began to publish his poetry in the 1940s. Also during this time, Todd wrote detective novels under the name R. T. Campbell. These novels feature a botanist who is also a sleuth. In 1947 Todd moved to the US, and he became a citizen in the 1950s. He died in Spain as a result of chronic lung disease. (Source: ScottishPoetry Library)

A teeny bit more about Space Cat

Space Cat is the story of a gray tabby cat who is possibly the most fearless feline ever. We first meet him as a kitten who manages to get himself onto an airplane, where he meets a man who turns out to be Captain Fred Stone, a pilot and soon-to-be first man on the moon. The captain names the kitten Flyball, and soon enough the adventurous little cat has taken over the experimental station where lots of military types are working on spaceflight. He sneaks onto a rocket for a test flight, after which the captain decides Flyball should accompany him to the moon. Over the objections of the Head Guys in Charge, the cat is fitted with a pressure suit (complete with an appendage for his tail), and a little hammock is created for him in the rocket. Then off to the moon he and the captain go.

The moon that Flyball lands on is very little like the one Neil Armstrong stepped onto in 1969. It is covered with fluffy dust that Flyball and the captain sink deep into, and there is life on it. A weird sort of plant-like life, but life nonetheless. Flyball is the one who discovers the life forms, and when the captain falls and gets a leak in his helmet, it is Flyball who saves him with help from some of those life forms. Hero!

Our verdict

This is such a fun little book! Both the story and illustrations are delightful (our favorite illustration shows the captain walking toward the rocket, carrying Flyball in his little pressure suit).

Space Cat was published 9 years before the first human ventured into space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961) and 17 years before the first moon landing. That means a couple of things. First, the illustrator and author could really put their imaginations to work in creating the world that Flyball enters. Second, we felt some dissonance between that fantastical world and the real one. Old SoLT just couldn’t stop herself from thinking about all the little ways the fantasy didn’t match up to the reality. But we think this just means you can read the book on more than one level. And old SoLT has to complain a little bit about the complete lack of female characters. Interesting comparisons could be made between Space Cat and the more recent CatStronauts series, which (a) has more real-sounding sciency stuff and (b) depicts females in prominent positions. How life has changed in 66 years!

As we said, Space Cat is a fun book that you can turn into something more serious if you are so inclined. Or you can do what Todd and Galdone probably meant for you to do: read it, look at the pictures, and enjoy it.

Recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: A Passion for Haunted Fashion

On this Mysterious Monday, we are pleased to bring you our review of A Passion for Haunted Fashion, the latest Haunted Vintage mystery from Rose Pressey. This is the series that combines murder, fashion, ghosts, a generous dose of humor, and a cat who uses a Ouija board to communicate. It is such fun!

The plot

In A Passion for Haunted Fashion, vintage clothing boutique owner Cookie Chanel is working on costumes for the Sugar Creek Theater’s upcoming production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Somehow, Cookie always finds herself sorting through trunks or racks of old clothing in a dusty attic or basement or some such place, and more often than not, she manages to stir up a ghost. This is in addition to her more or less permanent ghostly companion, Charlotte, who is bossy and sassy and very, very funny. The new ghost in this case is named Peggy, and she’s been in the theater since the 1950s. Can Cookie and Charlotte help her figure out why she’s there?

Sounds like enough to keep a person and two ghosts busy, but then one of the actors is found stabbed to death, with Cookie’s best friend, Heather, standing over him, covered in blood. Obviously things look bad for Heather, and now Cookie and the ghosts have two mysteries to solve, and if they don’t solve the more modern one, Heather could be headed to prison.

Fortunately they have plenty of suspects, both from the theater and from the victim’s personal life. Unfortunately, Cookie is not the smoothest investigator you’ve ever met, as she tends to get flustered when trying to question someone. Having two ghosts there to critique her performance doesn’t help, especially when Cookie can’t respond to them because she’s the only one who can see them. If she suddenly starts talking out loud to invisible people, everyone will think she’s nuts.  (Everyone probably already thinks she’s nuts anyway, but whatever.)

The cat

Also fortunately, they have the help of the white Persian cat named Wind Song. Wind Song has an interesting story herself. See, one time during a séance, Cookie’s grandmother’s spirit got trapped in the cat’s body. Now the grandmother (who is also sort of psychic—because why not?) communicates through a Ouija board. Except sometimes Wind Song the cat communicates through the board. Basically, if the message is relevant to the investigation, it’s from Grandma Pearl; if it’s about cat food, it’s from Wind Song. Anyway, Wind Song / Grandma Pearl are instrumental in providing clues that point Cookie and the ghosts in the right direction.

