I think this is certainly one of the best Joe Grey books, if not THE best. Joe and Dulcie are joined by their new sidekick called "The Kit", a tortoiseshell kitten who has an insatiable craving for adventure and danger. There has been a murder of two women on a bridal path and the third rider, the cats' friend Dillon has disappeared, maybe murdered too or kidnapped. Joe's greatly admired friend, Max Harper, the Molina Point chief of police is the one and only suspect in the murders. Joe is spitting mad that people will believe his friend Max could do such a thing. Naturally, Joe "knows" that Max is innocent. The Kit has witnessed the end of the murders and been scared witless by all the violence but she was too scared to know what she saw or to recognise anyone. The three cats run afoul of Joe and Dulcie's old nemesis, Lee Wark who knows their secrets about understanding human language and having high intelligence. He would absolutely love to put a permanent damper on their crime solving shenanigans. He thrives on killing cats anyway. Kate Osborne, who can change to a cat and back to a human is back on the scene and terrified because three convicts have escaped, including Lee Wark who knows her secret also. She seems to have a "thing" for Joe's human housemate, Clyde Damen while Clyde's old girl friend, Charlie seems to be sweet on Max Harper now.

How Joe Grey, Dulcie and Kit thread their way through this maze of tangles, car chases, and a haunted house that's home to a cougar makes a fine story. It's also amazing that three small cats could get through all the perils without losing one or more lives. Ms. Murphy only gets better! She adds more polish and finesse to the stories every time. I'm anxious to read "Cat Laughing Last"

This book was utterly delightful with Joe Grey's deep respect for the Chief of Police, Max. By proving Max's innocence, Joe Grey, Dulcie and Kit all provided bits and pieces of the puzzle, including a daring rescue of the 13 year old girl who witnesses the murder. The story definitely kept me on my toes wondering what was going to happen next...Now I wish the next book of Ms. Murphy's would come out even sooner than January so I can start reading it...

This Joe Grey mystery features Murphy's cat pair who can read, speak, and solve crimes. Here Joe can't keep his paws off his owner's latest case: murder which points to Harper himself. Joe knows his owner is innocent, but has to prove it in Cat Spitting Mad, an intriguing murder mystery approach.

This is the fourth book in the "Joe Grey" series. I think the author has refined her technique a lot since the first book, "Cat On the Edge". I think she has improved her stories to the point where they are truly ready to be included among the best of Fantasy or Whodunit books. The main theme is about two cats who have become able to understand and speak English. The cats pull off all kinds of coups in solving crimes. Coups that would be impossible for humans. The cats are most loveable and likeable. The cat characters are the most vivid, but the human characters that the cats "own" or interact with are now also quite likeable. The plots are well done and there is quite a bit of suspense.

Joe Grey and Dulcie, direct descendants of ancient Celtic cats, discuss last night's robbery that is in the newspaper. The two felines worry that a new resident, Azrael the cat, is the evil mastermind behind some recent crimes. Azrael, who also can talk, informs Joe and Dulcie that the break-in is nothing. Furthermore, he states that three people will soon be murdered. The prediction turns out to be true.

Much to the chagrin of Joe's human companion, the cats begin to investigate. However, Dulcie has personal problems to deal with too. Her human companion has some wanted and some unwanted company, staying with them and the new librarian wants Dulcie barred from the facility where she obtains much joy from reading. The cats concentrate on the killings, honing in on Azrael's missing human friend even as they remain wary of the evil feline. They know that they must quickly solve the case before Joe and Dulcie end up in "holy catastrophe" (To Julie Newmar from Robin).

With her fourth "Cat" novel, Shirley Rousseau Murphy demonstrates that she has the feline touch. CAT IN THE DARK briskly moves forward and the cats are brilliantly different and nicely developed characters, who are totally unlike their sleuthing peers. The well-written mystery will leave readers ultimately to feel that Ms. Murphy is paying homage to her cats.

Harriet Klausner

Joe Grey and Dulcie, direct descendants of ancient Celtic cats, discuss last night's robbery that is in the newspaper. The two felines worry that a new resident, Azrael the cat, is the evil mastermind behind some recent crimes. Azrael, who also can talk, informs Joe and Dulcie that the break-in is nothing. Furthermore, he states that three people will soon be murdered. The prediction turns out to be true.

