Customer Reviews

Cat Seeing Double: A Joe Grey Mystery

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being the proud owner of three pesky kittens soon to be cats, the feline heroes (and heroines) in Shirley Murphy's series are all too realistic to imagine!!! Joe, Dulcie and Kit have such unique personalities that they seem almost human. Once again, the plot takes back seat to the many adventures the three cats have in solving the mysteries. This one has plenty: why is a ten year old boy involved in the bombing of the church where Charly and Max are to be married? Who is trying to frame Ryan for the murder of her estranged no-good husband? Where did the silver dog come from? These questions are answered rather leisurely, but you're so enraptured with the characters, everything flows smoothly. Another great entry in this enjoyable series!
RECOMMENDED.

This is the best and most enjoyable book series I have read in many years. It has all of the elements I most value in a book to "just enjoy". I have learned to love all of the recurring characters from Molena Point and especially the four legged variety. These books are comfortable to read, fun, presenting a good mystery and most surprising of all they are well written without all of the usual cliches and juvenile writing that usually accompanies this genre. I am utterly devestated that I have come to this last book (so far) in the series. Trust me you too will love these books and the mysteries they present not to mention that touch of supernatural phenomenon that makes them truly extraordinary. I have always been more of a dog lover myself but have found a new awareness of cat psychology from an author who truly knows and understands cats. Don't miss this series whatever you do!

Molena Point, CA, is the home of three sentient cats: little Kit, who, though over a year old now, is still impulsive and filled with wonder at the world around her; Dulcie, who loves beautiful things and puzzles over how the "clever and inventive" human mind can so often turn to mayhem; and tough-as-nails, down-to-earth Joe Grey. Able to weep real tears (Dulcie dissolves during a wedding, telling Joe "All females cry at weddings, it's in the genes"), gorge on human food with never a hint of indigestion, enjoy more-than-normal feline stamina, and perhaps even see colors, as well as speak, read, and use the telephone, they have been instrumental in solving no less than seven murder cases. This eighth installment of their adventures starts (almost) literally with a bang. The entire village has gathered for the wedding of Police Chief Max Harper and Charlie Getz when a bomb blows out the side wall of the chapel. Lives would be lost wholesale if not for bold little Kit, Joe and Dulcie's tortie protege, who attacks the triggerman with teeth and claws, then races to warn Clyde Damen of the trap.

This is just the beginning of the mystery and mayhem in this fast-moving tale. To everyone's amazement, the triggerman is a 10-year-old boy! Was the bomb of his crafting? If not, who made it and why? Then Ryan Flannery, Clyde's new lady friend, finds her philandering ex-husband shot dead in her garage, forcing her uncle, Dallas Garza (introduced in Cat Spitting Mad: A Joe Grey Mystery (Joe Grey Mysteries) and now a high-ranking village police officer), to investigate her. As always, Joe, Dulcie, and Kit immediately take a paw in the case, and it's their insights and discoveries that finally bring the killer--and the bomb-maker--to book.

There are delightful moments in plenty strewn throughout the story: little Kit's first shot at playing informer by telephone; Ryan's adoption of a stray weimaraner and its encounter with Joe, who, hiding under a sofa, sternly commands it to STAY!; Joe and Clyde's uneasy yet effective team-up in surveilling Ryan and Larn Williams, the would-be client who seems to be trying to set her up for extortion. Garza accepts the mysterious informants as Harper has learned to do, recognizing that they bat a thousand. And Joe is relieved of the possibility of losing his home as Clyde hires Ryan's contracting company to imaginitively renovate his cottage, installing (among other things) a mini-lookout tower for our tomcat detective. A superior entry.

Cat Seeing Double takes place several months after Cat Laughing Last. Charlie Getz is marrying Max Harper. Ryan Flannery drives back to Molena Point to attend the wedding as Clyde Damon's date. The cats (Joe Grey, Dulcie, and Kit) get to the church and find places to watch the ceremony. Kit chooses a roof and when a boy with a strange control climbs the roof, she puts things together and realizes there is a bomb in the church. Kit rushes to warn Clyde and then goes back to try to stop the boy. Luckily most of the people were out of the building when the bomb went off. The boy is caught and things look like they'll get back to normal. That is, until, Ryan finds her soon to be ex-husband's body in her garage and she looks like the most likely suspect.

