I picked this book up at the thrift store mainly because it was cheap, in good condition, and was co-authorer by a cat. I wanted something to read on a hot summer day and this looked light. It turned out to be an interesting mystery. I was amused by the comments made by the animals throughout the book. But then I am partial to cats and dogs. The book even inspired me to go to You Tube and watch some funny videos people have made with their Corgis (the dog in the book is a Corgi). Okay, so now I have read a book with a Corgi hero and watched Corgis sing on You Tube---

I might read more in the series or other books by the author. I have a request through inter-library loan for the author's book which purports to be a "different kind of writer's manual. That might be interesting too. Maybe I can get my dogs to co-author a book with me and I can give up my day job!

The book is nicely illustrated with pictures of the cats, dogs, and horses by Wendy Wray. I would love to see more adult books illustrated like this. This world needs more art! ( )

This was a fun book. I thought that the fact that the cats, dogs, etc., spoke would put me off, but most of it was fun. As for the mystery, I had a pretty good idea of the villain from the beginning, but the story did make me doubt myself several times.
This takes place in the steeplechasing world, which might as well be on Mars to me. The author does a nice job of writing in such a way that it is understandable for those not versed in horses. Intrigue, love, drugs, gambling or hate, which one of those is the motive for this crime? We are left to determine that for ourselves as jockeys fall to the dagger left and right. The animals are in on the hunt as well which makes for an entertaining story.
This is not the sort of book I keep, but I would happily read another by this author. I did have to wonder if the author owned stock in L.L. Bean or if they underwrote her for this story. ( )

The hills of Virginia are home to the most elegant steeplechases. But after a competitive run, a jockey is found stabbed to death. The knife in his chest impales a queen of clubs, and when a second jockey is murdered, he is decorated with the queen of spades. Now it's up to racing judge Mary ("Harry") Haristeen and her sleuthing cat, Mrs. Murphy, to hunt down the culprit before the queen of diamonds appears.

Yet another winner. This series is very consistent in its high quality writing, character development, and mystery. This is back to one of the older novels. It has more bite and substance than some of the newer ones. At first I found the characters more negative and sarcastic, but that seemed to die down. I think the earlier books have a bit more angst to them, but that also makes them meatier. ( )

Not great