Cat Cozy

Established early in the last century as a memorial to O. Henry, this annual collection has consistently offered a remarkable sampling of contemporary short stories. Each year stories are chosen from large and small literary magazines and a panel of distinguished writers is enlisted to award the...

After a serious accident leaves Calliope Rose Collins unable to continue with the career that has owned her soul for most of her life, she returns to Foxtail Lake, Hollister House, and great aunt Gracie, only to find, childhood friend, Officer Cass Wylander, knee-deep in a murder mystery involving a 12-year-old girl who died in the exact same manner as Callie's best friend Stacy had died 20 years prior.

Cathy Carter and her brother Douglas own a pet cemetery and animal rescue center in the small, upstate New York town of Buttercup Bend. After the local “Cat Crazy Lady,” Maggie Broom, is found dead in her home, Cathy is stunned to learn that Rainbow Gardens and Rainbow Rescues is the recipient of most of Maggie’s estate. Maggie’s estranged brother and sister come to town and are upset with the terms of their sister's will. Sheriff Leroy Miller is convinced one of them killed Maggie.

When sisters Rachel and Jennifer Murdock receive a letter from Miriam Hamilton, the daughter of the man who, decades earlier, swindled their father, inviting them to her luxurious home and offering financial amends, the sisters accept and head off with their beloved cat, Samantha, in tow. Shortly after they arrive, they meet their host―or rather, her body. Miriam has been murdered in her bed, and two things become clear: their invitation came with strings attached, and around the many corners of Miriam's capacious home, strange things are afoot.

A caravan of trucks hauling building materials up a mountain road is nothing out of the ordinary, but in the Town of Green, it’s news. Gwen Paris has that feeling again that something is up...but what? Gwen Paris is hanging out at Gunderson’s vintage coffee shop, more to see the fetching owner Kevin Pearson than for the caffeine, when all conversation turns to trucks climbing Perryville Foothills to the only address worth noting there: Brightston Mansion. Just as Gwen is about to ask who? what? A name is uttered: Derek Payne.

When the rock concert Christy and Quinn are enjoying ends in a murder, the sleuthing couple are pulled into the case. Hot on the trail of a primary suspect, they discover the band's manager has also been found dead. Are the two murders connected, or are there two killers? Unfortunately, the only eyewitness—Stormy the Cat—is holding his tongue.

Maeve is a journalist by day, aspiring romance writer by night, and hopeless crossword addict the rest of the time. She finds a set of odd clues in her favorite daily puzzle created by the mysterious cruciverbalist Q Marks. The clues lead her to believe that Q might have murdered a local professor and gotten away with it! With such scant evidence, police help isn’t likely, so Maeve must use her strengths as a writer, reporter, and puzzler to find Q. That is unless Q Marks finds her first.

Christy Jamieson has just confronted the person who murdered her husband Frank, when Frank's wealthy aunt, Ellen, arrives unexpectedly, suitcase in hand. Ellen's home has become a crime scene, and she intends to stay with Christy. No one is happy, but the most furious member of the Jamieson household is Stormy the cat. Wanting the woman out of her hair, Christy investigates with journalist-friend Quinn, only to discover the body on Aunt Ellen's terrace was the woman who alibied the person complicit in Frank's murder.

Without Zilla, there'd be no witches zooming around on their broomsticks and nobody would be allowed an exotic animal as a familiar. She grants permits for a living. Okay, it's not riveting stuff but it's important. The day a cute but pushy pussycat arrives at her apartment complex, so does a grotty old journal full of blank pages. Until now Zilla has enjoyed a simple life: her clean, quiet apartment; a couple of potted plants that she struggles to keep alive. She's not an exceptional woman. She doesn't have many friends. She's never owned a pet … and she most certainly does not want a cat.

When quilter Jillian Hart returns to her lake house in Mercy, South Carolina, she discovers her friend, Tom, is missing-and his estranged half-brother has moved into Tom's house. Jillian doesn't trust the guy, especially since he allowed Tom's diabetic cat to escape. When police officers find Tom's wrecked car with a dead stranger inside, Jillian is determined to find out what happened to Tom-before someone else turns up dead.

When cat lover and quilter Jillian Hart volunteers to help a local animal shelter relocate a colony of feral cats living in an abandoned textile mill, she never expects to find a woman living there too. Jeannie went missing from Mercy, South Carolina, a decade ago, after her own daughter’s disappearance. Jeannie refuses to leave the mill or abandon Boots, her cat who died years ago. After all, she and Boots feel the need to protect the premises from “creepers” who come in the night.

The reclusive genius Winky Whisker is the creative force behind Kong’s favorite brand of kibble. When he opens up his factory to the five lucky cats that find the Silver Tickets, Kong is determined to get one. But right away, Kong and Francie sense something dark hiding behind the factory’s cheerful surface. There are grudges and rivalries going back decades… and when Winky Whisker is found dead, drowned in a vat of salmon gravy, Kong vows to avenge his death.

When prominent Canadian politician Fred Jarvis dies mysteriously, Detective Patterson solicits the help of Christy Jamieson to investigate the family and friends of the deceased. The police suspect a politically motivated murder, but Christy soon finds reason to disagree. Now working at odds with the police, Christy must rely on Stormy the cat to discover the truth or risk seeing the man she loves convicted unjustly of murder.

With the end of the school year fast approaching, Grace and Jack are looking forward to what their summer might bring. As a final goodbye to middle school, they decide to take one last trip from their science class, the place where their adventures all began. What starts out like any other trip quickly goes drastically wrong when they are spotted upon their return to class. To make matters worse, they discover the mysterious ink is having side effects not only on them, but also on their favourite travel spots.

It's murder most viral in this debut mystery by Olivia Blacke. Bayou transplant Odessa Dean has a lot to learn about life in Brooklyn. So far she's scored a rent free apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods around by cat-sitting, and has a new job working at Untapped Books & Café...

Death stalks the Blue Ridge Mountains once again, and Mary Minor Harry Harristeen, along with her beloved cats, is on the case.

Maplemead Castle is crawling with ghosts, and the new owners need them gone. When Melody Bittersweet and the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency arrive on scene, they quickly identify the troublemakers swinging from the chandeliers...literally. A century ago, stunning trapeze artist Britannia Lovell plunged to her death, and has done every night since. But did she really just fall, or was there something more to her demise?

Sometimes a unique talent is inherited - and such is the case for Trouble, son of Familiar, the black cat detective. Trouble's rather indolent life in the sleepy town of Wetumpka, Alabama is upended when a serial killer arrives on the scene. Trouble begins to apply the skills he learned from his dad and his hero, Sherlock Holmes. When local bookseller Tammy Lynn is attacked at the site of an impact crater, Trouble realizes he must protect his human and solve the mystery of the Silk Stocking Killer.

In addition to feeding the felines Aubrey and Vincent, Jeremy Goodman has a new responsibility: filling a recently vacated trustee role at a local charity that works tirelessly to house the homeless. Jeremy is initially enthusiastic—but soon begins to suspect that all is not as it seems at the nonprofit’s headquarters.

Blessed (or cursed, depending on who you ask) with human intelligence, Sir Edgar Allan Kipling, magical talking cat extraordinaire, spends most of his time keeping his human out of trouble. Of course, having a wizard for a human means that trouble is never far away. When Sir Kipling's human goes away for the weekend and leaves him to guard her magical library, things start out quiet. But he soon discovers witches smelling suspiciously of demon magic snooping about, and quiet goes out the window as chaos looms on the horizon.