Catch as Cat Can
By Rita Mae Brown
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TEST

I love cats. Okay, actually, I love animals in general, but I especially love my cat. Having never tried a mystery that was “co-authored by a cat” I decided to give Catch as Cat Can a try. The result was that while the mystery was merely okay, the style of the prose was a little corny, and the main gimmick – that the animals are the ones that solve the mystery and tell us all about it – was cute, but not enough to put it on my To Be Recommended list.

In Crozet, Virginia, people are very proud of their aristocratic heritage. The town itself traces its roots to one of Napoleon’s men, and those who belong to one of the FFV (First Families of Virginia) are especially proud of their social standing. One of those FFV-ers is postmistress Mary Minor Haristeen. Alas, Harry, as she is known, doesn’t have tons of money or the ego to go with her lineage. What she does have is a social life that seems to enthrall many in the town, such as BoomBoom, the woman who dated Harry’s ex-husband, Fair, after Fair and Harry separated. What BoomBoom does that sends the eligible single women of the town into a tizzy, is set Harry up with a handsome Uruguayan diplomat.

It’s during the planning of the Wrecker’s Ball that Roger O’Bannon, who runs the salvage yard along with his brother Sean, dies mysteriously during a tea party. When Sean forbids an autopsy, suspicions begin to fly, especially when a young man responsible for stealing vintage hubcaps is found hanging. Harry’s pets – two cats, named Mrs. Murphy and Pewter, and a corgi named Tucker – are on the case from the beginning. They are the best part of the book due to their shrewd observations about humans and detective work. I could have done with more of the animals and less of the many humans in Crozet, mystery or no mystery. As Harry and Diego (the diplomat) begin their relationship, the real culprit behind the poisoning and the deaths is closer than anyone thinks.

While the mystery part of the book stands alone, there are plenty of characters to keep straight, and I had to go back a couple of times when one of them breezed into a scene, to make sure I had the right Crozet socialite in mind. Also, no one seems to notice or mind that Harry takes her animals everywhere, and I mean, everywhere, because apparently they would destroy her house if she left them at home. While this excuse gives the needed path for the cats and dog to carry on their investigations, it makes for some implausible situations.

If you’re looking for more mystery than anything, this might not be the book for you – a good deal of it is taken up by people sticking their noses into each other’s lives, to the point that Crozet sounds a little uncomfortable to live in. If you like animals and are looking for a cute, small-town type of mystery, this might be the book for you.

Reviewed by Claudia Terrones

Grade: C

Book Type: Mystery

Sensuality: N/A

Review Date: 18/07/02

Publication Date: 2003

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Recent Comments …

  3. excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.

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