For the first time in one volume, two twisting tales featuring off-off Broadway actress turned sleuth Alice Nestleton and her crime-solving cats Bushy and Pancho… A Cat in a Manger It’s the holiday season and Alice is hoping for a merry little Christmas peacefully cat-sitting at a sprawling Long Island estate. Instead, she finds herself embroiled in a deadly conspiracy of high-stakes horse racing, sinister seduction, and missing cash. She knows she’d better count on her cat’s clever instincts and nine lives, since her own curiosity has landed her just a whisker away from death. A Cat of a Different Color When a moonstruck student from Alice’s acting class is killed in a Manhattan bar, Alice is determined to solve the crime, especially since the gorgeous Abyssinian-like cat he brought her is stolen on the same night. But the trap she devises to corner the cat-napper entangles her in an even bigger mystery— a dead actor’s secrets of love, revenge, and murder.

In this cozy mystery, a feline P.I. and his four-legged friends investigate a suspicious—and deadly—house fire in a California seaside town. Even the bright seaside village of Molena Point has been hit hard by the economic downturn, and many residents are abandoning their pets. While feline P.I. Joe Grey’s human friends join together to care for their starving cats, a fire leaves a twelve-year-old boy homeless, the body of his alcoholic guardian discovered in the smoldering ruins. Meanwhile, Debbie Kraft descends uninvited on the Damens’ home with her two children, claiming that she has no money and nowhere else to go. But when Joe learns that the victim of the fire was Debbie’s estranged mother, and that Debbie’s ex-husband may be involved in several intricate real estate scams, his fur is on end with suspicion. But it’s not until Debbie’s abandoned tomcat arrives that the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together for Joe and his feline detective pals. Praise for Cat Telling Tales “A must-read for Murphy’s devoted audience and a good choice for those who enjoy Rita Mae Brown’s Sneaky Pie Brown novels.” —Booklist “Shirley Rousseau Murphy's Joe Grey Mysteries are always excellent, and Cat Telling Tales is no exception.” —Fresh Fiction

A catnip garden yields a bumper crop of murder for actress-turned-sleuth Alice Nestleton... Alice Nestleton, beautiful off-off Broadway actress-turned-amateur-detective, has been forced into a life of crime—sleuthing that is—with some cat-sitting on the side. But this hot summer in New York she has taken a hiatus from stage and scene-of-the-crime to join a coterie of cat-lovers in cultivating a Manhattan herb garden. Unfortunately, a party to celebrate their first crop of peppermint tea ends with one of their group going right off the edge—of a 25th-floor terrace. Alice is stunned and grief stricken at the apparent suicide. But aided and abetted by her two cats, she soon smells a rat. And the help of her own feline-like instincts, the gorgeous gumshoe discovers that the victim’s dearest friends may well have been her most murderous enemies… Be sure to look for A Cat Tells Two Tales, available October 2012 in trade paperback from Obsidian.

Two children sitting at home on a rainy day are visited by the cat who shows them some tricks and games.

Sometimes funny, sometimes touching, this adoption story, Won Ton, told entirely in haiku, is unforgettable. Nice place they got here. Bed. Bowl. Blankie. Just like home! Or so I've been told. Visiting hours! Yawn. I pretend not to care. Yet -- I sneak a peek. So begins this beguiling tale of a wary shelter cat and the boy who takes him home.

"Fun, fanciful, and even informative." —People The first comprehensive history of felines—from the laps of pagan gods to present-day status as meme stars—as revealed by a very learned tabby with a knack for hunting down facts Since the dawn of civilization, felines have prowled alongside mankind as they expanded their territory and spread the myth of human greatness. And today, cats are peddled on social media as silly creatures here to amuse humans with their antics. But this is an absurd, self-centered fantasy. The true history of felines is one of heroism, love, tragedy, sacrifice, and gravitas. Not entirely convinced? Well, get ready, because Baba the Cat is here to set the record straight. Spanning almost every continent and thousands—yes, thousands—of years, Baba’s complex story of feline survival presents readers with a diverse cast of cats long forgotten: from her prehistoric feline ancestors and the ancient Egyptian cat goddess Bastet to the daring mariners at the height of oceanic discovery, key intellectuals in the Enlightenment period, revered heroes from World Wars I and II, and the infamous American tabbies. Baba, a talented model in addition to a scholar, goes beyond surface-level scratches, pairing her freshly unearthed research with a series of stunning costume portraits to bring history to life. A paws-on journey through the feline hall of fame, with in-depth research and four-legged testaments that will make you rethink who defines history, A Cat’s Tale is a one-of-a-kind chronicle that introduces readers to the illustrious ancestors of their closest companions and shows, once and for all, that cats know exactly what they’re doing.

Welcome back to the charming New England coast, where Maddie James’s cat café is at risk of becoming a crime scene for the purrfect murder. . . Maddie is hoping to have some downtime during Daybreak Island’s off-season to tackle her to-do list. Her grandfather’s house-turned-cat-café is under construction and she’s also scoping out places to open a juice bar on the island. On top of that, her relationship with adorable dog groomer Lucas has taken a pawsitive turn. But easy is getting harder every day for Maddie, especially when a big-name writer who’s on the island working on a new project winds up floating in the canal. This, on the exact same day an eccentric woman shows up at the cafe claiming Maddie’s cat, JJ, is hers. As the investigation into the dead writer picks up, Maddie realizes that even the neighbors she’s known all her life might be keeping secrets that go deep into the heart of this small seaside town. Meanwhile, a killer remains at-large...and on the prowl.

Available Digitally for the First Time A holiday in rural Massachusetts seems like just the thing for talented actress turned cat-sitter Alice Nestleton—until a killer strikes a sour note… Alice Nestleton has recently died… at the box office, that is. Her latest play bombed, and the critics gleefully skewered her performance in the reviews. Instead of going to the dogs, Alice has returned to a kinder, gentler profession—cat-sitting. Her current assignment is to deliver an adorable Scottish-fold kitty named Lulu to her owner at a remote Massachusetts artists’ colony. To Alice’s relief, the woods are lovely, dark, and deep—too bad the visiting world-famous quartet isn’t as charming…especially when their handsome ladykiller of a pianist turns up murdered. Alice may have a tin ear, but she possesses a sharp eye for suspects and a nose for clues. Now, the paw prints are on the wall, and Alice has a good idea whodunit. But the local police won’t listen, and soon the intrepid cat-lady is baiting a dangerous mousetrap for a killer who’s not just pussy-footing around… Be sure to look for A Cat Tells Two Tales, available October 2012 in trade paperback from Obsidian.

This Christmas, in the newest Alice Nestleton Mystery, Alice will discover that cat-sitting can be murder… Off-Off Broadway actress-turned-sleuth Alice Nestleton is just crazy about cats, particularly her Maine coon cat Bushy and zany alleycat Pancho. Now she’s hoping for a merry little Christmas peacefully cat-sitting at a sprawling Long Island estate, where she expects to be greeted by eight howling Himalayans. Instead, she finds herself face to bloody face with a grisly corpse. Alice has unwittingly stepped into a deadly conspiracy of high-stakes horse racing, sinister seduction, and missing cash. She knows she’d better count on her cat’s clever instincts and nine lives, since her own curiosity has landed her just a whisker away from death…

A novella and two short stories reveal Tanizaki at his best and most bizarre