This is the
first in a series of delightful and intriguing books where cats ware clothes,
drive, cars and motorbikes, buy things off the back of lorries, bake cakes and
pastries, and commit murder.
Hetti
Bagshot is a cat who once toured the country with her band, but now finds
herself renting a room behind a bakery
which is run by two kindly sister’s – Betty and Beryl, but she is now
facing eviction and is offered a job by her friend Marcia Woolcat, for her
fledgling detective, which up to now as
been tottering on boredom with petty problems. Marcia is the matron for the
residential home – Furcross, where the bodies of three former residents are
missing from their graves in the grounds.
She is helped by her assistant Tilly an older cat who has
chronic arthritis, a penchant for cardigans and reading, her wealth of
knowledge from authors such as Polly Hodge (P D James) often helps Hetti out, even
though it comes from Tilly's ramblings.
Hetti meets an old friend from her touring days Marley Toke who
is the homes cook. Her cooking is divine, but beware of any dishes who’s names
begin with Jamaican as these are highly laced with cat nip.
The book is easy to read, although it is dark in places. It
zigs and zags along pathways which often have unexpected twists. The fashion show
and it’s drastic ending is one of them.
The characters are rounded and flow from the page, which
bring them and their world to life.
The cat who at the end rings to ask Hetti to investigate who
is watering his tomato plants and leaving great big boot prints by them makes
me wonder what my cat thinks of the feet who so kindly feeds and waters him.
Be warned that once read, you’ll never look at cats in the
same way again, especially when they stare at you menacingly.
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