So, you say you love cats… And even more, you love your cozy mysteries with cats… Not just a cat purring at your side while you read your cozies… But a cat (or maybe two or three!) in your cozy mysteries. Then, here is a list of books that might just interest you, the cozy-cat lover…
Lydia Adamson writes the Alice Nestleton Mystery series. Alice is not only an actress, but also a cat sitter. When not acting, she is sleuthing. Adamson also writes a veterinarian/sleuth series (Dr. Nightingale.)
Garrison Allen writes the Big Mike Mystery Series…
Marian Babson seems to have a way of entwining cats into almost all of her books! She is definitely a cat lover!
With her series named Reigning Cats and Dogs, how could you wonder if Cynthia Baxter has cats in her cozies? Her main character, Jessica Popper, is a veterinarian who truly loves cats (and dogs!)
An author who I absolutely knew I had to include is Lillian Jackson Braun. She writes the Cat Who*** Mysteries, or, as others call them, the Jim Qwilleran Mysteries. There are over thirty books (in the series) which have been written since the 1960s. Jim Qwilleran is a journalist, and Koko and Yum Yum are his beloved cats, who help him to solve mysteries.
When I first started thinking about doing this blog entry about cozies with the cat theme, there were a few authors who simply leapt to mind. Amongst them was Rita Mae Brown, with her Mrs. Murphy Mysteries. Mrs. Murphy and Pewter are two cats in this cozy "tail" and Tucker is a corgi. The three of them "help" the humans solve crimes.
Susan Conant, widely known for her dog lover series, has a first in her Cat Lover's Mystery series! That's a great addition for the cat fanciers out there.
What list of Cat Cozies would be complete without Carole Nelson Douglas? Douglas writes the Midnight Louie Mysteries, some of which include "his human" Temple Barr. But, Midnight Louie also has some novels without Temple! Carole Nelson Douglas also has a book: White House Pet Detectives: Tales of Crime and Mystery at the White House from a Pet's Eye View.
While attending law school, Gabriella Herkert became aware of a case which involved a woman whose will benefited her cat. (Hmmmm…) The cat became the recipient of a fortune and Herkert (years later) used this case as the basis of her first Animal Instinct Mystery Series novel…
A site reader just reminded me about Valerie S. Malmont's Tori Miracle Mystery Series…
Evan Marshall writes the Jane Stuart & Winky Mystery Series…
Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey cat mystery series…. Just another example of a mystery series with a cat theme!
Clea Simon writes the Theda Krakow Mystery Series that features Musetta, Theda's (and Clea's real life!) cat…
Fran Stewart writes the Biscuit McKee and Marmalade Mystery Series…
Leann Sweeney writes the Cats in Trouble Mystery Series…
And, last but not least… Karen Ann Wilson writes the Samantha Holt Mystery series, which features Samantha, a veterinary technician.
Martin H. Greenberg is the editor of several mystery anthologies featuring cats:
Cat Crimes
Cat Crimes 2
Cat Crimes 3
Cat Crimes through Times
Cat Crimes takes a Vacation
Cat Crimes for the Holidays
Black Cats and Broken Mirrors
Danger in D. C. : Cat Crimes in the Nation's Capital
Murder Most Feline: Cunning Tales of Cats and Crimes
A Treasury of Cat Mysteries
Feline and Famous: Cat Crimes Goes Hollywood
Crafty Cat Crimes: 100 Tiny Cat Tale Mysteries
Miscellaneous Cats Caught in Cozies and Other Mysteries:
Kittens, Cats and Crimes Anthology, edited by Ed Gorman
Feline Felonies: 43 Cat Crime Stories from the World's Best Mystery Writers, edited by Abigail Browning
Mystery Cat Tales of Felonies and Felines Patricia Highsmith et al Ruth Rendell
Mystery Cats..Lillian Jackson Braun, and others
More Mystery Cats… Lillian Jackson Braun, and others
Mystery Cats 3: More Feline Felonies… Lillian Jackson Braun, and other
Not a Mystery, but Sure Does Look Interesting for Cat Lovers:
Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet?: 101 of the Most Perplexing Questions Answered about Feline Unfathomables, Medical Mysteries and Befuddling Behaviors by Marty Becker & Gina Spadafori.
♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦
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Please don't forget Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey Mystery series when it comes to cat cozies.
Joyce,
I'm so glad you reminded me of Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey Mystery series. I haven't read any of the Joe Grey books yet, but just added Murphy to my authors' list (I believe) last month…
Garrison Allen has a cozy mystery series that features Mycroft,"Big Mike", a 25 pound Abyssinian cat who loves to eat lima beans and who helps to solve mysteries with his person, Penelope Warren.
Thanks, Reba, for telling us about Garrison Allen's cozy mystery series. I had to look up an "Abyssinian" cat… For those of you (like me) who don't know the breed… they look like the cats depicted in the Egyptian art from long ago…
I've not read them yet, but Evan Marshall has a series called Jane Stuart and Winky. Winky is a cat.
Alicia,
Thanks for letting me know about Evan Marshall. Another author to add to the cat mystery page.
Thanks, again!
Does anyone know why Lilian Jackson Braun's new book "The Cat Who Smelled Smoke" has not been published? It was due out in April 2008. Barnes and Noble has no record of it.Thank you.
Please don't forget Linda Stewart's Sam the Cat Mystery series when it comes to cat cozies.
Thanks, Konnie, for the recommendation!
Leann Sweeney's new Cats in Trouble series comes out in 1909. The first book is The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse.
Thank you so much, Konnie, for letting us know about Leann Sweeney's new Cats in Trouble Mystery Series. It looks like The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse is coming out in May 2009.
Don't forget the Tori Miracle Series when it comes to cat cozies. She's a novelist who has two cats.
You're right, Konnie! I just added Valerie S. Malmont to the list. Thanks for reminding me…
Don't forget Jeffrey Miller's Questing Cat series when it comes to cat cozies.
Thanks, Konnie, for the recommendation. I see that his latest books is Murder's Out of Tune and his latest is Murder on the Rebound.
Thanks, again……..
Doug Allyn has a series about a veterinarian with a one eyed cat. The first book is called All Creatures Dark and Dangerous and the second book is called The Burning of Rachel Hayes.
Thanks for telling us about Allyn's series…
Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters…(The character Amelia, an Egyptologist, owns several large overbearing cats that often figure in the books.