Much to the chagrin of Joe's human companion, the cats begin to investigate. However, Dulcie has personal problems to deal with too. Her human companion has some wanted and some unwanted company staying with them and the new librarian wants Dulcie barred from the facility where she obtains much joy from reading. The cats concentrate on the killings, honing in on Azrael's missing human friend even as they remain wary of the evil feline. They know that they must quickly solve the case before Joe and Dulcie end up in "holy catastrophe" (To Julie Newmar from Robin).

With her fourth "Cat" novel, Shirley Rousseau Murphy demonstrates that she has the feline touch. CAT IN THE DARK briskly moves forward and the cats are brilliantly different and nicely developed characters, who are totally unlike their sleuthing peers. The well-written mystery will leave readers ultimately to feel that Ms. Murphy is paying homage to her cats.

Harriet Klausner

The next blustery day, the kind where you stay in doors and make soup, curl up with this book and enjoy a wonderful experience. The illustrations are lovely and filled with the motion of wind. You can almost hear and feel it about you as you go into the story. The writing is lyrical and evocative, brimming with romance and mystery. A girl who does not realize she is the daughter of the stormy east wind develops into a weaver with magical talents of artistry and eventually wins her heart's desire. Here's a sample about her father so you can just imagine how lovely HER story is. "He found a girl who was not afraid of his wildness. They were wed. He built her a house of blowing branches and wind-torn cloud.They were happy there. She bore him a daughter, but then she died." I love this book and I encourage you to read it and let it sweep you up in the winds of its magic.

Beautiful story. Beautiful illustrations. Sit and dream a little with your child (or by yourself). Such joy to read a story which speaks to the heart instead of the cartoonish world which so many children's current books fall into. Your child deserves this book of beauty.

Murphy's rhythmical and mythic-sounding text conjoins with the Dillons' subdued and melancholy illustrations to create a subtle and rereadable work of art. I recommend this for anyone who enjoys fairy tales, as well as people who are looking for strong and engaging female protagonists. This one's going in my collection, and neither am I a child nor a librarian, only one who likes fine art.

I LOVE this book! I found it at the library and didn't expect it to be that good and when I read I read it in a couple hours. I kept on reading and reading it! It is about Skeelie and how she loves Ramad but Ramad is searching for Telien his true love. It is very imaginitive and goes into time travel and stuff like that. I would recomend it to anyone! Girls it goes into love and Boys it goes into battle and fighting. THE BEST!

This is an excellent book. I picked up this book because I had read the Dragonbard Trilogy and loved them, but this book surpassed them by far. Unfortunately, because of the obscurity of the author, I have been unable to find any of the other books in the series, but that is neither here nor there. The plot was complex, interesting, and dealt realistically with time travel. The characters were realistic and well-developed and the writing was superb.

This book, though rather juvenile in appearance, is pure magic. Shirley Rousseau Murphy is adept at creating sympathetic characters with a few, well-placed descriptions. Thursey is a spirited and intelligent Cinderella who enjoys defying her greedy stepmother and hideous stepsisters who use her as a slave for their inn. Loving stories and fairy tales of all sorts, her own begins when she meets a kind goat boy named Gilly returning with the queen and prince after the war. But is he really who he seems? And though he partly plays the role of the beneficial fairy, it's ultimately up to Thursey to make her own magic come true.

Simply and beautifully told, Silver Woven in My Hair was one of my first fairy tale retellings (along with Beauty by Robin McKinley) and remains one of my favorites. A pleasant companion to the equally excellent Ella Enchanted, this book is definitely worth the effort it will take to find.

This is definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone who likes the classic story of Cinderella. Though it may not be the exact story you may know, it is a very finely crafted version of the timeless fairytale. Shirley Rousseau Murphy captures the true spirit of the classic tale of a poor girl who dreams of a life other than her own where she is forced by her wicked step-mother and step-sister to clean, cook, and serve them after her father dissappears. Even if you aren't a fan of Cinderella, if you do like magic, adventure, surprises, and descriptions so real you feel like you're in the story, then this could be the book you've been looking for.

I first encountered this book at my church school library, and immediately identified with Jenny, both of us feeling unattractive and bookish, though she was skinny and I was fat. This book is a story of a young woman's triumph over adversity: difficult family circumstances, near-abuse and drugs. Very moving and incredible read.

