Cat Mystery Thriller

There's a damsel in distress and accusations of attempted murder flying around, but it's not in the comfortable confines of the English countryside; it's in the very distant city of Damascus. Lennox must go and investigate, although he's not too keen on exotic locations, and his old retainer Greggs is distinctly averse to the very idea. Nevertheless, ex-Chief Inspector Swift persuades them, and they reach the ancient city to discover a movie crew, a spy, and a couple of mysterious ladies.

Ever since her husband’s affair, Mary Minor “Harry” Haristeen has taken a sabbatical from men. The 30-ish divorcée is content to tend her farm and gain a bird’s-eye view of the neighbors from her perch as small-town postmistress. Yet when a hunky city slicker comes to town with no clue about farming, she’s happy to show him the ropes. When pieces of a dismembered body crop up around Crozet, however, the wary townsfolk reckon the handsome stranger is the culprit.

Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, has donated a set of Civil War-era diaries to the archives of Athena College. The mayor would like Charlie to preserve and to substantiate them as a part of the Long family legacy - something that could benefit her son Beck as he prepares to campaign for the state senate.

Gabriel Travis – a poet and book binder – has lived and worked above the popular bookshop in Chipping Common for many years. His story is tragic, his murder even more so. The police are convinced the bookshop owner is the culprit; the elderly and erudite, Ezekiel Melnyk.

Normally the arrival of an art exhibition at the Mayville Heights library would be cause for celebration. But thanks to the overbearing curator and high-tech security system that comes with it, Kathleen's life has been completely disrupted. Even Owen and Hercules have been affected, since their favorite human doesn't seem to have a spare moment to make their favorite fish crackers or listen to Barry Manilow.

Never have two species co-created a work of such suspense and humorous catitude as the wildly popular mystery series by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown. This time out, that agile-witted tiger puss Mrs. Murphy makes the round of parties where Virginia's Very Best People mingle with some of the worst. Together, she and her human must unravel a veritable cat's cradle of ambition, greed, and murder at the center of which waits a killer with the most tangled of motives.

Mr. Giles never needs convincing to hunt down a criminal who piques his feline curiosity and threatens the peace of their sleepy town. But if he is on the right track, will the humans in his life be able to follow the trail he leaves for them?

Spring has come to charming Mayville Heights, and with it, some Hollywood glamour. The little town is abuzz because the reboot of a popular baking TV show is filming there. Librarian Kathleen Paulson is working as an advisor on historical facts for the show, local restaurants are providing catering for the camera crews, and Kathleen's faithful felines, Hercules and Owen, are hoping there is a cat treat challenge. But then Kathleen finds one of the judges dead.

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.

For the first time in sixteen years, Lara Caphart has returned to her hometown of Whisker Jog, New Hampshire. She wants to reconnect with her estranged Aunt Fran, who's having some difficulty looking after herself - and her eleven cats. Taking care of a clowder of kitties is easy, but keeping Fran from being harassed by local bully Theo Barnes is hard. The wealthy builder has his sights set on Fran's property and is determined to make her an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Ever since her business partner, Shauna, fell for a wealthy landowner in town, Cat has been working double time to keep her writers' retreat running. And with the January session almost underway, that spells trouble. But best-laid plans really go awry when Shauna discovers her beau missing from their bed. When his body later turns up in the horse barn, they quickly find out the victim's scandalous lifestyle left many dying for revenge.

The holiday season on Daybreak Island is a mixed bag for Maddie James. On the one hand, her Christmas spirit is in the doghouse after a break-up. On the other, she's busy enough that she doesn't have to pretend to be merry. Business at her cat café is booming, and Maddie's care-taking of a feral cat colony in one of the area's wealthiest communities only helps her bottom line. But tensions between the homeowners and animal activists are escalating to catastrophic levels...and before long a body is found dead in a snowbank.

Baker Georgia Tepper has been hired to provide delicious and spooky cupcakes for the Reading Buddies Halloween Party at the library, and she and Kathleen are meeting to finalize the menu of festive confections. Unfortunately, once Georgia's former mother-in-law ambushes her at the library and threatens Georgia with legal action, the afternoon of fun is soured. When Georgia's litigious in-law is later found dead and the friendly baker is implicated, Kathleen is eager to help prove her innocence.

Audrey Smart, 34, has made a major life change, walking away from her life as a vet (and from a string of failed romances) and moving to Sicily to buy a one-dollar home - and embark on a mandatory renovation she knows nothing about. She finds herself busy running the town’s new shelter, while also renovating her own problematic home - and dating again. When Audrey gets a call to find an injured stray in an orange grove at an old estate, the last thing she expects to find is love. The estate owner is charming, handsome - and like no one she’s met before. Might he be a Mafioso?

A young woman's body is discovered on a deserted footpath. It seems like a simple crime for DCI Sophie Allen and her team to solve. But not when the victim's mother is found strangled the next morning. The case grows more complex as DCI Sophie Allen discovers that the victims had secret histories, involving violence and intimidation. There's an obvious suspect, but Detective Allen isn't convinced. Could someone else be lurking in the shadows, someone savagely violent, looking for warped revenge?

It's summer in Mayville Heights, and Kathleen Paulson and her detective boyfriend Marcus are eager to attend the closing concert of the local music festival. The concert is a success, but then one of the band members is discovered dead shortly after it. At first it's assumed the death is a robbery gone wrong, but Kathleen suspects foul play - and she's certain that she, along with her trusty side-cats, Owen and Hercules, can help solve the murder.

Charlie Harris is stressed out. The Southern Academic Libraries Association is holding this year's annual meeting at Athena College. Since Charlie is the interim library director, he must deliver the welcome speech to all the visiting librarians. And as if that weren't bad enough, the keynote address will be delivered by Charlie's old nemesis from library school. It's been 30 years since Charlie has seen Gavin Fong, and he's still an insufferable know-it-all capable of getting under everyone's skin.

Brother against brother. Father against son. Friends turned into enemies. No one in England wants a return to the bloody days of the Civil War. But Oliver Cromwell’s son, Richard, has abandoned his exile and slipped back into England. The consequences could be catastrophic. James Marwood, a traitor’s son turned government agent, is tasked with uncovering Cromwell’s motives. But his assignment is complicated by his friend - the regicide’s daughter, Cat Lovett - who knew the Cromwells as a child and who now seems to be hiding a secret of her own about the family.

In addition to his library duties and his role as doting grandad, Charlie has enrolled in an early medieval history course offered by young, charismatic professor Carey Warriner. Charlie feels a bit out of place - his fellow classmates are half his age - except for Dixie Bell Compton, another "mature" student. When Charlie hears an angry exchange between her and their professor, his interest in piqued. He's even more intrigued when she shows up at his office asking for a study partner.

When bodies are discovered in the open, the killings seeking to reenact Jamie's previous investigations, the team picks up the trail. A single killer is working from the shadows with ruthless efficiency, claiming victims before Jamie can even take a breath. But what's his endgame and what message is he trying to send? As Jamie starts to close in on the culprit, she begins to buckle under the weight of her own career. The monsters she's worked so hard to lock away are clawing their way out, and as the bodies start piling up, the team is pushed to their breaking point.