Cats and Curios Mystery Series

In the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of How to Paint a Cat, there are choppy waters ahead…

A serial killer with a peculiar penchant for City Hall interns is on the loose in San Francisco, and it’s up to me—and my two cats, Rupert and Isabella—to put a stop to the spree. Unfortunately, worrying about my uncle Oscar’s failing health and assisting with the interim mayor’s America’s Cup regatta doesn’t leave me with much opportunity to chase down clues.

Could the key to apprehending the killer be found in San Francisco’s sailing history? The first European vessel to pass through the Golden Gate contained a familiar cast of human—and feline—passengers as well as an elusive killer who used a similar murder weapon. Will the past catch up to the present in time to crack the case?

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

San Francisco isn’t the biggest city in the country, but it feels pretty vast when you’re canvassing its neighborhoods looking for clues to your missing uncle’s hidden location. Aided by my two cats, Rupert and Isabella, I try to follow Uncle Oscar’s painted clues on a trail that leads from Coit Tower’s famous murals through San Francisco’s New Deal art—all while hoping my uncle’s sudden disappearance is unrelated to the murdered intern at City Hall.

Just when it seems our search has hit a wall, we receive some surprising help from beyond. But will it be enough to save us from our own brushes with death? Here’s hoping we don’t paint ourselves into a corner…

WHEN IS A WHITE ALLIGATOR A RED HERRING?

Okay, granted, an albino alligator on the loose in San Francisco is pretty darn exciting. But my two cats, Rupert and Isabella, and I have better things to do than tail a reptile from Nob Hill to Fisherman’s Wharf. We’re investigating the mysterious Steinhart brothers, the 1900s-era benefactors who provided the original funding for Clive the alligator’s aquarium. Follow the money, as my uncle Oscar used to say…
In the media circus surrounding Clive, one clown gets a little too close to the renegade gator—our very own aspiring mayor, Montgomery Carmichael. We’d hate to see Monty meet an undignified end, but we’re on a hunt of our own—for Uncle Oscar’s latest treasure. Of course, that’s assuming the whole thing isn’t a crock…

When Rupert the cat sniffs out a dusty green vase with a toy bear inside, his owner has no doubt this is another of her Uncle Oscar’s infamous clues to one of his valuable hidden treasures. Eager to put together the pieces of the puzzle, she’s soon heading to Nevada City with her two cats, having no idea that this road trip will put her life in danger.

When frogs begin appearing in the antiques shop Rebecca has inherited from her Uncle Oscar, her cats Rupert and Isabella instantly give chase. But why are frogs turning up in San Francisco’s City Hall building? And what does her late uncle’s mysterious note to “follow the frogs” mean?

Two cats are better than one…

First in an adorable new series!

A deceased uncle and a surprising inheritance propel a woman and her two very curious cats into the mystery surrounding his death.

An investigation that starts amid the curios and novelties of a San Francisco antiques shop follows a twisted trail of dangerous deception that leads all the way back to the days of the Gold Rush itself.