Customer Reviews

Cat To The Dogs: A Joe Grey Mystery

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Joe Grey and Dulcie strike again. Murphy has written a real page-turner--I was up until 3 a.m. finishing it. Lots of suspense with the ongoing characters (will Harper find out about the cats or won't he?) and some new animal characters that add complications and humor. Murphy manages to make these cats that investigate (and talk) utterly believable.. Great setting, and good story. Not to be missed!

With this fifth entry in her well-done series, Shirley Rousseau Murphy gives us the best yet.

Joe Grey and Dulcie, two talking and intelligent, cats are catapulted into a labyrinthine mystery of murder, embezzlement, shoplifting, and deceit. Joe and Dulcie are wonderful characters, imbued with such human characteristics, that you almost forget they are cats. Joe's repartee with his human, Clyde, is delightful, and the way they play the informants to hapless Det. Harper is lots of fun.

The addition of the Tortoiseshell kit is a nice touch, too.

As in all of these mysteries, the plot is not the main thing, but the way these cats go about solving the murders. This one has a tightly woven plot, and even though the identity of the culprits is revealed earlier than usual, the way they are captured and the resultant aftermath are delightful.

A great entry in this series, can't wait for her next one!

Further into the story of talking cats Joe and Dulcie, Cat to the Dogs is another fantasy story in which two cats try to solve a crime that happened in Hellhag Canyon. This all takes place in Molina Point, California. Joe and Dulcie are able to talk to each other and their respective owners, as well as reading the newspaper and using the phone. Dulcie is spying on the house next door. This is where Lucinda Greenlaw lives. Two weeks before, her husband Shamus was drowned. She is trying to fend off Greenlaw relatives who are waiting for the funeral in a nearby trailer park. This is all happening when Joe is hunting on Hellhag Conyon when a car came skidding off of the street down a cliff. Joe studied the car and found the driver to be dead, and a break line to be cut through. Joe always tries to keep the sheriff, Max Harper, alert to the murder. Joe discovers that the victim was part of Shamus's business operations. Later it is found out that his nephews Dirken and Newlon along with his cousin Sam were also part of the business. When Shamus's last mistress Cara Ray Crisp appears, complications escalate. It takes Joe and Dulcie, helped by a tiny nameless cat to bring the killer of Newlon to justice. Clyde, the owner of Dulcie locks both of the cats out of the house when officer Harper comes over to play a game of poker. He does this because he thinks that cats should stay out of police business. He is also afraid that they will give away their secrets. That these cats can talk, read, and even use the telephone. Joe will not give up until the killer of Hellhag hill is brought to justice. Feline worshipers will enjoy countless situations of cat adoration in Cat to the Dogs. It is a book of feline fantasy and will meet up to the cat lover's standards.

Joe Grey and his "girl friend" Dulcie are after the ghost of Hellhag Hill, who has already done several murders. Joe's human, Clyde is doing all the interfering he can, and the two feline eyes meet the Kit, who will be a character in future stories. Kit is another lovable feline character who adds a lot to this story and later ones. Joe and Dulcie are at their best in this well plotted whodunit. They actually take an active part in the detection and murder solving, unlike most of the other fictional Cat PI's, who are somewhat incidental to the real happenings. These cats are special! They are a little bit of a different breed and are able to understand, speak and read human language. They are highly intelligent, and highly capable of functioning in a human world. How they manipulate things and give clues to the human police is most interesting. This book is required reading for those who like cats and mysteries.

I have not read this particular book as of yet,just trying to find the time to do so, but if it is anything like her other books, I will certainly find it intreging and delightful! One of the very best mystery writers, weaving the human qualities and intelligents into the character of the cats. In fact I know look at my own cats and wonder if they too can talk with the human language, but do not by choice. They certainly do talk with their eyes and body movements.

Cat to the dogs was a great book. I was pleased with my order. I am always satisfied with all of my orders!

I have read each one of of the Joe Grey mysteries at least twice and I do think THIS is the best yet.

It is touching and heartwarming and very exciting!

Who did the murder? Why is Pedric hanging around Lucinda?

Why is Dirken pretending to fix up the house?

Where did these dogs come from?

Once you start reading this book you will NOT want to put it down!

A very good read. All characters are interesting and amusing, especially the animals. Murphy has done it again. She almost makes a believer out of you. Can't wait for more.

In the wake of a powerful 3 A. M. earthquake that rattled the coastal village of Molena Point, CA, and put everyone's nerves on edge, sentient tomcat Joe Grey is hunting wood-rats late one night when an out-of-control car goes off the road directly above his head and nearly squashes him. At first Joe isn't really surprised: that section of the highway is both narrow and twisty, known to be a bad spot, and it's foggy besides. Then he sees that the brake line on the car has been cleanly cut. That makes the driver's death murder--and Joe (who thinks of himself as a PI, but is really more like a police auxiliary and snitch) has discovered that he doesn't like murder any more than cops do. But when the police reach the wreck, they find not a cut brake line but a worn-out one that appears to have parted naturally. Meanwhile, Joe has been all but attacked by a pair of overenthusiastic, and very large, pups, which he's taken home to his human, Clyde Damen, for lack of anything better to do with them. And his feline lady friend, Dulcie, has become strangely interested in the situation of Lucinda Greenlaw, the elderly widow who lives back of Clyde's house and is currently enduring an infestation of relatives of her husband, who fell off his yacht and drowned a week or two earlier. Struggling to cope with Clyde's obstructionism--now that the cats have been thoroughly bitten by the flea of police work, he's inclined to lecture them that they "shouldn't get involved"--and shaken by occasional aftershocks, Joe and Dulcie work to point MPPD Captain Max Harper in the right direction, find evidence that he can use, and figure out whether Shamas Greenlaw's death was what it's cracked up to be. A seductive bimbo who was Greenlaw's mistress complicates matters, along with a newly-arrived clowder of feral cats who turn out to be sentient too--including the little tortie kitten whom Joe unimaginitively names "Kit," and who seems from the very beginning to be even more of a natural snoop than he and Dulcie are.

Joe particularly is a constantly developing character in Murphy's series: he has discovered, having wet his paws over the course of four previous cases, that he has a gift for thinking like a cop, and has become far more enthusiastic about solving mysteries than he was in the beginning. He also shows a charming protectiveness toward Kit, even threatening her entire clowder with bloody death if they make any trouble for her over her independent investigations, and relating to her in a very fatherly fashion with ear-licks and a guiding trip to "something to please you," George Jolly's nightly offering of delicious food in the alley behind his deli. We also begin to get, in this installment, some more details on the origins of sentient cats generally. And the two pups, named Selig and Hestig by Clyde and his girlfriend Charlie Getz, add a dollop of humor by their childish yet endearing clumsiness and overenthusiasm. Though perhaps not the best in the series, this is a thoroughly enjoyable chapter in the adventures of Joe and Dulcie and their human friends.

I love this series. It is pure, enjoyable escapism. So what if you don't think cats should talk - it is a fascinating concept and a lot of fun. The characters are richly drawn and the interaction between Joe Grey and Clyde are hilarious. There are very few series I have read that can bring so many chuckles and smiles - this one definitely delivers them. I am so glad I found this series and look forward to future books by this author. The only thing though - after reading these books - I do find myself wondering what my tortie is really thinking when I catch her watching me.....