Cats & Crime

Hi everyone.Have just joined up and pleased to be here.
There seems to be quite a large number of feline crime stories about.Anybody care to name a few that they can recommend.
To set the ball rolling what about Shirley Rousseau Murphyand her Joe Grey mysteries.Rita Mae Brown and her Mrs Murphy mysteries.Carole Nelson Douglas and her Midnight Louie mysteries and Marian Babson also of course the Cat Who... books of Lilian Jackson Braun

Lydia Adamson's Alice Nestleton series.
Simon Hawke's The Nine Lives of Catseye Gomez
Garrison Allen's Big Mike series.

Tanya Huff's summoning series.

Well you named all that I know of but I got a couple new names to check out!Thanks!

An old series I'm particularly fond of---The Mr. and Mrs. North mysteries by Francis and Richard Lockridge. You'll enjoy their various Siamese housemates. The first title is The Norths Meet Murder You can check my library for other titles--I have most, if not all of them.

#1
Out of all of those, I think the Marian Babson ones are my favorites. I don't like mysteries where the cats solve crimes or talk. That just really bugs me! I like cats that act more or less like real cats.

As far as sleuths who own cats, the list seems to be pretty long. Jeanne M. Dams has a series set in England that includes a couple of cats. The Peter Shandy series by Charlotte MacLeod includes some cats, one of which has a starring role in Something the Cat Dragged In. The Chocolate Cat Caper features a cat, but not as a 'regular' character. And the sleuth in Joanne Fluke's series has a cat that is a lot of fun.

It seems to be a cozy feature primarily too. Maybe 'tough guy' sleuths are too macho for cats. They all have dogs.

CMB

Hello, first post here! :)

When I read the thread title, I immediately thought of a book I read a few years ago (now that I think about it, I own it, but it's not in my (dare I say it?) catalog, hmm...). The title is Felidae, and the author, Akif Pirincci, a German-Turkish writer, according to Wikipedia.

I remember it was good, entertaining... but, sadly, I have a very bad memory, so I don't remember much (on the other hand, thanks to this bad memory I can re-read my favorite books over & over.)

Now that I read Wikipedia's article, I realize this one is just the first book in a series. I have the translation into Spanish, though, I'm not sure if the other books have been translated.

Felidae is excellent. I normally do not really like anthropomorphic novels, but this one I like. Have been trying in vain to find the sequel in English. I didn't know there were more. I might have another frustrating go at finding English translations.

Is this considered thread necromancy? ;)

Just wanted to point out that the Felidae series consists of five parts by now. It would be too sad if only the first was translated into english. The german titles are:

1. Felidae
2. Francis
3. Cave Canem
4. Das Duell
5. Salve Roma

There are a number of sf/crime books which feature cats heavily, and some straight sf too. Unfortunately I don't seem to have added them yet, and I can't remember either title or author: will add details when I find the right box ;)

John Harvey`s Charlie Reznick novels feature a cat-loving detective.

I`ve mentioned this before I know, but Harvey was for a time a jazz-loving police officer from Nottingham (UK) with a number of pet cats, qualities he has in common with the fictional Reznick.

He`s now moved to the south and become a poetry publisher, something Reznick would never do, I imagine.

I've found one of the sf novels: CatALyst (sorry, touchstone only works if I take out the hyphens) by Alan Dean Foster

>11 nickhoonaloon:

Thanks for that, nickhoonaloon - added to my wishlist!

Hi All

My first post after lurking in the back ground for a little while.

i quite enjoy cat cosy mysteries but I didnt realise there were so many different types. I am checking out all the suggestions here to see if I can get any at the local library.

My guilty pleasure are the Cat Who series. I generally agree with #6 in that cats that solve crimes bugs me unless it is supposed to be a fantasy type thing then I can get it.

The Peter Shandy series has quite a few cats. I just finished rereading Something the Cat Dragged In, which has four mentioned, although only two have roles. Peter Shandy's housekeeper's cat, Edmund, is the cat that dragged something in. The joint chiefs of security at the college where Peter Shandy teaches each own a cat from the same littler as Edmund. Even the Shandy's cat, Jane Austen, is related to Edmund.

If, as I do, you enjoy reading good children's literature, there's a fantasy cat named Grimbold in Grimbold's Other World by Nicholas Stuart Gray. If you can find a copy, there's The Ghost of Opalina or Nine Lives by Peggy Bacon. Both books do have a crime in them.