Cat Breaking Free

Joe Grey #11

by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

The fur starts flying when a gang from L.A. comes up to tranquil Molena Point, California, and begins breaking into the village's quaint shops. The fur of Joe Grey, Feline P.I., that is. After all, Molena Point has been his home since he was a kitten eating scraps from the garbage behind the local delicatessen, and he doesn't take well to marauding strangers. Joe even wonders whether the blonde who's moved into next to his human companion Clyde could be a part of the gang––she's been acting pretty suspicious lately. But when the strangers start trapping and caging feral cats––speaking cats like Joe and his girlfriend Dulcie––it proves too much for the intrepid four–footed detective. And when one of the gang is murdered, and a second mysterious death comes to light, he has no choice but to try to stop the crimes. Joe, Dulcie, and their tattercoat friend Kit, who used to be a stray herself, are deep into the investigation when they are able to release the three trapped cats. But as Kit leads them away to freedom, will she herself return to that wild life?

Genres: Mystery, Fantasy, Cats, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Animals, Audiobook

375 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Shirley Rousseau Murphy is the author of over 40 books, including 24 novels for adults, the Dragonbards Trilogy and more for young adults, and many books for children. She is best known for her Joe Grey cat mystery series, consisting of 21 novels, the last of which was published when she was over 90. Now retired, she enjoys hearing from readers who write to her at her website www.srmurphy.com, where the reading order of the books in that series can be found.

Murphy grew up in southern California, riding and showing the horses her father trained. After attending the San Francisco Art institute she worked as an interior designer, and later exhibited paintings and welded metal sculpture in the West Coast juried shows. "When my husband Pat and I moved to Panama for a four-year tour in his position with the U. S . Courts, I put away the paints and welding torches, and began to write," she says. Later they lived in Oregon, then Georgia, before moving to California, where she now enjoys the sea and views of the Carmel hills.
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Reviews

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Returning from weekend outing Charlie comes across a sentient cat in a steel cage. She releases him. On the same trip
The riders find a biker DEAD at the bottom of a revine.
Kit recognizes the cat in the cage and says he is Stone Eye, the
leader of her clowder. They have return to Hellhag Hill.
Joe is angry that one of Cldye's old girlfriend has moved in next door. He is watching her closely and see her running away after a robbery. The ending is different and interesting. A relaxing read after a stressful day.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is #11 in this long-running fantasy cat-detective series, and I'm pleased to report that it's another winner. There are plenty of plot-summaries nearby, so I'll simply report that CPI Joe Grey, his girlfriend Dulcie, the delightful young tattercoat Kit, and their humans are all in fine form here, defending Molena Point, CA (a thinly-disguised Carmel) from the forces of evil, eating rich food and fixing up their houses -- Joe Grey now has an amazing tower lookout, and Kit acquires a delightful treehouse at story's end. Kit steals the show this time....

If you're new to the series, you'll want to go back to the earlier ones to catch up with our furry little detectives. Fine rainy-day reading -- I read this one with alternating cats-in-lap, including our own Joe Gray, a Russian Blue who's always on the case.

[Marfita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once I get past the problem of talking cats: talking, crime-fighting housecats ... come to think of it, maybe I can't get past that. This is definitely a series for cat lovers: soppy, anthropomorphizing cat lovers. Okay, I pretend my cats talk, but I don't go much beyond "Why don't you feed me?" and "Pet me, damn you, pet me!" and "I. Hate. You." I don't imagine some rich, inner life wherein they can reason, read (how does a cat learn to read when human children take years to learn and develop fluidity?), discuss clues, or call each other on cell phones.
I mean, try to imagine a cat manipulating a cell phone. I can hardly punch those buttons and I have opposable thumbs!
But once you get past that ...
And I also had trouble with the names of characters. Murphy has a tendency to give lead female characters masculine names: Ryan and Charlie. I'm still not sure about Scotty. Might be a woman, might not. This makes keeping track of people very confusing, even with the list I made of people and the names of their pets. It's a rather extensive list.
But once you get past that - no, really. It was an interesting mystery about, gosh, real crime! Real crime like burglary! Oh, and some murder. It might have been interesting as well if some humans were actually involved in detection! More than, say, informing the cats. Let's just be glad that these cats don't have opposable thumbs or they'd be running southern California.
I think now I'll read something more sensible, like Fforde's The Big Over Easy.

