Once I get past the problem of talking cats: talking, crime-fighting housecats ... come to think of it, maybe I can't get past that. This is definitely a series for cat lovers: soppy, anthropomorphizing cat lovers. Okay, I pretend my cats talk, but I don't go much beyond "Why don't you feed me?" and "Pet me, damn you, pet me!" and "I. Hate. You." I don't imagine some rich, inner life wherein they can reason, read (how does a cat learn to read when human children take years to learn and develop fluidity?), discuss clues, or call each other on cell phones. I mean, try to imagine a cat manipulating a cell phone. I can hardly punch those buttons and I have opposable thumbs! But once you get past that ...And I also had trouble with the names of characters. Murphy has a tendency to give lead female characters masculine names: Ryan and Charlie. I'm still not sure about Scotty. Might be a woman, might not. This makes keeping track of people very confusing, even with the list I made of people and the names of their pets. It's a rather extensive list. But once you get past that - no, really. It was an interesting mystery about, gosh, real crime! Real crime like burglary! Oh, and some murder. It might have been interesting as well if some humans were actually involved in detection! More than, say, informing the cats. Let's just be glad that these cats don't have opposable thumbs or they'd be running southern California.I think now I'll read something more sensible, like Fforde's The Big Over Easy.
In case you've never heard of this particular mystery genre, and I surely hadn't, when I say "cat detective novel" I mean "novel in which the detective is a cat." A talking cat. Who can use the phone and stuff. In this book, we meet Chichi Barbi, who has apparently been previously involved with the tomcat's owner, Clyde. The tomcat, Joe, dislikes her immensely, and thinks that the fact that she's moved in next door means she's up to no good. So Joe spies on Chichi and, conveniently, she's up to no good.read more...
What do You think about Cat Breaking Free (2006)?
Returning from weekend outing Charlie comes across a sentient cat in a steel cage. She releases him. On the same tripThe riders find a biker DEAD at the bottom of a revine.Kit recognizes the cat in the cage and says he is Stone Eye, theleader of her clowder. They have return to Hellhag Hill.Joe is angry that one of Cldye's old girlfriend has moved in next door. He is watching her closely and see her running away after a robbery. The ending is different and interesting. A relaxing read after a stressful day.
—Betty
I'll start my review by stating that I don't usually read mass market paperbacks so my comments will be biased according to my personal reading preferences. My mom purchased this book for me when I had major surgery, and for the first week I really did enjoy the book, it was great to read a few pages and then doze off. The cats were entertaining and I really did want to know what was going on in the story. By the time I got to the end, though, I was bored and impatient with the stock characters and formulaic plot. I tend to read literary fiction so this isn't my cup of tea. If you generally enjoy serial mysteries, I'd bet that this is a fun book, so maybe go for it. I gave it two stars instead of one because I think it's actually better written than most of its kind. and Rousseau Murphy has a pretty good imagination :)
—Tara