Our verdict

When we first started reading this series, we thought we might not like it so much because fashion is really not our thing. Honestly, when the outfits are described, we often even don’t know how to picture them; if it’s not jeans and T-shirts, we’re a little lost. But you don’t have to love fashion to love these stories, because they have a lot to offer. We love the role Wind Song / Grandma Pearl plays, and we like that Cookie keeps meeting new ghosts whose mysteries she must solve. Cookie has an endearingly fumbling method of crime solving, and Charlotte cracks us up (be sure to read her tips on the afterlife at the start of every other chapter; they alternate with Cookie's vintage fashion tips). Plus, we enjoy mysteries set in the South.

In A Passion for Haunted Fashion, Rose Pressey gives us another fun mystery full of characters we love. Recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Cat Classics in Print: Warriors Book 1: Into the Wild

Old SoLT has been wanting to read this series since it first started in 2003, but somehow she has never gotten around to it before now. We sort of wondered if the first Warriors book, Into the Wild, can truly be considered a classic when it’s only 15 years old, but considering the sheer number of novels, novellas, “super editions,” manga, and guides it has spawned (not including box sets, we count well over 50 books on the Warriors website; we can’t be more accurate because we lost count twice and didn’t want to start over again), we decided Into the Wild is definitely a classic. And worth waiting for.

The plot

Into the Wild introduces the world of the Warrior Cats through the eyes of a young housecat—or “kittypet,” as the wild cats call them. Rusty ventures from his home with the Twolegs (humans) into the nearby woods and has his first encounter with Clan cats. He performs well in the ensuing fight, and he ends up being invited to join ThunderClan as an apprentice. He takes up the challenge and soon enough is living a tough and exciting new life with a new name—Firepaw.

Firepaw learns to hunt and fight and follow the warrior code. But all is not well in the territory of the four Clans. Each Clan has its own territory where they can hunt, but lately ShadowClan has been up to no good, demanding that the other Clans allow its cats to hunt basically wherever they want. They have already forced one clan into an agreement and pushed another clan off its territory, and now they’re eyeing ThunderClan’s forest. A big fight is brewing, and it will not be pretty.

Meanwhile, the leader of ThunderClan has taken in a disgraced former medicine cat from the hated ShadowClan. But this cat brings with her a reputation for being dangerous. Will she betray her new Clan when the battle comes?

And where should Firepaw put his loyalty? He soon learns that danger doesn’t always come from outsiders.

Our verdict

We raced through this book, repeatedly saying “Just one more chapter” until we were saying, “Almost done! Might as well keep going now.” We will tell you up front that Into the Wild is about a cat learning to be a warrior, so of course there is fighting between cats. Some of the cats are treacherous and cruel, and some cats die. But the book is written for the 8-to-12-year-old set (thus hitting old SoLT’s mental age perfectly!), so nothing is horribly graphic. We found it dramatic but not upsetting (okay, that is a lie—the part where one of our favorite cats died was upsetting, but we have recovered). We know some of you are especially sensitive to any sort of violence involving animals, though, and we wanted to be clear about the content.

Probably our favorite thing about this book is the richness of its world. Having spent just a little time in that world, it is easy to understand how the series has grown and grown. The Clans have their own history, mythology, and traditions. They have ways of honoring the dead, of seeking guidance from StarClan (when a cat dies, he or she goes to join StarClan in the night sky). Their medicine cats know what plants to gather to heal wounds and illness. Yes, it would be easy to get so caught up in the Warriors series that you’d need a guidebook to keep track of everything.

By the way, if you’re wondering (as we were) how in the world author Erin Hunter has managed to write so many books in less than two decades—she does it by actually being six people. It was quite a relief to learn that, because we’d imagined some kind of super-writer who never sleeps.

We recommend Into the Wild 100%! Just be prepared to be sucked in to a whole new world.

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: Magick Run Amok

On this Mysterious Monday, we are thrilled to bring you our review of the latest book in the Abracadabra mystery series by Sharon Pape. Magick Run Amok keeps this fun series going with a perplexing series of murders, a little magic, a famous sorcerer who’s seriously in the wrong time zone, and of course a clowder of cats.

