My informal research has led me to the theory that Crazy Cat Ladies ™ invariably start out as crazy cat kids. I know I did. Any number of my childhood photos show me carrying, petting, or otherwise engaging with a feline of some sort. The corollary to the CCL theory is that one’s leisure pursuits…
Among other invaluable services, the inimitable Janet Rudolph curates mysteries themed by holiday, and during vacation is when many of us have more time for crime! Here are a few Independence Day treats: The Fourth of July Wake by Harold Adams Murder on Parade by Donald Bain (as Jessica Fletcher) Hair of the Dog…
There are two kinds of mystery fans: those who like mysteries with cats, and those who do not. Being a hardboiled hard ass, I naturally fall into the second camp. I’d rather be mauled by a tiger that read about the feline adventures of Sam Spayed and his girlfriend Kitty O’Shaughnessy. And I don’t say…
Do you ever get bookstore whiplash? You’re walking casually down the aisle, scanning the titles, when you stop dead in your tracks and whip your head around, thinking, Did I really just see that? Or possibly just What the…? After all, it’s the combination of the title and cover art that attracts the casual browser…
Lilian Jackson Braun passed away this weekend, before her 98th birthday and before she could finish her 30th “Cat Who” mystery. For many years, she stopped writing the series, thinking that people weren’t interested anymore in gentler, less sexy, less violent stories, but she came back around, and her fans were very glad of it.…
