Joe Grey, cat detective

Thereâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a new series Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve begun reading that fellow cat lovers might enjoy, especially those cat lovers who also enjoy a good mystery. The series features a gray tomcat named Joe Grey who is surprised to find he can not only understand, but read and speak human language. And delighted to find another cat, a sweet and pretty girl cat named Dulcie, who shares his unusual abilities. Together Joe and Dulcie have another unusual talent: solving crimes. The author of the series is Shirley Rousseau Murphy. The first book in the series is titled Cat on the Edge, and the second book, which I just started, is titled Cat Under Fire. The series started in 1996 and looks like about a book a year right up to the present, so thereâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s plenty of reading enjoyment ahead. And it is a good read. A good page-turner mystery. And Ms Murphy does know cats, so her descriptive language makes it easy to visualize the feline characters.

Hereâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s a selection from the beginning of the second book:

The night was cool, and above the village hills the stars hurled down their ancient light-borne messages. High up on the open slopes where the grass blew tall and rank, a small hunter crouched hidden, his ears and whiskers flat to his sleek head, his yellow eyes burning. Slowly he edged forward, intent on the mouse which had crept shivering from its deep and earthen burrow.

He was a big cat, and powerful, his short gray coat sleek as velvet over his lean muscles; but he was not a pretty cat. The white, triangular marking down his nose made his eyes seem too close together, as if he viewed the world with a permanent frown. To observers he seemed always to be scowling.

Yet there also shone in his golden eyes a spark of wit, and a sly smile curved his mouth, a hint perhaps his interests might embrace more of the world than simply the palpitating mouse which awaited his toothy caress--a clue that this big gray tom saw the world differently, perhaps, than another cat might see it.

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You should be able to find the books in the mystery section in your local library. And if not there, then check science fiction. Because my library had some of her books in that section, perhaps because she also writes science fiction. But these are definitely mystery. Enjoy!!

Thanks Tim...
Sounds like a good read.

I love thisseries - have read all the Joe Gray books. Love Duclie and the Kit as well. Joe has been around for awhile , the first being Cat on the Edge. Joe helps his human and Police Chief Harper solve crimes with the help of his own "Watsons", Duclie - who he adores and the Kit, who I think joined in the 4th book maybe (can't recall). It is one of my most fav series!!!!

Anyone who loves cats will enjoy this series by Shirley Rousseu Murphy.

Hi Dulcie!! You're named after a cat, eh?

I wish, lol Dulcie Riley is a rather almost infamous Irish folk song. (I am not particularly fond of the lyrics but the music is great, lol) My snowbird neighbors here tell me there is also a group named this in Canada and they promise to find a CD. But I have to admit I have never heard of them - not well known I guess (like me, lol).

I love the Dulcie kitty in these books tho! She loves nice fine things and lives with Wilma - I won't say too much more, you have to read the books,

I know cat lovers will really like them. I enjoy them more than the Sneaky Pie Brown ones. (I guess we are all different, even tho Rita Mae Brown is a southern girl like me) and Joe Gray and Dulcie and the Kit are created in California.

The author also has a book I have not read that is fantasy - even more fantasy than talking cats solving mysteries, lol

I've read all of these, too.

THANK YOU! I am looking for these.

This is the complete list of Joe Grey cat detective books:

Cat on the Edge - 1996
Cat Under Fire - 1997
Cat Raise the Dead - 1997
Cat in the Dark - 1999
Cat to the Dogs - 2000
Cat Spitting Mad - 2001
Cat Laughing Last - 2002
Cat Seeing Double - 2003
Cat Fear No Evil - 2004
Cat Cross Their Graves - 2005
Cat Breaking Free - 2005