The plot

We return to New Camel, New York, and meet up with Kailyn Wilde, owner of a magick shop called Abacadabra. Her aunt Tilly has had a premonition of a murder—another murder—and soon Kailyn’s love interest, local TV reporter Travis, tells her that his friend Ryan is missing. Then Ryan is dead, apparently the victim of an unfortunate car accident. Then Travis reveals that Ryan was not just a friend; he was an adopted brother. And he was murdered, probably because he’d been investigating a string of earlier murders that had been passed off as unrelated deaths from various causes. Travis is going to investigate Ryan’s death and all those others. Does Kailyn want to help?

Dumb question, right?

So Travis and Kailyn begin interviewing victims’ family members, trying to find out what all those deaths have in common. Kailyn’s abilities in spell casting and teleportation come in handy, and the investigative duo starts to form some theories. But as they get closer to the truth, it starts to look like one or both of them could be the killer’s next victim. It’s a good thing Kailyn has cats! (See next section to find out why.)

We can’t review an Abacadabra book without mentioning Merlin. Yes, the Merlin. King Arthur, Knights of Round Table, etc., etc. The famous sorcerer has been pulled out of his own time and is stuck in the modern world—not that this is totally a bad thing. He loves ice cream, television, pizza, and getting into mischief. In Magick Run Amok, he tries a run for the town board (not a good idea, since he’s not a citizen and can’t reveal where he’s really from), transmutes himself into a duck and can’t undo it (so funny!), and puts a little glamour on Kailyn so everyone thinks she is a certain King of Rock ’n’ Roll (too bad she still can’t sing). He is quite the character!

The cats

Kailyn has a whole clowder of cats, headed by Shashkatu, a senior who spends most of his time sleeping in the shop. There are five other cats, plus Tilly’s Maine coon. Shashkatu and his underlings play an important role in saving their people from a dangerous jam. Bad guys in your house? Send in the cats! We enjoyed that scene, and we especially enjoyed the little wink Shashkatu gives Kailyn when it’s over. Yeah, he planned it all. The cats are mostly side characters in this book, but they sure do show up when needed.

Our verdict

We love this series. We still haven’t read the first book, but we are anxious to get to it and find out how everything started. That said, you can enjoy Magick Run Amok even if you haven’t read the previous books, although we suspect you’ll enjoy it more if you have read the earlier volumes. The mystery is well constructed and is truly mysterious. It is no wonder no one connected the dots earlier, and if not for Kailyn, Travis, and friends, a killer would remain free. The action and suspense are relieved by healthy doses of humor, and the characters are some of our favorites in the world of cozy mysteries. The magic is more complicated than the “I’ll just whip up a little spell and everything will be fine” variety; it’s helpful, but not foolproof (quack quack!). And the cats are excellent. We do love a cat who saves the day.

If you haven’t tried the Abacadabra books yet, you should. We think you’ll love them as much as we do!

Highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: CatStronauts: Robot Rescue

Today we are pleased to bring you our review of the fourth book in Drew Brockington’s CatStronauts series: Robot Rescue. We love this series of graphic novels in which cats explore space, and Robot Rescue may be our favorite so far.

In this volume, Cat-Stro-Bot—a robot created by Blanket the cat—is on the surface of Europa constructing a drill to search for water, and possibly life. All looks promising until something goes horribly wrong (that’s Kerplow! in comic-book-speak). Direct contact with Cat-Stro-Bot is severed, and it looks like Blanket has lost his best friend. But there is still a signal coming from Europa, indicating the robot is still operational. Unfortunately, Flight Director Maisy says a rescue mission to get him back is a no-go. It’s just too risky.

Poor Blanket sinks into a funk, until his friends Major, Pom Pom, and Waffles team up with him to hatch a plan—one that no one else in CATSUP will know about. All they have to do is get up to the Space Station, where their buddies the CosmoCats have an ion drive ship. They’ll just borrow that ship and zip out to Europa and back in, oh, a short 160 days or so. To cover for their absence, they’ll paint four prototype robots to look just like them and take over their duties at CATSUP.

What could go wrong?

Well, it turns out other space-exploring cats are not so willing to go along with the CatStronauts’ plans. First, our heroes have to stow away on a supply ship to get to the space station, and then they have to steal (ahem, “borrow”) the ion drive ship from the CosmoCats, who are not too pleased about that. Meanwhile, back at CATSUP, the prototype robots are doing a bang-up job with their experiments … until they start, you know, banging things up. Those CatStronauts are going to be in big trouble when they get home!

