Are You Listening to Me?

by Mary M. Cushnie-Mansour

Camden Gale and his sister, Emma, have had a tough life. Camden has become paranoid/delusional about everything and everyone around him, and he and Emma are always moving. When things begin to heat up for Camden on the West Coast, he takes a job at a new gym in the small city of Brantford, Ontario.However, Camden, who is hoping for a fresh start, is losing complete control of his emotions. Does Camden stand a chance of keeping his dark deeds a secret when he and Emma move next door to a retired police officer and an overzealous orange tabby cat by the name of Toby? - Detective Toby! Toby has a feline sense for solving crimes, and the moment he meets Camden, he smells trouble!"Are You Listening to Me? is a murder mystery with a comedic, feline twist!An Excerpt...PREFACE:It’s been a while since my last big case, so I will jog your memory about who I am. My name is Toby, and I live with Jack Nelson, a retired cop. I used to be quite stout, but since venturing into police work, I have put myself on a rigorous routine of fitness and healthy eating. That doesn’t always work out for me because, as my nature dictates, I am inclined to be a tad lazy sometimes––most of the time, actually. And I never miss a meal or a snack if I am passing through the kitchen. My hair is red; I once heard someone say redheads were God’s chosen people, so I assume that goes for cats too.Now, do you remember? Yes, I am a cat––Detective Toby. I solved a crime about six months ago when Jack’s friend went loony and kidnapped his own kids. I saw through him right from the beginning; Jack didn’t. If it hadn’t been for me, goodness knows what would have happened to those kids. I was a hero, and everyone was grateful to me. The police department awarded me with a framed certificate, which certified I was a ‘Class-A Detective.’ I was told I was welcome any time down at the police station, which I take full advantage of every time Jack visits the captain, Bryce Wagner.There have been a lot of changes in the past six months. Jack renovated the back door. I now have my own special cat door so I can come and go from the house as I please. Jack figured if another crime needed investigating, I wouldn’t have to wait for someone to open the door to get out and about detectiving if I had my own. There have also been some significant changes on the street. The old gym that used to be owned by Mardy Hampton was sold, and the new owners tore down the old building and are constructing a new one. I heard Jack say they were hoping to have it up and running by early spring. Jack has been talking about getting out of the neighbourhood for a time because he can’t sleep well with all the banging going on. Personally, I can sleep through most anything, but the 24-hour noise is starting to get to me, too.At first, I thought Jack was going to move us completely out of the neighbourhood, but was relieved when I saw him just packing for a camping trip in his old campervan. I knew he wouldn’t leave me behind since I accompanied him most places now. I won’t bore you with the details of our month-long excursion through Northern Ontario because it isn’t relevant to the story that is going to unfold in the pages to follow. Enough introductions. You know who I am now and you will be hearing more from me as the story of what happened during the summer of 2009 on the street where I live unfolds.

266 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 13, 2019

About the author

Report cards regularly trumpeted Mary M. Cushnie-Mansour as a daydreamer. Teachers felt if she paid more attention in class, her marks would be better. Little did they know what was going on in her mind. From a young age, all Mary wanted to do was write, and write she did. Through elementary school, high school, and into her early 20's she wrote poetry, short stories, plays, and songs. For a time, though, Mary let life get in the way of her passion, and it wasn't until she was in her mid-thirties when she returned to university that the flame re-ignited. While studying Forms of Fantasy - J. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings,: " Mary began writing again, pumping out poetry, children's stories, short stories, and the beginning seeds of what would become the "Night's Vampire Series." Mary also enjoys writing mysteries, and has penned the "Detective Toby Mysteries."
Mary loves John Grisham's books and has every one of them. She also reads authors like Ted Dekker, Sidney Sheldon, Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, Joy Fielding, John Saul, Nicholas Sparks, Sandra Brown,Jodi Picoult, and Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. These are just a few of the authors Mary reads on a regular basis, and usually, she writes a book review on each of the books she finishes.

In the 90s Mary wrote several children's stories and mysteries that were left sitting on the shelves for far too long. Mary is happy to announce that she dusted many of these stories off and has published nine bilingual children's books, several children's picture books, youth novels, and short story and poetry collections. Mary has also written a vampire series and a detective series.

In 1991, Mary registered a publishing company - Cavern of Dreams Publishing - through which she published not only her works but helped other writers realize their dreams. She collaborated closely with an editing and illustrating staff and in January 2017, Mary turned the company over to her Editor-in-Chief so she could spend more time with her personal writing.

Mary's motto in life is to pursue your dreams no matter what life throws at you - it is never too late to "become."

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of this authors books,which are all very good and real page Turner's. I thought I would check out the teen bookshelf wrote to review it before I gave it to my grand daughter. It was just as good as the afult ones I read. I highly recommend this book. All through the book Emma and Camden are have struggles with life but it becomes clear how bad it can really be.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received this book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway.

I chose to read this book because it is about an orange cat named Toby who is known for his detective skills. I love cats and happen to have an orange cat named Toby - so it seemed like a book I should read. I enjoyed the cats perspective and found that view fairly comical and enjoyable and would probably have given the book three stars, but the mystery was really mysterious or a surprise and I really didn’t love the ending.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading a book where the cat is a detective. Toby is an amazing cat. He can understand human speech and even can tell what a person is thinking from facial expressions. Now all he has to do is get his human to understand him.

[Karen J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about Toby - a large orange cat with a flair for solving crimes. When Camden and his twin sister Emma move next door, Toby is immediately suspicious. He doesn't like Camden and thinks he is up to no good. Emma on the other hand he thinks is sweet. Toby lives with retired detective Jack Nelson. When a series of deaths in the community make it appear there could be a serial killer, can Toby and Jack solve the case before it is too late and someone else dies? I loved the character of Toby. He reminds me of other cats that I have owned. The story started a little slow but I really got into it by the time I was about a third of the way through it. I can't wait to read the next book and see what kind of trouble Toby gets into next.