This was my favourite book when I was a kid. It may have actually been the first book I ever read by myself; certainly it was the first I ever stayed up late to read with a flashlight every night for a week (and it only took me one night to reread it each time.) It's about a girl named Soonie who has to save her village from a dragon, along with the three princess it had eaten. Soonie fills the role of the young man in the fairy tales, except of course that she doesn't wind up marrying any of the princesses. I'm not sure that this book was really intended for small children, but I'm glad it was one of my first. It didn't teach me that I can accomplish great things even though I'm a girl; it taught me that I can accomplish great things BECAUSE I'm a girl. That is a lesson I wish more girls would learn.

What really makes Ms. Murphy's novels so much fun is the way she knows cats. Joe Gray, Dulcie and the tortoiseshell Kit are fun to spend a few hours with. They seem so "human" in their dialogues, and the way Murphy gets them to do the crimesolving continues to be clever, resourceful, and highly imaginative. Now, if that were only true of the humans! The Senior Survival Club is a nice gesture, but all five ladies are basically interchangeable and sometimes I found myself forgetting who was who. Vivi Traynor is such a caricature, derivative of any dumb blonde in any mystery novel. The real mystery is pretty easy to follow, and solve, IF you remember what goes on when Charlie sneaks peeks at the so-called great novelist's current work. I don't know why Murphy keeps Kate Osbourne's character---she's used very rarely and her connection to the cats, which is pretty awesome if you remember from previous books, is never fully utilized. Also, there is a little too much description of the areas, the houses, the women's dresses, etc. I am not trying to be a spoilsport or a nasty critic. I love cats...our 20 year old feline recently passed away, and we've acquired three new delightful kittens. I wish I could communicate with them! But, this book is definitely worth reading if you've followed the series. And thanks to Ms. Murphy for her knowledge of cats and sharing it with us feline lovers!

I think this is the best book of this series. There are 7 of them and each succeeding one has been better than the last. This series of books is about cats that are of a different sort than the usual pet cat. They are able to speak and read human language and are intelligent on a par with humans - at least. Ms. Murphy is a good writer and is obviously well acquainted with cats. The book's main charm is anyone who is well acquainted with cats should feel that if there were cats of this sort in the real world, they would act and perform in just the way the book's characters do. The cats have become interested in police work on the sly. They are able to go places and see things that human "cops" can't. They call in anonymous phone tips to put the police on the right trail and always ferret out things in an entertaining way. Molena Point, their town must be the best town in America except that it really has a lot of murders and other crimes for its size. It sounds like the ideal community and with such a wonderful "Feline Police Dept." to handle crime, why worry. The interaction between the cats and their human "house mates" is interesting and about what one would expect from sentient cats, if any did exist. The details of how the cats trail after clues and how they can go anywhere and do so many things is always entertaining and often humorous. The author has a finely tuned sense of humor.

..I think this is the best Joe Grey mystery so far.It kept you wanting to read on to the next page.You want to know how Joe and his female mate,Dulcie gets the bad guy.I like how you don't know who the bad guy(or gal) is till the end.And sometimes what you think isn't what really is.If you have read the others you really want to read this one.And if you haven't read the others,you will want to.I can hardly wait for the next Joe Grey Mystery.

Being the proud owner of three pesky kittens soon to be cats, the feline heroes (and heroines) in Shirley Murphy's series are all too realistic to imagine!!! Joe, Dulcie and Kit have such unique personalities that they seem almost human. Once again, the plot takes back seat to the many adventures the three cats have in solving the mysteries. This one has plenty: why is a ten year old boy involved in the bombing of the church where Charly and Max are to be married? Who is trying to frame Ryan for the murder of her estranged no-good husband? Where did the silver dog come from? These questions are answered rather leisurely, but you're so enraptured with the characters, everything flows smoothly. Another great entry in this enjoyable series!
RECOMMENDED.

I can not say enough about Shirley Rousseau Murhhy's ability to give us a great story. I have almost all of her books and have found them so well written that even the childrens books are totally enjoyable for me at well beyond my childhood years.
Joe Grey is the reason that people with cats now know that their beautiful cat friends are more intelligent than we will ever know....for sure!

Another great Joe Grey mystery! If you haven't read this entertaining series, you are missing a special treat. Get the list and start from the beginning, as the saga continues. Too bad Shirley only writes one new Joe Grey book each year, but it's ALWAYS worth the wait!