To Catch a Cat [Hardcover]

Marian Babson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2000

The last thing eleven-year-old Robin wants to hear is that his mother and her new husband are extending their honeymoon indefinitely. Not that staying with his Aunt Mags is so bad, but there's her boyfriend to contend with, and the members of the school gang are insisting that he complete a dare before they let him join the group. They want Robin to kidnap Mrs. Nordling's prize-winning cat when no one is home.

Getting into the Nordling's house is easy and Robin manages to find the cat and put him in his bag. As Robin is leaving, however, he stumbles upon a terrifying scene-Mr. Nordling leaving the master bedroom with blood all over his body. Robin is momentarily paralyzed and then flees down the stairs. He can't be sure whether or not he has been seen, but realizes that in order to stay safe he will have to hide the unusual-looking cat.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nordling is getting desperate. He knows that if he can find the unmistakable cat he will also find the witness to his brutal crime. He begins a frantic search for the young boy, but his infuriating neighbor won't leave him alone. She is beginning to understand what happened that night and he decides that he will have to deal with her too.

In her 36th published mystery, Marian Babson delights readers again with her usual charm and lighthearted humor. To Catch a Cat will capture the hearts of feline lovers and mystery fans alike.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this suspenseful psychological thriller, British veteran Babson eerily portrays the workings of terrified and obsessed minds. Anxious to impress the boys at his new school, 11-year-old Robin agrees to sneak into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Nordling and steal their pedigreed Norwegian Forest cat, Leif Eriksson. After grabbing the cat, Robin overhears a heated argument between the Nordlings. Then Nils, the husband, staggers out of the bedroom, his wife Ingrid's blood on his naked body. Robin flees and, uncomfortable with the relatives he's living with while his mother and her new husband honeymoon, keeps the fact he's witnessed a murderAand taken the catAto himself. Nils knows he was seen, but not the witness's identity. Pretending to be a grieving widower whose wife has been killed by burglars, he seeks to find and silence the witness. All the while, Nils has to wonder whether the missing feline will prove his undoing. Meanwhile, Robin sees his chances of escaping without suspicion of theft, if not murder, vanishing rapidly. Babson weaves her separate threads into a tight plot, alternating between the sympathetic Robin and the horrid Nils. A swift and sure climax leads to a clever and satisfying resolution. Babson's established name, together with a December release date and eye-catching cat cover, should ensure good sales. (Dec. 14)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The prolific Babson is back with yet another cute English cat caper. This one features 12-year-old hero Robin, murderous villain Nils Nordling, and prizewinning feline Leif Eriksson. While Robin's mother is on her honeymoon, he is forced to stay with Aunt Mags and her angry boyfriend, Josh; busy arguing and smoking pot, they mostly ignore their guest. To gain entry into a local gang, Robin must steal Leif the cat from the Nordling home. Unfortunately, the night of the catnapping is the same night Nils Nordling decides to murder his wife--with Robin as a witness. Grabbing the cat and running, Robin makes it home but not before being spotted. Fearing that Mr. Nordling will find and kill him, his hosts will discover the cat and kill it, or the gang will beat him for not turning over poor Leif, young Robin has a lot of weight on his shoulders. Luckily, Leif is a great comforter. Among Babson's many mysteries, this charmer may be the pick of the litter. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (November 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312209185
• ISBN-13: 978-0312209186
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To Catch A Cat, October 29, 2000

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Catch a Cat (Hardcover)

Another gem from Marian Babson! The synopsis for this book is rather accurate so I'll stick to why I liked this mystery novel so much -- it was a really good read. "To Catah A Cat" is a very well written novel that deals, primarily, with kids who feel like outsiders, not quite belonging to any group or anyone; and who have to behave with a level of maturity that they shouldn't have to but which circumstances have forced upon them.

And Marian Babson does a marvellous job at depicting the world of 11 year old Robin: a world in which he has been unceremoniously unloaded onto his young aunt, Mags, while his mother and her new husband have an extended honeymoon; a world in which he has, currently, very few friends, and in which he is very much resented by his aunt's live-in lover, Josh; and a world in which he is presently in trouble up to his eyeballs because he broke into the Nordling house in order to steal a valueable cat so that he could be part of a gang, and instead stumbled onto a murder scene. Robin doesn't have much faith in adults. From his outlook he has been severely let down by every adult in his life and he doesn't feel as if he could trust either Mags or Josh with the truth of what happened at the Nordling house. And so Robin soldiers on, trying to take care of the cat he rescued while he keeps an eye out, in case the murderer comes around looking for him.

Babson also does a wonderful job at depicting the murderous rage and the cold bloodedness of the killer who tries to cover up what has occurrerd and who then sets about to try and track Robin and the cat.

This is may not be a tension filled thriller, although there were some tense moments when it looked as if the murderer would give in to the rage and kill again, but this is definitely a well written book and a really enjoyable read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Number 36!, March 21, 2001

By 

Brenda "MYSHELFDOTCOM" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: To Catch a Cat (Hardcover)

They knew he was afraid of heights, and that's why they set this up. If he wanted to be part of the gang he had to climb the tree, get in the house, grab Mrs. Nordling's show cat, and get out. He wants to belong somewhere so he takes his chances. What Robin experiences, no child should. During the unpleasant scene he rescues the cat, but ends up a witness to murder. He doesn't go to the police, but he does hide the cat. He deals with some unsavory people, including relatives. The murderer knows there was a witness; he chased him out of the house. Through the storyline he deals with covering the murder, finding the cat and the witness, and keeping a nosy neighbor at bay.

Readers will know who the murderer is so there is no sleuth or mystery to solve; in fact the police don't play an active part in it, although they are mentioned. Being only 189 pages, it reads as a quick suspenseful story where the author takes the reader back and forth between Robin with his family and the murderer. Robin's life is heart wrenching, and although the path to which he got the cat was not good, having her in his life just might be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Winner from Marian Babson, October 21, 2002

By 

Louis M. Perdue (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Catch a Cat (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read several, but not all, of the books by Marian Babson. They follow the same pattern in that the police rarely play a major role and the reader usually knows "whodunnit" from the beginning. This book follows in the same manner. What makes Ms. Babson's writing so enjoyable is that no matter who the main character is, in this case an 11-year-old boy, she is able to make him/her believable. She knows exactly what the reactions would be appropriate for the profile of the character. I particularly enjoyed this book because I liked the main character, Robin. The way in which he protects the cat, going so far as to dye and cut its fur among other things, made me want to root for him. Looking forward to the next book from this imaginative author.