Dogs are the most popular American pet, according to Forbes, but faithful canines do not inspire mystery writers. No, cats are the preferred companions of amateur detectives in cozy mysteries. Felines are shrewder, more observant and more secretive than, say, a poodle. Nothing against poodles. Still, I love cats.
Why are cat mysteries so charming? In these novels, cats speak a special language that conveys criminal details to their owners. Mine do not do this, except when a fellow cat poaches their crunchies. Still, a meow at the critical time, a nudge that topples a mug of arsenic-laced peppermint tea… What would mystery writers do without cats?
I have read dozens of these, but they become indistinguishable after a while. Here are some I remember and recommend.
Dolores Hitchens is famous for her hard-boiled classic mysteries such as Fool’s Gold and Sleep with Strangers. She also had a soft for cats: in her Rachel Murdow series, the heroine, Rachel, is a mild-mannered spinster with a penchant for solving crime, and she is always accompanied by her cat, Samantha. In The Cat Saw Murder, published in 1939, Rachel travels with her sister and cat to visit their niece, Lily, an heiress whose life has been threatened. When someone attempts to murder the cat, Rachel is horrified, but no one anticipates the horror that lies ahead.
You may be familiar with the Disney adaptations of That Darn Cat, based on Undercover Cat, a mystery by Gordon and Mildred Gordon. I have not yet found a copy, but who wouldn’t love a mystery featuring a cat who helps the FBI catch bank robbers? This novel has also been published under the title, That Damn Cat.
Lydia Adamson’s cat mysteries are what I call smart-cozy. In A Cat by Any Other Name, the witty Alice Nettleton, an off-off-Broadway actress who cat-sits for a living, attends a party to celebrate a cat lovers’ herb garden. While the guests sip peppermint tea, a man jumps or falls out a window. Was it suicide? Alice and her cats say no.
Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy is not quite a cat mystery, but an orange Persian cat, Wonky-Pooh, plays an important role.
Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat Who… mysteries are addictive. They are comfort reads, because all of them are the same. These amusing books are the kind of mystery to read if you are ill or in need of a comfort read. The series hero, Quilleran, a retired Chicago journalist, moved to Pickaxe City in Moose County after he inherited a fortune. He wanted to get away from the big city, but life in the north is not as sleepy as he’d anticipated. Helped by his Siamese cats, Yum Yum and Coco, he stolves murders at modern art musems, amateur theatricals, antique shops, and even on the Bonnie Scots Tour in Scotland. On the back cover of The Cat Who Wasn’t There, we learn that “Koko may have been miles away from the murder scene – but he’s just a whisker away from solving the case!”
And now for recommendations on my Golden Age Cat Mysteries TBR
The Ginger Cat Mystery (1935) by Robin Forsythe \
The Puzzle of the Silver Persian, by Stuart Palmer (1934). I love Stuart Palmer’s Golden Age mysteries, and this one is on my list!
Cat’s Paw, by Roger Scarlett (1931
The Case of the Careless Kitten, by Erle Stanley Gardner (1942)