Our verdict

Okay, we already told you that this may be our favorite CatStronauts book yet, so you know we loved it. The art is a joy, and as with the previous books in the series, we sped through the story once and then went back again and again to enjoy the visual details we missed the first time. This series has strong themes of friendship and teamwork, which show up in this volume as the four CatStronauts band together to rescue a friend who technically is not even alive. But a friend is a friend, we say. It’s easy to fall in love with the CatStronauts; they are cute, adventurous, smart, caring, and willing to engage in high jinks. We think you’ll love the adventure and humor of Robot Rescue. And if you know someone who’s 8–12 years old (the recommended age range), they’ll probably love it too.

Highly recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: Clowders

On this Mysterious Monday, we are pleased to bring you our review of Vanessa Morgan’s Clowders, the dark tale of what happens to an American family after they move to a small, cat-centric town in Luxembourg. This is not the sort of light read we often review here, so prepare yourselves.

The plot

Aiden and Jess arrive in the village of Clervaux with their daughter, Eleonore. Aiden is a veterinarian who has taken a position at the local clinic, but he soon finds that the village’s inhabitants have a strange attachment to their cats. Killing a cat—even euthanasia of a desperately sick or injured cat—is the worst thing you could do. Aiden has no idea why, but then he doesn’t know about the town’s dark secret.

Neither does Jess, but as she spends days alone, trying to find a job in a country where she doesn’t speak the language, she begins to sense that something is not right with this place. For one thing, there’s the sound of claws on the floor, and for another, there’s that odd sense of always being watched. Then there’s the fact that her husband seems to be forming an attraction to a local cat rescuer named Lorenza.

Things get worse when Aiden and Jess go out with Lorenza and some others for a night of fun at a club. When it’s time to go home, everyone determines that Jess is the most sober, so she is stuck driving. A cat darts in front of the car, and she hits it, killing it. Everyone except Jess and Aiden freaks out, but the newcomers don’t understand why. Sure, it’s sad that the cat died, but they had tried to save it, in the end it’s just a cat, right?

Wrong. A cat in Clervaux is never “just a cat,” because a mysterious, terrifying creature known as the Tengu protects all cats there. And if a human harms a cat, that human—and any other humans who were involved—will pay. So it isn’t long before the people who were in the car that night begin disappearing, and Jess is becoming more and more afraid as she keeps hearing and seeing unexplainable things. Is she just caught up in the local folklore, or are they all in danger?

Our verdict

We mostly enjoyed this book. The overall story is intriguing, and the climax had us turning pages at a furious pace. We read so many cozies, it was a nice change of pace to read something dark and unsettling, which Clowders certainly is. That said, we were a little disappointed that we didn’t get a stronger sense of foreboding and creepiness. The pace slowed for us in the sections focused mostly on Jess and Aiden’s faltering relationship, but it definitely picks up toward the end. All in all, a good read!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

  

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Book Review: The Bengal Identity

On this Mysterious Monday, we are pleased to bring you our short review of The Bengal Identity, book 2 in Eileen Watkins’s Cat Groomer mystery series. This book features plenty of mystery, most of it centered around one spectacular cat whose identity is unknown.

The plot

Cassie McGlone is the owner of Cassie’s Comfy Cats, a grooming and boarding facility in Chadwick, New Jersey. One day a young man comes in asking if he can board his big brown cat there. His house has just burned down, and he is desperate to find a place for the vocal, high-energy cat, whose name is Ayesha. Cassie agrees, but things take a strange turn when she gives Ayesha a bath and discovers that the brown fur color washes out to reveal distinctive spots. It seems that this cat may in fact be a very valuable kitty—a Bengal—in disguise. Things get even more strange when the man who’d brought Ayesha in turns up dead, possibly a murder victim. Could he have been killed by someone who was after Ayesha? And was the mysterious young man protecting the cat or stealing her? And could Cassie, her shop, and her one employee be in danger from whoever might be after this rare cat?

Our verdict

We loved this book from start to finish. This is the first book we have read in the Cat Groomer series, but it was very easy to get into even without knowing all the detail from the first book. The main story is engrossing, and the side plots (the main ones involve a mysterious wild cat; a missing auto mechanic; and Cassie’s veterinarian boyfriend, who’s having problems with his staff) add depth without distracting from Ayesha’s story. The final attempt to take Ayesha was not terribly surprising, but we didn’t mind because the reason behind this whole situation was so … let’s call it infuriating. It was something we could not have imagined. It was disturbing to us and may be extremely disturbing to people who are extra sensitive to mistreatment of animals. Things turn out okay, though, so if you can get through the disturbing part, we think you’ll enjoy how the story ends.

Recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!