Liked this one quite a bit. I read the Joe Grey's for the characters & the village life rather than for the mystery aspect. I like the way she wrote part of the action from the perp's point of view but never gave enough identifying detail to pinpoint just WHO he was. A bunch of possibles were introduced & we learn quite a bit about each but you didn't get the final ID of the bad guy till the end and he had a satisfactory comeuppance. Lots of changes are in the wind for some main characters and there was some good cat interaction as well. Maybe I liked this one because it was a tiny bit more focused on a few main characters so it didn't seem as frantic as some recent titles. I know I appreciate a little peace and quiet this time of year. Granted, considering the number sold it's doubtful that there are many first-time readers of Rousseau's Joe Grey series, but just in case there are a few things that should be accepted for prime enjoyment of this fun, part fantasy, all mystery story. First, decide that it's ok for cats to talk, to one another and to their human friends. Second, accept the fact that Joe is a cat and a full-time detective who will dare almost anything until the crime in question is solved. There, now that's settled prepare for the 15th installment of his sleuthing shenanigans. Joe is padding through Molena Point toting a four course meal for a nursing mother cat when his sharp senses detect a smell that stopped him, " smell that made his fur bristle." It was the awful odor of blood and human death. He follows this to an abandoned property and an empty swimming pool. The pool's bottom is covered in muddy slime but it's also clear that something, something large has been dragged across one end of the pool. Joe is able to follow a trail that leads to where what he believes to be a body is dragged, tire marks indicate the body was put in a car and taken away. He calls the police, and then after taking food to the hungry mother cat returns to the scene only to find that in such a brief period someone has hosed down the area removing the evidence he had seen. Who and why? No sooner had Joe made his report and hardly had time to ponder the strange goings-on when houses in the neighborhood are broken into. Strange robberies if that is what they are as nothing seems have been taken. Four houses that have been entered are vacant as the owners are on vacation. Joe, his lady, Dulcie, and friend Kit begin going house to house trying to put a few pieces of this strange puzzle together. These are really odd break-ins and Joe knows there's been a murder but there is no body. What can the crime busting kitties do next? A couple of feral cats join them while continuing to marvel at the strange ways of humans. Joe and his two-footed friends certainly have their work cut out for them and readers have one more Joe Grey mystery to enjoy. - Gail Cooke
What do You think about Cat Striking Back (2009)?
I like cats who are cats, bedevilling and loving their ever so less-with-it humans.
—Logan327