[Christi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a charitable 3 stars - more like 2.5. The writing is so abysmal that I am surprised this series is so long. I love just about any book with talking animals but this was a rough slog to get through. For example, “her neat butt in her snug jeans.” For real. The mystery was interesting and the overall story kept me reading. I did pick this series up very much in the middle but that did not affect the overall story at all. I never felt lost or unsure who was who.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a lot of different characters, good and real bad. Evil men were trapping feral cats, because they could talk. All three cats, Joe Grey, Dulcie and Kit helped free them. The big gang planned on cleaning out all the jewelry stores during a jazz festival. The cat detectives snitched to the cops and they were ready to round up the crooks Have fun reading this book, you'll love it.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll start my review by stating that I don't usually read mass market paperbacks so my comments will be biased according to my personal reading preferences. My mom purchased this book for me when I had major surgery, and for the first week I really did enjoy the book, it was great to read a few pages and then doze off. The cats were entertaining and I really did want to know what was going on in the story. By the time I got to the end, though, I was bored and impatient with the stock characters and formulaic plot. I tend to read literary fiction so this isn't my cup of tea. If you generally enjoy serial mysteries, I'd bet that this is a fun book, so maybe go for it. I gave it two stars instead of one because I think it's actually better written than most of its kind. and Rousseau Murphy has a pretty good imagination :)

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

In case you've never heard of this particular mystery genre, and I surely hadn't, when I say "cat detective novel" I mean "novel in which the detective is a cat." A talking cat. Who can use the phone and stuff. In this book, we meet Chichi Barbi, who has apparently been previously involved with the tomcat's owner, Clyde. The tomcat, Joe, dislikes her immensely, and thinks that the fact that she's moved in next door means she's up to no good. So Joe spies on Chichi and, conveniently, she's up to no good.
read more...

[Christi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This cat mystery really did not appeal to me. I realized that about two chapters into it, but I saw it through to the end. Some parts were clever, but others so crazily ridiculous, even for a speaking & reasoning, mystery-solving cat book. I don't think I could stand to read another one of these, thus the 2 star rating from me.

[TheIron Paw · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love seeing the world from the perspective of animals (Chet and Bernie, Traveller, Racing in the Rain), but Murphy has simply put a human in a cat's body and given them a few cat like traits. The characters are cardboard (maybe because this is #11) and the plot kind of weak. There are many better books in this genre.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does Shirley come up with these plots? Such imagination. Such details!
Very complicated details too! My own mind could not but I absolutely am entertained and amused with these Cat Tales and the very descriptive Cat Tails as well. Ir makes me wonder what my own cat, Oscar thinks. Thank you Shirley!

[Kay Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can predict that these talking, crime fighting cats will be my guilty pleasure books for the year. I just find their personalities so realistic, and I love the way they interact with each other, their humans and other cats. Only for cat lovers, though.

[Fred Nachbrunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Character driven book and series

This book continues the ongoing development of main characters with new ones.
Always new subplots and mysteries that may be in future stories.

[Nicole Wrightson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really loving the Joe Grey mystery books. I love stepping into the world of talking cats and find myself wondering what my dogs and cats I deal with in day to day life would say. One cat is my family's actual cat but we are staying with people who have a lot of cats.

In this book Joe finds himself in over his head. He is confronted with a woman from his and Clyde's past and plus they have a dear friend who is dying in the house. On top of that it seems that a gang from L.A. has come to Molena Point. Now Joe and his cat friends are on the case trying to figure out what they are up to and how to keep the humans they love safe. But they soon discover that someone is trapping cats like them. Add in that interesting twist. Can Joe, Dulcie and Kit help save the day for human and cat alike?

