Christmas Cats [Mass Market Paperback]

Shirley Rousseau Murphy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cat lovers should enjoy reading these selections (some original, some previously published) if they find this eclectic assortment under the Christmas tree. Murphy, the author of a popular mystery series featuring a feline crime-solver (Cat Cross Their Graves) presents 19 short stories, essays and poems that commemorate cats at Christmastime. Amy D. Shojai leads off with a lighthearted memoir of how her husband, Mahmoud, definitely not a cat fancier, came to adjust to his wife's feisty and energetic Siamese kitten just in time for the holiday. Far more sobering is a recollection by Renie Burghardt: during WWII her 19-year-old mother died shortly after giving birth to her. She left behind Paprika, her 10-year-old cat, who consoled the young child when she and her grandparents sought safety in rural war-torn Hungary. Instead of offering a sample from one of her mysteries, editor Murphy's sentimental and well-written story "The Noel Cat" describes how a librarian and her brother, the town vagrant, reunite a cat family on Christmas Eve. There's something for everyone, including an informative piece by Christine Church on holiday safety for cats. Dog fanciers might prefer the companion volume, Christmas Dogs, intro by Lauren Berenson ($9.95 paper 224p ISBN 1596091576).
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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Chamberlain Bros. (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159609155X
• ISBN-13: 978-1596091559
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,283,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Shirley Rousseau Murphy grew up in southern California, riding and showing the horses her father trained. She attended the San Francisco Art institute. Shortly after graduation, she married and worked as an interior designer while her husband attended USC. "When Pat finished school, I promptly quit my job and began to exhibit paintings and welded metal sculpture in the West Coast juried shows," Murphy explains. Her work could be seen in many traveling shows in the western States and Mexico. She continues, "But when we moved to Panama for a four-year tour, in Pat's position with the U.S. Courts, I put away the paints and welding torches, and began to write."

She has published sixteen children's books, a young adult fantasy quintet, the Dragonbards fantasy trilogy, and The Catswold Portal. "It was while working on this adult fantasy that I knew I wanted to explore further the fascinating world of sentient cats. I began to see the gray tomcat, whom I knew well in real life, as a feline detective with a brash attitude--and the die was cast. I launched into the Joe Grey mystery series. I like discovering anew with each book how the three cats interact with their close-knit world of human friends--Joe Grey in-your-face abrasive, Dulcie of a gentler nature, and Kit wildly imaginative."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Cats, December 8, 2008

By 

Zarabeth "Vona" (Worcester MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas Cats (Mass Market Paperback)

Bought two coopies one for me and one for my sister. Just finished mine today and loved the sweet stories! Ms Murphy is one of my favorite writers so I figured this compliation would be excellent and it was. A couple of stories weren't as delightful as some but I do understand why they were included--Safty at Christmas--is very important for those who don't know that kitties cannot have chocolate nor alchol or strins--they can swollow them and die! But the rest was pure cat enjoyment! i highly recomend this book to anyone who even remotely likes cats!