Cat Cozy

When an old rancher visits Utah Sheriff Bud Shumway with a cryptic message and then immediately dies, Bud has no idea that he’s witnessing the beginning of a series of strange happenings, from an invasion of his little town by rodeo clowns to dealing with a curse from long-gone Natives.

Back in Pickax, Jim Qwilleran expects to resume a quiet life, but the people and animals of Pickax have other ideas. A noisy cardinal wakes him every morning, nosy neighbors drop by uninvited, and the Siamese cats—Koko and Yum Yum—misbehave, even sneezing on guests. As if they weren't bad enough, Qwill's long-time companion, Polly Duncan, acts as though she is in love—with another man. Worst of all, Qwill finds a body in his apple orchard. When his friend, Dennis Hough, becomes the chief suspect, Qwill embarks on a crusade to clear Hough's name and win back Polly's heart.

After a holiday trip to the Big Apple, Midnight Louie, a hard-boiled, hairy-chested, 19-pound black tomcat detective, returns home to death on the Nile. Two battling Egyptian barges outside the Oasis hotel cause a dead body to rise to the surface. The soggy victim is well known to Temple Barr—Louie's redheaded, high-heeled human companion—and her two best beaux both have reasons to want him dead.

Small town librarian (and accidental dark magic user) Francie Vespertine would prefer her new magic to be fueled by rainbows and butterflies, but you can't always get what you want. Neither can her feline familiar, Kongressman Kittles. When his favorite brand of cat litter is discontinued, he's in a mood—and if the cat's not happy, no one's happy. When a visiting author winds up dead at a book signing, Francie's best friend Penny is accused of the crime. Now she's got to find the real killer before they strike again.

When Sheriff Bud Shumway’s Aunt Ginger asks him to deliver a stove to her new cafe in Sunnyside, Utah, Bud has no idea that he'll soon be in the middle of trying to solve how his Uncle Hank's friend, Jimmy Johnson, was killed, even though the giant three-toed track left in the middle of Jimmy's back points to the suspect as being some form of dinosaur. Soon Bud is dealing with all kinds of mayhem, from the robbery of the Sunnyside Mining Museum to missing rafts and a mysterious box found floating on the river. There's never a dull moment in the high Utah desert.

When Olive Harrington is found dead, local Baker and her loyal French Bulldog Smudge, end up looking after the woman’s cat. Smudge is not impressed, and Melody knows she must solve the crime soon or have more trouble at home. All the clues point to Olive’s relative and a dispute over not only the lamp but her fortune. Will Melody and Smudge sniff out the clues and find the truth? What will happen to Taffy, the poor misunderstood cat?

In the midst of my dream destination wedding, Aunt Lavender’s gift—a vintage locket—reveals a chilling secret: it’s cursed with remnants of a dark spell from decades past. Suddenly, a falling chandelier, spoiled food, and a jealous old flame from Clint’s past take center stage, pushing me to the shadows of what is meant to be the most important event of my life. Fortunately, I have a magic cat on my side.

The Historical Lady Detectives introduces us to two lady detectives. The first long story, "The Disappearing Mr Fox," is about Victorian novelist, Mrs Hogarth. The second long story, "Bicycles, Bloomers and Blackmail," is about Edwardian, Dulcie Starkadder who sets up a detective agency.

Becca Colwin is coming home from her job at Charm and Cherish when she sees a tortoiseshell kitten run down an alley—leading to a dead body. As a connection between Becca and that corpse is confirmed, Becca comes under suspicion—and is dragged into a cyberware scandal, thanks to her cheating ex, Jeff. The unfaithful computer geek and his high-powered investor were working on stealth software designed to record and transmit personal data—a new form of spyware that would be of interest to everyone from the police and security agencies to cybercriminals.

