Please Do Feed the Cat

Marian Babson returns us once more to the delightful village of Brimful Coffers, a colony for mystery writers, first introduced in CANAPES FOR THE KITTIES. However, it is not necessary to have read the first book to thoroughly enjoy this one. With a playful swipe at gory pulp fiction, chick lit, and porno-plagued romance novels, Babson follows Lorinda Lucas and her fellow writers as they go about their daily routines in their charming English village. Not one hit-and-run murder, but two, shake up the peaceful atmosphere as egos collide and humor abounds. Through it all, the delightful antics of Had-I, But-Known, and Roscoe will please cat lovers and fans of cozy English mysteries. This endearing trio of felines, slaves to their tummies, makes the book worthwhile if only for their attitudes. You won't find clever plot twists and may be a bit disappointed when you discover whodunit, but if you're looking for a light-hearted and amusing tale, this is the cat's pajamas.

This sequel to Canapes for the Kitties, about life in the mystery writers' enclave of Brimful Coffers, is about average plot-wise, except for hilarious sendups of "modern" mystery genres and a seance that has to be read to be believed.

A cute sequel to Canapes for the Kitties. These are cozy mysteries but not as "caty" as the "Cat Who" (Lilian Jackson Braun), Mrs. Murphy (Rita Mae Brown), Joe Grey (Shirley Rousseau Murphy), or even Midnight Louie (Carole Nelson Douglas) mysteries. But it is still a cute, quick read.

If you're a cat owner, and your cat(s) own your life, and you enjoy amusing, quirky cozies, you'll want to check out Marian Babson's "Please Do Feed the Cat." It may not be the mystery novel of the year, but it is charming, humorous and loads of fun to read. Back home safely at Brimful Coffers (a little village that's also a writer's colony) from her American book tour, mystery writer Lorinda Lucas is shocked to discover that things are not as they should be in her quiet little neck of the woods. For starters, her neighbour Lancelot Dalrymple, who writes hard-boiled mysteries under the pen name "Macho Magee" has taken up with Cressie Adair, a writer of fluffy "chick lit." The thing is that Cressie is a harpy, and she has taken over Macho's life completely, down to putting both Lancelot and his chubby and lovable cat, Roscoe, on a severe diet. Further down the street, another denizen of the village is having trouble with her builders; and even more tragically, a little girl was killed in a hit-and-run accident at Brimful Coffers not too long ago. All in all, not quite the homecoming Lorinda had anticipated. More immediately though, both Lorinda and good friend, Freddie, are more concerned about prying Cressie away from Macho. Except that it's beginning to look as if it will take an act of murder to separate the two! Why is Macho putting up with Cressie and her evil ways? And why is the very cosmopolitan Cressie hiding out in a quiet little village like Brimful Coffers? Things get even more dramatic when two rival mystery writers descend on the village and seem only too ready to carry on their quarrel in full technicolour... I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Please Do Feed the Cat." It may not possess many clever plot twists, nor was it an incredibly suspenseful read, but it definitely was a very enjoyable and humorous read. I found myself chuckling at (and identifying with) how the cats (Had-I, But-Known & Roscoe) had their humans trained; and I really enjoyed the humorously ironic manner at which Marian Babson portrayed some of the authors in this mystery novel. No, "Please Do Feed the Cat" may not the most riveting read, but it definitely was a very charming and entertaining one.

After a grueling book tour in the United States, Lorinda is thrilled to be back in her English home with her cats Had-I and But-Known in the village of Brimful Coffers. Mystery writers like Lorinda live in a neighborhood within the village, helping one another out and being there to listen to one another's troubles. After Lorinda sleeps off the jet lag she learns that a little girl was run over by a car while fellow mystery writer Gemma was there walking the dogs. She also learns that fellow author Machu has a new girlfriend Cressie who is making everyone's life miserable especially Machu's cat who she has put on a diet. Authors Adele Desparta and Opal Duquette are both visiting friends in the neighborhood; they hate each other because they are both writing a series centering on the first Queen Elizabeth's friend Bess of Hardwick. When Opal is run over by a car in the same place the little girl died, everyone thinks Adele is the killer but Gemma is going to get hypnotized to see if she can remember anything about the accident, a move that puts all the writers in mortal jeopardy. PLEASE FEED THE CAT will appeal to animal lovers and amateur sleuth fans who like their mysteries without blood and gore. The arias of the pets are adorable and they steal the show from their humans. The tone of the story is upbeat as the humans act out even more than their pets do. Marian Babson known for her frolicking stories writes a work where all the clues are part of the story leaving it to readers to put the investigation together. This is an engaging and charming mystery. Harriet Klausner