This has some sad moments broken up by some funny parts. But mostly quick paced and keeps you on your toes trying to figure out what is going to happen next. Also it brings into question what is people really up to?

[Ellen White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving Joe Gray the talking feline, and this again is a winner for readers. He is upset that an old flame of Clyde,or as he refers to as a bimbo has rented the house next door. He is determined that she is up to no good, and when he see two city slickers come to her house. Now to figure out what they are up. Talk this evening was about scratches on a dead man, small not large like a cougar. Joe knew it could of been a Panamanian feline especially if he didn’t like the person. What was going on in this small town of Molena Point. They are interesting, enjoyable with Joe and Dulce giving their comments, and more of the people that live there and we enjoy hearing about them

[Emily Cullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tomcat Joe Grey, his lady friend, Dulcie, and the Kit learn that cats who can speak like then are being held captive. Meanwhile a jewelry store in Molena Point is robbed and a two people are found dead. It's up to the three cats to find out what's going on and to make anonymous calls to Captain Harper's phone to help solve the mystery. "A Joe Grey Mystery" is a great cozy mystery series, especially if you like cats and the fantasy of talking cats makes you curious. Makes me wonder about my own cats!

[sandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, bcuz I do all my books on audio, I couldn’t finish this. I tried twice, stopped and gave it a couple days and tried again bcuz I love the characters so much. But the new reader is male and clearly did not even try to keep the characters the same as the previous reader. Such a shame. I wanted to finish so much and read all of these. I looked ahead to see if the reader changes again but it’s the same guy. Too bad. I don’t have time for physical books, I do audio while I work. Doubtful I’ll ever finish this series now.

[Nese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I have read in this series and can’t wait to read the rest of the books. The plot, setting, and the characters are interesting and original. The storytelling flows well with constant twists and turns. The suspenseful plot is fast paced with relatable, likable, and compassionate characters. If you like cozy mysteries and animals, this may be an addictive series. Five stars all around.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It always takes me a chapter every two to get into these books. I spend the first chapter warming up once again to the premise that talking cats solve crime. But soon I find myself enjoying a good story and a unique, feline perspective.

[Sylvia Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

It is a most enjoyable read. The talking cats are such enjoyable characters. Lots of secrets and love. It did take at least one surprising turn. I would definitely recommend this book and series!😊

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talking cats are outlandish. As talking cats go, these are over the top on what they can do. It is an engaging read with several plot lines. The foreshadowing is lighter than a number of cozy mysteries. Book was borrowed from my sister-in-law.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No sure about this book/concept. It was definitely too long--could easily have cut out about 75 pages. I found myself getting bored and having to force myself to read some portions. Talking cats who help solve mysteries is definitely a novel concept. I'll read another in the series.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first in this fantasy series and I'm afraid it's my last. The plot is not bad but the action is so slow and many passages were repetitious. I couldn't be bothered to finish even though I got 3/4 of the way through. I was disappointed.

[Nancy K. Rea]

Love these books

I was very sad to learn that Ms. Murphy had died. There will be no more Joe Grey mysteries. I have read them all and go back and read them again. She was a wonderful writer and the books just kept getting more entertaining.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This just might be my favorite Cozy Mystery series EVER!

[Sandy Carmichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these books where cats (I am a cat lover) take on human characteristics and solve mysteries. Just plain fun reading for me.

[rosemarie galati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Human loving cat stories!!!

Joe Grey is who I turn to when I'm looking for fun along with my mysteries.! I've read several of these novels and love them!!

[Oscar & Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Joe Grey mysteries.

[Arliegh Kovacs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Joe Grey book was more tension provoking than some of Murphy's other books in the series.

[Marti · Rating 1 out of 5]

On occasion, I enjoy reading a cozy that incorporates talking animals. I assure you I did NOT enjoy this one. The plot crept along liks a snail in molasses in February.

[D Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

CATS like mine...

Great book. Loved the talking cats.....I must read more! Thanks for the vacation 😄😄😄 I love talking dogs too!!! More soon.