Joe Grey is a large and elderly tomcat. His greatest pleasure in life is to spend the day dozing off in a warm patch of sunlight. He also enjoys a bit of carousing, teasing his furry companions at home, and cuddling with his owner. And, of course, he loves to hunt at night.

One fateful night, Joe Grey witnesses a murder. For some inexplicable reason, the assailant is determined to leave no witnesses, not even a cat. Shortly after this strange event, even stranger things begin to occur. Joel discovers that he suddenly has the ability to fully understand human speech. What's more, he can read, and unbelievably, he can talk! Even stranger still, he teams up with a really cute female feline who has the same amazing abilities.

Can they solve the crime before the mysterious murderer catches up with them? If you can set aside reality for a while and have a love for cats or simply enjoy stories about them, this is a fun read. I initially found it a bit slow-paced at the start, but by the middle of the book, I was completely hooked and had to know the outcome.

I'm still not entirely sure if this series is a worthwhile investment of my time, but I'm definitely going to give the next book a try before making up my mind.

Joe Grey is a cat that has undergone significant changes in the past week or two. Suddenly, he can understand human language. As he sits with his human, Clyde, and Clyde reads aloud to him, he realizes he can even read the words on the page.

This is already quite unsettling. Then, he discovers that he can speak human language as well.

Joe does not view this as a positive development. It actually upsets him. He loves being a cat. Now that he can understand the conversations of Clyde's human friends, he finds them even more annoying. Their discussions are entirely centered around things that cats consider unimportant.

However, given some time, he might have found ways to appreciate these changes. Instead, he and his cat friend Dulcie, who has also experienced the same changes, witness the murder of a business associate of Clyde's. And the killer sees them. Not only does the killer see them, but also apparently realizes that they can convey what they have witnessed - that they are significant witnesses.

They each return home, Joe to Clyde and Dulcie to Wilma. But it isn't long before they both realize that the killer knows where they live. They are now on the run and need to solve the crime in order to be safe again.

They begin their investigation and discover that the human world is absurdly complex. Clyde runs a service garage in a space he rents from a car dealership. Part of the deal is to provide service to the dealership's cars. He originally connected with the owner of the dealership through an old school acquaintance, Jimmy Osborn, who is the manager. Jimmy is married to Kate, whom Clyde likes and is friendlier with than Jimmy, but of course, she is married to Jimmy. The owner of the dealership, Samuel Beckwhite, is the man who was murdered. He was married to Sheril, who has been having an affair with Jimmy. Jimmy also has a connection with Lee, whose last name I can't even guess the spelling of. (I listened to the audiobook.) Lee is Welsh and grew up listening to various Welsh stories about cats, which is highly relevant to the events.

This book was first published in 1996, and in some ways, it shows its age. It is a minor point that it is set several years before cellphones were ubiquitous, and this technology that we now take for granted is only mentioned in passing near the end, as something the mayor thinks is too fancy and expensive for the police, who could really use them. More annoying for the current reader will be the fact that there is some lazy stereotyping, such as the slut-shaming of Sheril and the Latino waiter who doesn't speak English very well. Kate is a housewife, making Jimmy's home beautiful and a good showcase for his success. This was still quite normal at the time, and Wilma, for example, has a very different background. However, it can still be a bit jarring for today's readers. I will say, in Kate's and Murphy's defense, when it comes down to it, she proves to be no weakling.

I enjoyed this book. It is a lot of fun. However, it does have some flaws and may not be to everyone's taste.

I purchased this audiobook.

Plot and originality wise, this book was truly brilliant. It had a unique and engaging storyline that kept the reader hooked from start to finish. However, when it comes to the characters, there is room for improvement. They were largely gender stereotypes, which was a bit disappointing. In particular, the way Sheril is constantly slut-shamed and presented in classist terms is quite shameful.

A book about cats solving crime is always going to be interesting, and I was eager to see how the author would handle this unlikely scenario. I have to say that Murphy did a great job. She managed to make the story believable and engaging, even for those who might be skeptical. The writing itself was also very good, with plenty of vivid and colorful descriptions that brought the story to life. There was also enough action to keep the pace moving and prevent the book from becoming too slow or overly descriptive.

The nicest relationship in the book was between Dulcie and Wilma. Their connection was almost romantic, and it was one of the most enjoyable aspects of the story. Kate, on the other hand, was a bit of a mixed bag. For part of the book, she was really irritating and hyperfeminine, but then she had a moment of growth when she decided to burgle her own house while her husband was having sex with another woman. This was perhaps one of my favorite parts of the book, and it almost redeemed the character in my eyes.

Overall, I'm not sure if I want to read more of this series or not. I wasn't completely blown away by the book, but I also didn't hate it. I think I'll probably wait and see what others have to say before making a decision. I'm not rushing to read the next book, but I'm also not putting it on my "avoid" list either.

★★★★☆

This was truly an extremely weird book. It had a tendency to go off on tangents from time to time.

However, despite its oddity, I found myself unable to resist reading it a little bit every single night.

Perhaps it was the mystery and the curiosity of where this strange narrative was ultimately leading that kept pulling me back.

Even though the tangents sometimes made it a bit difficult to follow, there was something about the story that held my attention captive.

I would lie in bed, turning the pages, eager to uncover the next twist and turn, and to see how all the seemingly disparate elements would come together in the end.

This book, for all its quirks, had a strange allure that I just couldn't ignore.