Canapés for the Kitties

Marian Babson

Lorinda Lucas is a mystery writer. She has recently moved to a small village outside London, Brimful Coffers, with a number of fellow mystery writers. They are forming a small, supportive community. Like any community, they have their eccentrics.

Lorinda lives with her two precocious cats, Had-I and But-Known. She writes a successful mystery series that features spinster sisters. Her close neighbors and friends also write successful series. They all gather for parties with Dorian, the author who convinced the others to move to Brimful Coffers. Unfortunately he also convinces a book reviewer and an editor who abridges the novels for magazine serialization - neither are liked by the authors.

Strange accidents start occurring. An annoying photographer falls into the edge of the Guy Fawkes bonfire. The magazine editor is hospitalized with food poisoning. Someone sneaks into Lorinda's house. Her friends, Macho and Freddie, are acting oddly.

This is a light-hearted, fun novel. The mystery winds its way through the amusing look at the life of writers. I have to chuckle at Lorinda's treatment of her spinster sleuths when she tires of them. The glimpse of the small English village life fits into my imagination of what it should be like. This novel is a fun couple hours escape.

Catnap by Carole Nelson Douglas