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    Cat on the Money: A Joe Grey Mystery Novella
    Cat on the Money: A Joe Grey Mystery Novella
    Cat on the Money: A Joe Grey Mystery Novella
    Ebook81 pages1 hour

    Cat on the Money: A Joe Grey Mystery Novella

    By Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    This short novella is part of the popular Joe Grey cat mystery series, of which Booklist said: "What makes this series so delightful for both cat lovers and readers of offbeat fantasies is that Murphy's convincing anthropomorphism allows the cats to maintain their feline natures while still adopting human speech and cognition." Both fans of the Joe Grey novels and new readers will enjoy it.

    Part of this story appeared as a serial in Cats Magazine, for which it was written, and which was discontinued before the remaining chapters could be published. It has not had any other print edition, nor is there a longer version. The events in the story come between Cat Spitting Mad (#6) and Cat Laughing Last (#7), and are referred to in some of the later books in the series.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherShirley Rousseau Murphy
    Release dateAug 31, 2010
    ISBN9781452420486
    Cat on the Money: A Joe Grey Mystery Novella
    Author

    Shirley Rousseau Murphy

    Shirley Rousseau Murphy is the author of twenty mysteries in the Joe Grey series, for which she has won the Cat Writers’ Association Muse Medallion nine years running, and has received ten national Cat Writers’ Association Awards for best novel of the year. She is also a noted children’s book author, and has received five Council of Authors and Journalists Awards. She lives in Carmel, California, where she serves as full-time household help to two demanding feline ladies.

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      Book preview

      Cat on the Money - Shirley Rousseau Murphy

      Praise for the Joe Grey Cat Mystery Series

      Murphy’s sentient felines are believable. These are not cute, purr-fect little cuddly kitties. Joe has plenty of attitude and although Dulcie can handle the often sardonic critter, he can be (just like a real cat) a handful at times. —Carmel Magazine, on Cat Fear No Evil

      Cat lovers will cuddle right up to Joe and his pals, but the story has plenty of murder and mayhem for those who take their detective fiction straight up. —Publisher's Weekly, on Cat Spitting Mad

      Murphy has a huge fan base and has won awards for good reason. . . . Great sleuthing with a feline touch. —Cat Fancy, on Cat Seeing Double

      What makes this series so delightful for both cat lovers and readers of offbeat fantasies is that Murphy’s convincing anthropomorphism allows the cats to maintain their feline natures while still adopting human speech and cognition. —Booklist, on Cat in the Dark

      Cat on the Money

      A Joe Grey Mystery Novella

      Shirley Rousseau Murphy

      Copyright © 2001 by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

      All rights reserved. For information contact webmaster@joegrey.com. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only, and may not be resold, given away, or altered.

      Cover art by Danamarie Hosler

      Ebook, 2010

      This edition distributed by Smashwords

      The first 8 sections of this novella appeared in Cats Magazine, which was discontinued before the remaining installments of the serial could be published. It has had no other print edition.

      The story comes between Cat Spitting Mad (#6) and Cat Laughing Last (#7) in the Joe Grey series of mystery novels.

      Author website: www.joegrey.com

      Table of Contents

      1

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      7

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      12

      About the Author and the Joe Grey Mystery Novels

      1

      The village of Molena Point lay cupped between sea and hills and blessed by sunshine, its cottages and shops shaded beneath ancient oaks. A perfect place for a cat—feline hunter or couch potato. Or for a cat of added, and more unusual, talents.

      It was dawn, 6:02, when sirens screamed through the village. Above on the grassy hills, the gray tomcat pricked his ears and reared up. Watching the squad car far below, small as an ant, careen through the empty streets, immediately he left his kill, heading down as eagerly as any ambulance chaser. Village crime, to Joe Grey, was far more interesting than the remains of a dead rat.

      6:20 a.m. Police Captain Max Harper stood among the ruffled curtains and potted ferns of Otter Pine Inn’s tearoom preparing to photograph the corpse. The tearoom, with its wicker furniture, flowered wallpaper and fine crystal and china, was among the most charming settings in the village, a chamber used exclusively for formal afternoon tea, no other meal served there.

      The body lay as if sleeping, a lovely, blond woman dressed in black leotards. She had no apparent wound. There was no sign of violence. She appeared to have died from a sudden massive heart attack but she was young for that, maybe thirty. Harper had smelled nothing on her breath to suggest certain drugs or poison. Her face was not flushed and there was no sign that she had struggled, as with some violent seizure. The coroner was on his way. Harper hadn’t sent a detective on the case; the village was small, the inn’s owner a close friend. Beyond the leaded windows, the morning was foggy and chill. The body had been discovered at 6:00, when janitors entered the tearoom to clean.

      Harper was a tall man, thin, his lined face leathery from the sun, his brown eyes tired. He was not in uniform but dressed in faded jeans and sweat shirt. Among the chintz and delicate furniture, he felt awkward—as out of place as the big gray tomcat who appeared suddenly, shouldering in through the open door, his yellow eyes wide with interest. Harper wasn’t pleased. Get out of here, Joe Grey. We don’t need cats contaminating the evidence.

      Joe looked at Harper, amused. Licking the taste of rat from his whiskers, he considered the corpse, observing the body as intently as the captain had done. At first he thought the dead woman was Patty Rose herself, the inn’s famous owner—big Hollywood name in the forties. But though she looked like Patty, she was far younger—a slim lady, her hair falling into short, honey colored waves, her pretty hands well cared for. He could smell the scent of brine, and her black shoes were wet as if from the sea, water puddling around her, into the carpet. Something black lay tangled under her tawny hair. A mask?

      Yes, a black mask. He could make out its pointed ears and cat’s face—a costume for the coming festival.

      February was the only month when Molena Point’s hotels had to work to keep their rooms full. The rest of the year, the village attracted wall-to-wall tourists. Early this year, some wag had thought to have a cat festival. Really a bit much, the tomcat thought, coupled with the usual jazz festival, art exhibits, wine tastings and little theater and with Otter Pine Inn’s own competition.

      Joe Grey sauntered closer, studying the young woman’s face.

      Simms, get that cat out of here. That’s Clyde Damen’s cat. Why does he always turn up at a crime scene!

      The officer hurried in, reaching for Joe. Joe raised an armored paw. You touch me, Simms, you’ll be wanting the emergency ward—but the tomcat said no word aloud.

      Only four people knew Joe Grey’s command of the English language, knew that he could out-argue any politician and out-shout an Irish cop, knew that the gray tomcat read the Molena Point Gazette over breakfast, and followed local channel

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