Cat Shining Bright

by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

(Joe Grey Cat Mystery Series, Book 20)

Morrow (a HarperCollins imprint), 2017
Hardcover: ISBN 0062460315
Paperback: ISBN 0062460420
E-book: HarperCollins
Large print: Harperluxe, 0062670832
Audiobook: Download, CD, and digital rental

While new father Joe Grey teaches his young kittens about the world, he misses his secret cop work for Molena Point P.D. But when beautician Barbara Conley and one of her customers are found dead at the salon, Joe can't help getting in the game. Heading for the crime scene, he has no idea the kittens are following him, or how they will complicate the investigation...and this is not the only danger to the kittens.

A stranger is stalking the home of Joe's tabby lady, Dulcie, where the kittens were born. Both parents' claws are out, ready to protect their babies and protect Wilma Getz, Dulcie's human housemate. But the death of the beautician is soon entangled with a gang of car thieves working the village. As Joe, Dulcie, Kit and Pan leap into the investigation they are unexpectedly led to the new cat shelter being built, the restoring of an old mansion, and to a cranky old woman living nearby who is a surprising part of the tangle.

Joe Grey fans will relish this new installment following their favorite feline detective and the skills that his three kittens are discovering.

Purchase this book

The ebook can be purchaed at Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and Kobo.

The print edition can also be purchased at Amazon and is widely available in other bookstores, where it can be special-ordered if it is not in stock.

Quotes from the reviews

"It is difficult for me to believe that Joe Grey now has twenty mysteries beneath his furry belt. Yet every time I begin one of his mystery stories, I know that I am in for a treat! The author has created a wonderful little town and filled it with the most interesting characters, all of whom are well developed. . . . The new litter of kittens adds more than a little delight and humor to this feline mystery tale too. Out-freaking-standing!" --Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews

"Cat Shining Bright is not without suspense, and a thrill or two. It is easy to fall in love with the feline characters and those humans who keep the secret of the cats' ability to speak." --Mary Ann Smyth, BookLoons

"Fans of the series will love how Ms. Murphy continues to explore the mystical nature of the cats and their heritage, intertwining these investigations with the more mundane human mysteries of theft and murder. While Book 20 likely isn’t the best jumping-on point for new readers, it is definitely the kind of book that will be appreciated by cat fanciers, mystery-lovers, or otherwise." --Doreen Sheridan, Criminal Element

"Cat Shining Bright begins right where Cat Shout for Joy ends so we get to see the kittens' eyes open and hear their first words. Their carefully chosen words made me smile with wonder, laugh out loud, and sigh with contentment. They may even give clues to the cats that Buffin, Striker, and Courtney may become. . . . The essence of Cat Shining Bright [is] family. The felines are all connected via their Celtic ancestry, and the humans are connected through friendships and marriages. Whether the characters wear fur or not, they care about each other." --A. Burgin, Amazon.com (Verified Purchase)

"I marvel that the story has lead us through the years and through the lives of not only these very special cats but also through the lives of the people who love them and care for each other. It is a community of humanity that reaches our souls and makes us wish we belonged to a community of conscious felines and caring humans in the same manner. I cheer for all the Joe Grey stories past and wait for each new piece of the tale to unfold!" --Cat of All Cats, Amazon.com (Verified Purchase)

Excerpt from the story

Two weeks after the kittens were born their eyes were open and their tiny ears unfurled. Another week and they could see and hear very well and were toddling about their pen. Now, when they heard Joe Grey come in through the cat door, they squealed with delight. When Joe jumped into the cat pen that Wilma had set up in the kitchen, the babies climbed all over him, pummeling and mauling him, rolling under the tomcat’s gentle paws. The biggest question in both parent’s minds, the same question that nudged those few humans who knew the cats’ secret, was, when would the kittens say their first words? Would they speak? Would they be speaking cats like their parents and like tortoiseshell Kit and red tabby Pan? Or would Joe and Dulcie’s babies grow up without knowing the human language, without the humanlike talents of their parents? Everyone was filled with anxious hope, with nervous waiting.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

June rolled away, and still no kitten said a word. Soon it was July and then August. The kittens at three months old were all claws and teeth, loud and demanding yowls, boundless energy, leaping from chair to table, climbing draperies; but they said nothing. A cat tree stood by Wilma’s desk looking out at the garden, another at the dining room window, a third in the bedroom, their carpeted shelves and climbing posts already shredded by sharp claws where calico Courtney and her buff colored brothers leaped, flew, battled one another, wildly fierce and happy. And still, the kittens were silent.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Not until a week after Buffin’s debut, as Wilma called it, did Striker shout out his own first words, and he sounded just like his daddy. Wilma stood tying back her gray hair into a pony tail, watching Striker’s usual crazy race around the house. Even Wilma, a retired parole officer who had seen plenty of mayhem, shivered at the chances the kitten took. She watched him sail to the top of the china cabinet, leap six feet up to the cat tree, foolishly misjudge his balance, lose his footing and plummet to the buffet, knocking a glass bowl of flowers to the floor spilling blossoms and water and shattering the vase—Striker’s shout filled the house.

“Damn! Damn, damn it to hell,” he yowled.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

But what of calico Courtney? The calico was keen and observant, she saw everything, she listened to every conversation. She would lie in Wilma’s lap as Wilma read to her, lie purring but mute, loving the ancient myths, listening in total silence—until one evening she suddenly put her paw on the page, on the very words Wilma was speaking. She sat up straighter and began to read aloud, just where Wilma had left off. She read the tale smoothly all the way through, she spun the story out as lyrically as Wilma herself had ever done.

When she’d finished, they were all silent. Joe Grey looked so ridiculously proud that Dulcie leaped to the chair and licked Courtney, both she and Joe smug with their calico’s cleverness—until the morning that the words Courtney read brought not smiles but alarm. Sitting on the kitchen table on the edge of the newspaper, she placed a paw on the front page article. “‘CAR THIEVES MOVING DOWN THE COAST. TO HIT MOLENA POINT AGAIN?” She looked up at Wilma. “What is this? What are car thieves? What does it mean, to hit Molena Point? Hit how?” She kept reading, dragging her paw down the lines of type.

Read a longer sample from inside the book

Joe Grey's home page