Cat Conundrum (Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mysteries) by Mollie Hunt
About Cat Conundrum
A locked room. A dead man. The cat is the only witness, and he isn’t talking.
Locked-room murders are being committed in sleepy little Long Beach, Washington. As to the killer, Sheriff Matt Boulder has no idea who or why.
The sheriff needs help. He calls his friend, animal cop Denny Paris, and gets a surprise bonus: Lynley Cannon, amateur sleuth. This isn’t how the sixty-something cat shelter volunteer envisioned her beach vacation, but when Denny asks her to join him in the search, how can she refuse?
While the officers investigate one line of inquiry, Lynley takes a different approach. Her only clues, a cat found at the murder scene and a rich man’s missing wife, lead her thread by thread to a scheme more insidious than fiction.
But who will she tell when she turns out to be the one in the locked room?
About the Guest Post
WHY DOES MY CAT...?
Cat Conundrum, my new Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery, opens with our hero Lynley Cannon facing an audience at a cat convention on the coast of Washington. Lynley, being an introvert, isn’t sure if she belongs on the panel, but once the sixty-something cat shelter volunteer gets started fielding questions about cats, she finds it exciting. After all, cats are by far her favorite subjects.
Here's an excerpt:
“All went well. The hour sped past with Denny speaking about his investigations and me chatting about cats. People asked the usual questions. How many cats do you have? (Eight.) What’s it like to volunteer at a cat shelter? (Fun and exhausting.) How do you keep from adopting them all? (Willpower and knowing they will get a good home with someone else.) And the inevitable Why does my kitty pee on the carpet, linoleum, bathtub, pillowcase, or boyfriend’s new boots? (See your veterinarian to rule out a medical cause, then look for behavioral issues.) I didn’t freeze, faint, or embarrass myself with inadvertent bodily functions. In fact, once I got over the initial stage fright, I quite enjoyed it. I was almost sorry when it came to an end and Sheriff Boulder stepped up to the microphone once more.
“We have time for one last question,” he announced.
In the story, the next question posed happens to be about a murder! But the other queries Lynley receives are common among cat people and those who want to learn about their feline friends.
Have you ever wondered why your cat knocks things off the table? Or what that flappy part that hangs beneath their stomach is for? Do cats really see spirits? And do we see their spirit when they’ve passed on?
If you’re like me, the questions are endless. The more you discover, the more you want to know. I’ve spent decades actively gathering information about the feline family, and though my series is fictional, I love to sneak in a bit of useful and interesting information about cats.
At the head of each chapter, I list a cat tip or fact that relates to the story. Here are a few:
Chapter 2: Most people recognize the obvious signs of a scared cat: raised hair along the spine, ears pinned back, enlarged pupils, hissing, and aggression. But did you know that curling up small is also a sign of fear, as are inappropriate elimination, over-grooming, crying, and anorexia?
Chapter 4: A domestic cat is genetically 95.6% tiger.
Chapter 7: When a cat becomes part of a police investigation, such as a case of abuse or neglect, the cat itself becomes evidence. Even though the evidence is alive, the chain of custody must be maintained. Any person who has contact with the cat can be called as a witness, including a foster parent.
Chapter 14: The term tabby describes the markings of a cat, such as the distinctive 'M' stripes on its forehead, and not a specific breed.
Chapter 20: All members of the cat family have claws. Most cats sheath their claws when not in use, except for the claws of the cheetah which are not retractable.
I also enjoy cat myths and legends. Did you know that according to legend, the “M” on a tabby cat’s forehead stands for Mohammed, because Mohammad, who loved cats, would often rest his hand on the cat’s head?
Many of the tips are simple, such as keeping your cat’s microchip information up to date, but people often tell me that it’s helpful to be reminded from time to time. Mostly, however, I try to answer that ever-compelling query: Why does my cat...?
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Cat Conundrum is the 7th Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery featuring Lynley Cannon, a sixty-something cat shelter volunteer who finds more trouble than a cat in catnip. For cat-lovers who like clean mysteries with a little bite to them. Cat tips, tricks, and facts at the beginning of each chapter.
The Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mysteries:
Cats’ Eyes (book #1)
Copy Cat (book #2)
Cat’s Paw (book #3)
Cat Call (book #4)
Cat Café (book #5)
Cosmic Cat (book #6)
Cat Noel (a Christmas novella)
Cat Conundrum (book #7)
Books need not be read in order.
About Mollie Hunt
Native Oregonian Mollie Hunt has always had an affinity for cats, so it was a short step for her to become a cat writer. Mollie is the author of The Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery Series, featuring Lynley Cannon, a sixty-something cat shelter volunteer who finds more trouble than a cat in catnip. The 3rd in the series, CAT’S PAW, was a finalist for the 2016 Mystery & Mayhem Book Award. The 5th, CAT CAFÉ, won the World’s Best Cat Litter-ary Award in 2019. The 6th, COSMIC CAT, is the winner of the Cat Writers Association Muse Medallion Award for Best Cat Mystery 2019.
Mollie’s sci-fantasy, CAT SUMMER (Fire Star Press) also won a Muse Medallion, this time for Best Cat Sci-fi Fantasy. CAT SUMMER is the first in her Cat Seasons Tetralogy where cats save the world from an evil older than history — twice! Mollie published a stand-alone mystery, PLACID RIVER RUNS DEEP, which delves into murder, obsession, and the challenge of chronic illness in bucolic southwest Washington. Two of her short cat stories have been published in anthologies. She has a little book of Cat Poems as well.
Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, Willamette Writers, the Cat Writers’ Association, and the Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA). She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and a varying number of cats. Like Lynley, she is a grateful shelter volunteer.