Once again the cats swing into action to protect their human friends and to find a killer and a bomber. What they don't know is if the death of Ryan's husband is connected to the bombing or just a coincidence. While the mystery is central to the book, the book is also a chance to catch up again with the characters from the past Joe Grey mysteries. These books now have a large cast of characters and not all characters are involved in all the books so little asides that bring us up to date on characters who haven't been heard from lately make them seem like visits with friends.

In Cat Seeing Double, mayhem strikes early: Max and Charlie's wedding is interrupted by a bombing that is only narrowly thwarted by Kit, the third talking cat in this series. No sooner is the excitement of the bombing over, than Ryan (Clyde's new love) finds her estranged husband dead in her garage with all the signs pointing to her as the murderer.

With such a beginning as that, is it any wonder that this book is a fast-paced page-turner?

To those who are not familiar with the Joe Grey series, the detective in these books is not one but acutally three cats who through a bizarre string of events learn to talk and read in English and have befriended people who are close to the local Chief of Police and his head detective. The series always contains a murder or two and the solutions to these mysteries always involves the cats snooping some clues out and then notifying the authorities about them via anonymous phone calls. The policemen do not know that the cats are their informants and the three humans who know about the cats are not telling!

Things are getting more interesting now as one of the humans who knows about the cats is Charlie who just married Max the Chief of Police who does not know about the cats. In the course of this investigation, Joe Grey (the cat) calls Max's cell phone only to speak with Charlie who answers it but then passes it on to her husband. And so it goes.

The mystery itself is quite complex involving both a bombing and a murder. But to keep things even more tangled, there is significant illicit drug involvement and even some personality swapping and old-time revenge. All of this is tied up with some affairs that involve relatives of some of the major characters rather than the characters themselves.

The cats have to do all kinds of duty in this one from figuring out 'who done it', to finding ways to tip off the authorities. Since the case is very convoluted and inventive, it takes a while to straighten everything out.

To keep things even more exciting, the author introduces a new minor character into the mix - A dog that has the exact same coloration as Joe. I wonder if that dog will stick around and become a more significant part of the series? There are certainly enough hints sprinkled throughout the book that Rock (the dog's name) will be around for a long while and will take on a more major role. Rock, you see, is not a typical dog and immediately accepts the very close proximity of the three cats without alerting his human owners about them...

To those who know this series, this is a great addition which will keep you guessing about what is going on almost till the end. This is even a fun read for people new to the series but I would recommend you read some of the earlier ones first as there are references to earlier volumes and events scattered throughout this volume.

As to the soap opera parts of the lives of the main characters, there is very litle evolution here with the major event being Max and Charlie's wedding. Ryan and Clyde get a litle closer and Ryan gets out of her entanglement with her previous husband but that is really all that happens of major events. There is mention of the five older ladies and their doings but nothing really earth shattering. I guess we will learn more when we read "Cat Fear No Evil".

Shirley Rousseau Murphy has an ability to capture the nature of the cat, but with a little whimsy the cat becomes almost super human. Usually halfway through the Mystery the reader knows the problem; however, what makes for enjoyable reading is how the cats and their personal enclave manage to find the culprits!

Story tracks well and is well written. Holds your interest until the end. As always, a Shirley Rousseau Murphy's stories are a great read. Where can I find one of these cats?

I was very disappointed in the condition of the book. It looked as if it had been left out in the rain and then left to dry. The back part of the book was swollen. As far as the story, it was very enjoyable. I'm really enjoying reading these books about Joe Grey.

i have read most of these books in the series. now i want them for my own library.

funny too. I didn't know what to expect when I first started reading this book, but the more I read of the cats' antics, the more I laughed. I'd been buying one particular cat series of books, but will definitely start buying this one now as well.