A mysterious portal has opened up in town . . . and for once, Francie isn't the one responsible. It's just a run-of-the-mill portal to an alternate dimension, right? Nothing to worry about. Except when a rare book dealer turns up dead and Lizzie is the number one suspect. Despite an ironclad alibi, there's a hundred witnesses who swear they saw Lizzie at the scene of the crime. Just who—or what—is coming out of that portal? And can Francie stop it before it invites more of its friends to cross over?

Meet Sidney Grace. Quirky journalist, Hesitant witch, Professional butterfingers. Her grandmother believes Sidney’s talent for communicating with the dead makes her the most powerful witch in the family, but Sidney just wants to make it through the day without getting fired.

The town is gripped by a big freeze, and blizzard after blizzard has engulfed the feline community, leaving shops and businesses snowbound. Hettie Bagshot and her sidekick, Tilly Jenkins, have found sanctuary by their fireside but soon they are bucketed into a terrifying nightmare, called to investigate the disappearance of the town's kittens as - one by one - they are taken in the snow. Who are the strange cats living in Wither-Fork Woods?

Cath Greenstone, her cousin, Bea, and her hippie aunt, Astrid, live in Wonder Falls, a small town near the mystical Niagara Falls. They run the Brew-Ha-Ha café, and naturally, they're witches hiding in plain sight along with their three magical cats, Treacle, Peanut Butter, and Marshmallow. When Brew-Ha-Ha's baker is burnt to a crisp, along with their beloved café, Aunt Astrid lets out a big family secret: A powerful spell book, a Greenstone heirloom from the Salem days, has been stolen from its secret hiding spot in the café.

Urged to solve the Murder on the Tesco Express, Buscemi gets to work at the crack of lunchtime. With the help of sassy streamwise duck Drake, Stanley the deathless guardian of Barnes Bridge, and the irrepressible cocker spaniel puppy Puddles, the forces of darkness don't stand a chance! Except something is wrong. Somehow, Buscemi is tasked with solving a murder which hasn't happened yet... or has it?

When Annabelle's hired to paint the murals for a new coffee house, it seems like a wish come true. But then a series of spooky sounds and strange happenings convince the owners that their new shop is haunted. They want Anna and her coven to evict the restless spirit before the grand opening. When her search reveals hidden smugglers' tunnels beneath the shop - and a dead body - Annabelle, Alastair, and the coven suddenly find themselves in a cat-and-mouse game with a killer.

The crusty owner of a local rock shop has been killed in Utah’s wildlands, and ex-Sheriff Bud Shumway has been asked to return to his hometown to solve the crime. He reluctantly agrees, never suspecting the case involves an old childhood friend and a pair of mysterious Incan skeletons known as the Malachites.

When Sheriff Bud Shumway gets a call to fly into Utah’s remote and mysterious Maze District to help recover the body of a man wearing a tuxedo, he has no idea that it’s only the beginning of a series of strange happenings, from a missing symphony orchestra to a ragtag boatman who seems to be from the long-ago past.

When Sheriff Bud Shumway’s aunt and uncle invite him and his wife to join them for a vacation in beautiful Glacier National Park, he has no idea that he'll soon be on a search for their daughter, the same cousin Bud went to high school with and who everyone called the Jewel of the Desert. But Bud's not sure what he can do to help, especially given the strange circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the fact that she vanished some 25 years ago.

When a Mountie shows up in Sheriff Bud Shumway's Utah office and accuses him of aiding and abetting a possible murderer in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Bud is mystified, especially since he doesn't even know the guy. And when he receives a gold-mining claim transferred to his name and a cryptic message telling him to come to the Klondike Cafe, Bud is soon on his way, even though he has no idea where the cafe is or why his help is needed.

After five years of legal wrangling, Jim Qwilleran has officially inherited his fortune. He looks to seek isolation in the Potato Mountains to contemplate his future, and instead, ends up in the middle of a nasty dispute between roughneck mountain folk and greedy developers. What's worse, one mountain man, Forest Beechum, has been convicted of the murder of millionaire developer J.J. Hawkinfield. Foregoing solitude, Qwill does some investigating of his own. It turns out that Forest may not have done the dirty deed...but who did?