The Man Who Understood Cats [Paperback]

Michael Allen Dymmoch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1993

Dr. Jack Caleb, a Chicago psychiatrist with two cats, and John Thinnes, a police detective, form an uneasy partnership as they join forces in an investigation into an accountant's supposed suicide. A first novel.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Winner of the publisher's Best First Malice Domestic Novel award in 1991, this assured and unusual debut boasts expressive language and sinewy notions of suspense. We never know the quiet, compulsive accountant whose death the police suspect wasn't suicide (a lefty wouldn't likely use his right hand to pull the trigger). The case brings together the victim's prominent psychiatrist, Jack Caleb, and streetwise police officer John Thinnes. From the moment the two meet, their stories, their conflict and their grudging mutual admiration lead the reader far into the troubled hearts of both men. Jack is enduring the death of a lover and the alarming aftermath of his Vietnam experience. John's marriage is unraveling under long work hours and silences that echo with resentment and hurt. Both men are looking for the killer in a plot that extends to the victim's possession of a lithograph, an art gallery, a dead young artist, a tortured father and a large real estate empire. The unmasking of the murderer comes as a shock to the reader who, having been drawn so deep into the lives of Jack and John, will have all but forgotten that a mystery awaits a solution. A cunning, adroit debut by a pseudonymous author.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This thoughtful and thought-provoking first novel shines with unexpected talent. Chicago detective John Thinnes doubts the evidence pointing to an accountant's suicide. Dr. James Caleb, the dead man's psychologist, also refutes the evidence; pooling their talents, they search for proof of their suspicions. Station-house talk and details of street procedure provoke nerve-wracking tension as small incongruities arise, followed by arranged accidents and finally murder. With a firm grip on police method, character, and plot, Dymmoch deserves wide attention.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (March 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312291914
• ISBN-13: 978-0312291914
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,805,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Dymmoch was born in Illinois and grew up in a suburb northwest of Kentucky. As a child she she kept a large number of small vertebrates for pets and aspired to become a snake charmer, Indian chief, or veterinarian. She was precluded from realizing the former ambitions by a lack of charm and Indian ancestry, and from the achieving the latter profession by poor grades in calculus and physics. This made her angry enough to kill. Fortunately, before committing mayhem, she stumbled across a book titled MAYBE YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK and was persuaded to sublimate her felonious fantasies. Moving to Chicago gave Michael additional incentives to harm individuals who piss her off. On paper of course.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent, thoughtful mystery, September 29, 2004

By 

E Rice (western ny state) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man Who Understood Cats (Paperback)

i can add little to the previous reviews. i am contributing my own simply to further encourage any browser to read this book.

the author reveals a rare depth of understanding in the creations of her characters. they are believable, multi-faceted human beings. and the protagonists are admirable people. there are displays of social responsiblity and moral courage, qualities i sometimes think are completely absent from the contemporary american character. the relationship between the detective and the psychologist is well drawn.

the writing is wonderful. the plot is well developed. the secondary characters are as well drawn and as interesting as the protagonists. the dialogue is extremely good.

i disagree with the reviewer who faulted the motivation of the crimes. i was satisfied with it, and i felt that there were just enough clues for the reader to work out at least some of the plot.

i have gone on to read other titles in this series, and have enjoyed them thoroughly.

all in all, this writer and this series are definitely worth pursuing.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Necessarily for Lillian Jackson Braun Fans, January 30, 2003

By 

Stephanie Patterson (Lindenwold, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Understood Cats (John Thinnes/Jack Caleb Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Don't let the title of this mystery fool you into thinking that this is one of those cute mysteries in which man and cat solve crime. This riveting first mystery features Chicago detective John Thinnes and psychiatrist Jack Caleb, neither of whom believe that Dr Caleb's patient, Allan Finley, an obsessive but otherwise unremarkable accountant, committed suicide.
The plot is complex and suspenseful, but what makes this book special is the relationship between Detective Thinnes who is near burnout and the openly gay Dr. Caleb. Each man is forced to reassess what he thinks of the other as they work together to solve the crime.
As a psychotherapist, I found Dr Caleb very believable. He is a skilled, well-trained professional not a mind reader. Dymmoch understands, as many writers don't, that a good pyschiatrists and detectives have a lot in common with the ideal writer of fiction who in the words of Henry James is "a person on whom nothing is lost."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cats and Crime, June 22, 2003

By 

Judith Lindenau "dulcie22" (Traverse City, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Man Who Understood Cats (John Thinnes/Jack Caleb Mysteries) (Paperback)

There are lots of cats and crime novels out there...crime solving cats are almost a cliche. But in Dymmoch's first mystery novel, cats are metaphors for human behavior: independent, intelligent, and irrepressible. Dymmoch writes about them well...in fact, Dymmoch is an excellent writer in general. "The Man Who Understood Cats" is well written, and fairly well constructed, though I felt it a bit repetitive: the sequence of murders seemed similarly devised (suicides made to look like murders) and the ultimate discovery of the murder was an anticlimax: he was the least developed of characters and his motives remain unclear.

However, I enjoyed the setting and the partnership of cop and shrink, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.