Cat Among the Pumpkins: A Hettie Bagshot Mystery

In British author Morton’s weird and fanciful second mystery set in an alternative universe populated by talking cats (after The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency), Hettie Bagshot, the tabby cat founder of the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency, and her assistant, Tilly Jenkins, investigate the stabbing murder of genealogist Mavis Spitforce, whose body was found dressed like a pumpkin. Mavis was writing a book about the notorious case of Thaddeus “Milky” Myers, who long ago killed his entire family. He’s rumored to haunt the family homestead out by Much-Purring-on-the-Rug, and every Halloween the locals fear he’ll kill again. Hettie believes that Mavis’s death had more to do with the contents of her will than with the supernatural, but she needs the assistance of both the odd Rev. Jacob Surplus and Irene Peggledrip, a medium, to solve the case. For those who can accept the premise that cats can wear clothes, ride motorcycles, and run detective agencies, this series has a peculiar English charm. [em]Agent: David Marshall, Marshall Rights. (Oct.) [/em]