Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Cattery Row
Theda Krakow Mystery, No. 2

by Clea Simon



      Don't let the cat on the cover fool you. Yes, Cambridge, MA freelance writer Theda Krakow is undoubtedly a cat lover, and no, she doesn't exactly live on Raymond Chandler's grittiest of mean streets. This story may undoubtedly be at the cozy end of the mystery spectrum, but it's not the sort of overly cutesy cozy that is often assumed to be the inevitable result of mingling cats and mysteries. Cattery Row is an enjoyable traditional mystery with a bit of modern edginess to go with the cats and an interesting plot line. Simon has a real gift for creating quirky characters rather than standard-issue role fillers, then turning them into real people that you both care about and feel you understand.

Theda may be 30ish, but her heart still beats to a steady rock and roll beat. That's one of her many problems, since her boyfriend is a 40ish cop who merely suffers for Theda's sake a music and club scene that is as essential to her as breathing. Meanwhile, to keep her life in balance, everything else seems to be falling apart as well, with an extended job drought setting up games of which-bill-do-I-pay roulette. At least her cat loves her.

The job situation vastly improves when she gets commissioned to do a follow-up story covering local "women of the new millennium" and finds it involves re-connecting with some women she's known and liked. One of whom is a show cat breeder who first unloads about receiving extortionate threats in the midst of a wave of catnapping, then denies them... just before being murdered. So much for life on the upswing.

This is even better than Simon's excellent debut, Mew for Murder (also reviewed on Myshelf.com), since I figured out the guilty party early on in that one, but Cattery kept me guessing to the end. I love the way Simon brings the Boston-Cambridge area to life that goes far beyond the Harvard Square and Freedom Trail of the guidebooks. Her city pulses with vibrant life and is nobody's tourist site museum piece. Recommended

The Book

Poisoned Pen Press
August 2006
Hardcover
159058306X
Mystery - amateur sleuth
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE: Holiday Read: Halloween

The Reviewer

Kim Malo
Reviewed 2006
NOTE:
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