Cat To The Dogs: A Joe Grey Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Feline Fantasy
Review: Further into the story of talking cats Joe and Dulcie, Cat to the Dogs is another fantasy story in which two cats try to solve a crime that happened in Hellhag Canyon. This all takes place in Molina Point, California. Joe and Dulcie are able to talk to each other and their respective owners, as well as reading the newspaper and using the phone. Dulcie is spying on the house next door. This is where Lucinda Greenlaw lives. Two weeks before, her husband Shamus was drowned. She is trying to fend off Greenlaw relatives who are waiting for the funeral in a nearby trailer park. This is all happening when Joe is hunting on Hellhag Conyon when a car came skidding off of the street down a cliff. Joe studied the car and found the driver to be dead, and a break line to be cut through. Joe always tries to keep the sheriff, Max Harper, alert to the murder. Joe discovers that the victim was part of Shamus's business operations. Later it is found out that his nephews Dirken and Newlon along with his cousin Sam were also part of the business. When Shamus's last mistress Cara Ray Crisp appears, complications escalate. It takes Joe and Dulcie, helped by a tiny nameless cat to bring the killer of Newlon to justice. Clyde, the owner of Dulcie locks both of the cats out of the house when officer Harper comes over to play a game of poker. He does this because he thinks that cats should stay out of police business. He is also afraid that they will give away their secrets. That these cats can talk, read, and even use the telephone. Joe will not give up until the killer of Hellhag hill is brought to justice. Feline worshipers will enjoy countless situations of cat adoration in Cat to the Dogs. It is a book of feline fantasy and will meet up to the cat lover's standards.

Rating:
Summary: Feline Fantasy
Review: Further into the story of talking cats Joe and Dulcie, Cat to the Dogs is another fantasy story in which two cats try to solve a crime that happened in Hellhag Canyon. This all takes place in Molina Point, California. Joe and Dulcie are able to talk to each other and their respective owners, as well as reading the newspaper and using the phone. Dulcie is spying on the house next door. This is where Lucinda Greenlaw lives. Two weeks before, her husband Shamus was drowned. She is trying to fend off Greenlaw relatives who are waiting for the funeral in a nearby trailer park. This is all happening when Joe is hunting on Hellhag Conyon when a car came skidding off of the street down a cliff. Joe studied the car and found the driver to be dead, and a break line to be cut through. Joe always tries to keep the sheriff, Max Harper, alert to the murder. Joe discovers that the victim was part of Shamus's business operations. Later it is found out that his nephews Dirken and Newlon along with his cousin Sam were also part of the business. When Shamus's last mistress Cara Ray Crisp appears, complications escalate. It takes Joe and Dulcie, helped by a tiny nameless cat to bring the killer of Newlon to justice. Clyde, the owner of Dulcie locks both of the cats out of the house when officer Harper comes over to play a game of poker. He does this because he thinks that cats should stay out of police business. He is also afraid that they will give away their secrets. That these cats can talk, read, and even use the telephone. Joe will not give up until the killer of Hellhag hill is brought to justice. Feline worshipers will enjoy countless situations of cat adoration in Cat to the Dogs. It is a book of feline fantasy and will meet up to the cat lover's standards.

Rating:
Summary: Best Yet in Series!
Review: Joe Grey and Dulcie strike again. Murphy has written a real page-turner--I was up until 3 a.m. finishing it. Lots of suspense with the ongoing characters (will Harper find out about the cats or won't he?) and some new animal characters that add complications and humor. Murphy manages to make these cats that investigate (and talk) utterly believable.. Great setting, and good story. Not to be missed!

Rating:
Summary: An outstanding example of the best cat detective series
Review: Joe Grey and his "girl friend" Dulcie are after the ghost of Hellhag Hill, who has already done several murders. Joe's human, Clyde is doing all the interfering he can, and the two feline eyes meet the Kit, who will be a character in future stories. Kit is another lovable feline character who adds a lot to this story and later ones. Joe and Dulcie are at their best in this well plotted whodunit. They actually take an active part in the detection and murder solving, unlike most of the other fictional Cat PI's, who are somewhat incidental to the real happenings. These cats are special! They are a little bit of a different breed and are able to understand, speak and read human language. They are highly intelligent, and highly capable of functioning in a human world. How they manipulate things and give clues to the human police is most interesting. This book is required reading for those who like cats and mysteries.

Rating:
Summary: A true hero has finally come.
Review: Joe Grey is awesome! Taking advantage of his unique combination of human and feline traits, he does so many of the things we all wish we could do. A true cat's curiousity drives him to solve a murder that would have surely been chalked off as accident. You MUST follow him and his lady love Dulcie through this terrific mystery/adventure.

Rating:
Summary: Subtle plays on langauge permeate an unusual mystery.
Review: Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Cat To The Dogs provides a Joe Grey mystery in a new addition to a series featuring a pair of speaking, sleuthing cats. Subtle plays on language permeate an unusual mystery.

Rating:
Summary: A true hero has finally come.
Review: This is the first mystery series with cats I didn't like. Cats that speak English???? File it in fantasy, not mystery. I like my cats to act like normal cats, with the humans requiring *some* intelligence or curiosity. I think the author jumped on the bandwagon for some quick money in a proven genre. I wouldn't buy another one...or even borrow it from the library.

Rating:
Summary: If only they acted like cats
Review: This is the first mystery series with cats I didn't like. Cats that speak English???? File it in fantasy, not mystery. I like my cats to act like normal cats, with the humans requiring *some* intelligence or curiosity. I think the author jumped on the bandwagon for some quick money in a proven genre. I wouldn't buy another one...or even borrow it from the library.

Rating:
Summary: Feline Groovy
Review: With this fifth entry in her well-done series, Shirley Rousseau Murphy gives us the best yet.

Joe Grey and Dulcie, two talking and intelligent, cats are catapulted into a labyrinthine mystery of murder, embezzlement, shoplifting, and deceit. Joe and Dulcie are wonderful characters, imbued with such human characteristics, that you almost forget they are cats. Joe's repartee with his human, Clyde, is delightful, and the way they play the informants to hapless Det. Harper is lots of fun.

The addition of the Tortoiseshell kit is a nice touch, too.

As in all of these mysteries, the plot is not the main thing, but the way these cats go about solving the murders. This one has a tightly woven plot, and even though the identity of the culprits is revealed earlier than usual, the way they are captured and the resultant aftermath are delightful.

A great entry in this series, can't wait for her next one!