Please Do Feed the Cat [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Marion Babson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2005

The quaint and quiet village of Brimful Coffers, colonized by a group of mystery writers, is viewed by that circle to be an ideal retreat from the stresses and harsh realities of the outside world. But sometimes tragedy can intrude even into paradise. First, a child is killed, victim of a callous hit-and-run incident. And then a conflict between two of the visiting authors ends in death.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Marian Babson is the queen of cozies."--Mystery News

"This small community of mystery writers not only pens the whodunits, but is at times closely involved in solving the real thing. Our feline friends are also part of the equation."--Rendezvous

"Marian Babson's latest cozy...immerses the reader in English village life, after a witty swipe at the kind of graphic crime typical of Patricia Cornwell. A cast of delightful characters, including cats."
--Publishers Weekly

"An engaging and charming mystery"
--Harriet Klausner

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

MENACE AND MEOWS
A decomposing body...a severed head in a closet...a macabre meeting with "Mother"--mystery writer Lorinda Lucas tosses yet another paperback in the trash, appalled at the gruesome direction of today's crime fiction. She's even more disturbed at the half-starved state of Roscoe, the cat next door. Before Lorinda left for her latest book tour, Roscoe was as plump and pampered as her own two felines, Had-I and But-Known. It only takes a modicum of sleuthing to find out that in Lorinda's absence Roscoe's owner, Macho Magee, has acquired a new girlfriend--a harridan who has put the gentle Macho and his pet on a strict diet. And that's only the first disturbing news in Brimful Coffers, the once-quiet village that now includes a writer's colony. Lorinda soon discovers that a hit-and-run has ended a child's life, professional jealousy has taken a deadly twist, and murder is just around the catty-corner...

"Marian Babson's latest cozy...immerses the reader in English village life, after a witty swipe at the kind of graphic crime typical of Patricia Cornwell. A cast of delightful characters, including cats."
--Publishers Weekly

"An engaging and charming mystery"
--Harriet Klausner

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (January 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786271701
• ISBN-13: 978-0786271702
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,849,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very entertaining, September 21, 2005

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Please Do Feed the Cat (Hardcover)

If you're a cat owner, and your cat(s) own your life, and you enjoy amusing, quirky cozies, you'll want to check out Marian Babson's "Please Do Feed the Cat." It may not be the mystery novel of the year, but it is charming, humorous and loads of fun to read.

Back home safely at Brimful Coffers (a little village that's also a writer's colony) from her American book tour, mystery writer Lorinda Lucas is shocked to discover that things are not as they should be in her quiet little neck of the woods. For starters, her neighbour Lancelot Dalrymple, who writes hard-boiled mysteries under the pen name "Macho Magee" has taken up with Cressie Adair, a writer of fluffy "chick lit." The thing is that Cressie is a harpy, and she has taken over Macho's life completely, down to putting both Lancelot and his chubby and lovable cat, Roscoe, on a severe diet. Further down the street, another denizen of the village is having trouble with her builders; and even more tragically, a little girl was killed in a hit-and-run accident at Brimful Coffers not too long ago. All in all, not quite the homecoming Lorinda had anticipated. More immediately though, both Lorinda and good friend, Freddie, are more concerned about prying Cressie away from Macho. Except that it's beginning to look as if it will take an act of murder to separate the two! Why is Macho putting up with Cressie and her evil ways? And why is the very cosmopolitan Cressie hiding out in a quiet little village like Brimful Coffers? Things get even more dramatic when two rival mystery writers descend on the village and seem only too ready to carry on their quarrel in full technicolour...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Please Do Feed the Cat." It may not possess many clever plot twists, nor was it an incredibly suspenseful read, but it definitely was a very enjoyable and humorous read. I found myself chuckling at (and identifying with) how the cats (Had-I, But-Known & Roscoe) had their humans trained; and I really enjoyed the humorously ironic manner at which Marian Babson portrayed some of the authors in this mystery novel. No, "Please Do Feed the Cat" may not the most riveting read, but it definitely was a very charming and entertaining one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery's Afoot in Catty Cozy, January 18, 2007

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Please Do Feed the Cat (Mass Market Paperback)

Marian Babson returns us once more to the delightful village of Brimful Coffers, a colony for mystery writers, first introduced in CANAPES FOR THE KITTIES. However, it is not necessary to have read the first book to thoroughly enjoy this one.

With a playful swipe at gory pulp fiction, chick lit, and porno-plagued romance novels, Babson follows Lorinda Lucas and her fellow writers as they go about their daily routines in their charming English village. Not one hit-and-run murder, but two, shake up the peaceful atmosphere as egos collide and humor abounds. Through it all, the delightful antics of Had-I, But-Known, and Roscoe will please cat lovers and fans of cozy English mysteries. This endearing trio of felines, slaves to their tummies, makes the book worthwhile if only for their attitudes.

You won't find clever plot twists and may be a bit disappointed when you discover whodunit, but if you're looking for a light-hearted and amusing tale, this is the cat's pajamas.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Feline anorexia?, January 12, 2007

By 

Melissa J. Gilley "a bookworm" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Please Do Feed the Cat (Hardcover)

This sequel to Canapes for the Kitties, about life in the mystery writers' enclave of Brimful Coffers, is about average plot-wise, except for hilarious sendups of "modern" mystery genres and a seance that has to be read to be believed.