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Molena Point is a beautiful coastal town in Northern California, lure to tourists, and a nice place for folks to live. In one small neighborhood four 30-ish couples have formed a friendly group, sharing meals and outings and the stories of their lives, childcare and pet sitting. But one couple is not quite like the others - they have a nefarious plan about to be set in motion. When one of the wives is murdered her husband begins a downward spiral that leads to near-madness and craven behavior, but he pulls himself together and finishes the difficult task they had set themselves to perform before they went on vacation. This is a rather oblique tale in the telling, and moves from viewpoint to viewpoint, remaining most often upon and with the feline detectives Joe Grey and Dulcie, and their friends Kit, Tansy, and Sage. The only human who gets as much facetime as the cats is the killer, not identified until very close to the end, and the convoluted plot is presented in a rather complicated manner, but eventually works out well. You definitely must enjoy being around cats, however, even more so than in the earlier books, to appreciate this latest entry in the very long series. This is book #15, and here we do get caught up a bit with all the wonderful humans in the series, but the renderings are rather sketchy and weren't as well done as usual, being not quite enough for my taste. I don't think this isn't the best of the series. The plot is very good, but its execution is comparatively clumsy for Murphy - she's usually extremely smooth at weaving all the bits and pieces together and always in the past tied up every loose end perfectly and very satisfactorily. Here she finishes off the villain nicely but while his ending might have been realistic it isn't at all as satisfying as she generally makes the denouement. Also, she completely forgets to tie up a beautiful little emotional bit that she gently hinted at and then simply forgot about, never resolving a beautiful little hook that might have grabbed mightily at heartstrings; it's something that in earlier books she was particularly good at. This latest in the Joe Grey series is a very good cosy for those who like small-town settings with a super-friendly cat-centric cast (indeed, most of the people and felines are incredibly "nice"), and enjoy fantasy. Not recommended as your first of the series, though, as while all her stories are strongly plotted and beautifully set and characterized, this is even more feline-character driven than the others, plus her usually extremely effective pacing is just a touch off, leading to a slower-moving read than in most of her books. The feeling of threat and danger to the people and cats we've come to love is not really strongly present here except for one short (albeit very effective) scene, and that's a weakness, at least for me; in most of her books it's a prime motivator of the plot. And the gentle tempo and meandering nature of this story might discourage a reader who doesn't have a previous relationship with the characters - much of my enjoyment stemmed from simply being able to follow along in the lives of the people and cats and dogs in this beautiful town. This is one of my all-time very favorite series, though, and I enjoyed it. I'll happily read (and often re-read) anything this woman ever wants to write. I adore the fantastical world she has created, and wish I could visit there. And ‛fess up - those of you who live with cats - haven't you wondered what they're thinking when they just stare... at you, hey? And what if they could talk...?
Reviewed by Abbey Hamilton, December 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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