Tag Archives: animal books

Book reviews with Yoshi the Cat

yoshi reading
Hello people! Yoshi here with another cat-related book review. Today we take a look at “Somerset the Cat’s Belgrade Mysteries: The Case of old Mrs Popovich.” http://www.amazon.com/Somerset-Cats-Belgrade-Mysteries-Popovic-ebook/dp/B008ZNQU80/ref=asap_B00QJW4R8E?ie=UTF8. Before I get into the book review I should mention that I happen to be a strictly indoor cat. I’ve seen Michigan and Ohio and that’s all I’m ever likely to see, so I do most of my travelling through reading. I love visiting modern day Botswana in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books or Victorian London in a Sherlock Holmes story so a book that takes me to Belgrade, Yugoslavia is a treat. And Belgrade is prominently featured in this tale of a cat who decides to investigate a murder. Somerset the cat is an overweight orange cat whose person has decided that he needs to go on a diet (Sidenote: Is there some kind of stereotype about food obsessed, obese orange cats? The previous book I reviewed featured a sausage crazed ginger cat and then of course, there’s Garfield. As a black cat, I consider myself sensitive to cat related tropes but I’ve never heard of this one. The only orange cat I know certainly doesn’t fit this stereotype. My partner Gatsby is lean, fast moving and only eats enough to keep him going.) Anyway Somerset comes across a human crime and decides to investigate. As a fellow feline detective, I have to say that Somerset’s investigative technique was flawless.

The Case of Old Mrs. Popovich

The Case of Old Mrs. Popovich

Somerset’s second adventure is titled The Vagabond. http://www.amazon.com/Somerset-Cats-Belgrade-Mysteries-Vagabond-ebook/dp/B00PKN85YK/ref=asap_B00QJW4R8E?ie=UTF8 In this one Somerset’s owner places him on a strict diet and the only relief he gets is the food given to him by a local vagrant. When Somerset finds the man murdered, he sets out to find the killer. This is a longer tale than the first adventure and goes a bit deeper into the local flavor of Belgrade while also exploring Somerset’s relationship with his owner. There’s also a well done action sequence towards the end of the story.

The Vagabond

The Vagabond

These stories aren’t so much mysteries as they’re cat detective procedurals as we follow Somerset investigating human crimes in ways that only a cat could. Both books get my recommendation.

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Petectives: Under Fire playlist

Gatsby with his favorite book

Gatsby with his favorite book

A list of songs that I listened to while writing my cat mystery novel, Petectives: Under Fire. Some of the songs have a strong thematic link to the story, while others helped me set a scene or get into the heads of the characters. The story takes place on the Fourth of July during a heat wave so there’s lots of music related to the summertime and hot weather.

Heat Wave – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

Hot Fun in the Summertime – Sly and the Family Stone

Stoned Soul Picnic – Swing Out Sister

Summer in the City – Lovin’ Spoonful: When you hear this song it immediately evokes the feel of a sweltering hot summer day.

Little Willy – The Sweet: According to Wikipedia, this song is about a stray cat that hung around the garage where the band members practiced.

New Age Girl – Deadeye Dick: I was listening to this song when I wrote the chapter featuring the character, Sunshine the hippie tortoiseshell cat.

Fire – Ohio Players

Lies – Jonathan Butler

Gimme Some Lovin’ – Sam and Dave: Somehow I’ve always heard this song as “Gimme Summer Lovin’”.

Why Can’t We Be Friends? – War

In the Summertime – Shaagy featuring Rayvon: Reggae/Rap reworking of the Mungo Jerry classic.

Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran

I’ll Take You There – BeBe and CeCe Winans

Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players: That’s right, there’s two Ohio Players songs on this playlist!

Will It Go Round In Circles? – Billy Preston

Summertime – Billy Stewart

Walk Us Uptown – Elvis Costello and the Roots

Summer Breeze – Isley Brothers

Bang Bang – David Sanborn

Book Reviews with Yoshi the Cat

yoshi reading

Hello people! Yoshi here with a review of a cat-related book.

ginger

This week we’re looking at Ginger the Gangster Cat by Frank Kusy. We decided to buy this Kindle e book based on nothing more than the picture of the tough cat on the cover and it was worth it. Ginger is an amoral orange cat with a thick cockney accent who scams his way into the home of a Brit couple and their adorable yet wimpy kitten, Sparky. From there the book launches into a series of episodes about Ginger and Sparky’s misadventures. The book was just about as funny as the cover. Urban cat tales were mixed with stories of exotic past lives until the two themes blended at the end. Ginger’s personality of a rough hewn cat with a deeply buried heart of gold played well against the naïve but intelligent Sparky. As a fellow feline, I can’t say that I endorse any of the tactics that Ginger employs to get what he wants but if you’re looking for an entertaining read I highly recommend this book.

Coming soon:

The latest book in the Petectives series:

Petectives: Under Fire – It’s the 4th of July and the Petectives are feeling the heat! In the midst of a sweltering heat wave, feline detectives Yoshi and Gatsby get word that an old enemy is back and running a protection racket in their neighborhood. When an attack lands Gatsby’s girlfriend in the veterinary hospital, he gets hot under the collar but it may take Yoshi’s cool logic to shut down a gang of animal criminals and clear a dog from a horrible accusation. The Petectives are back and there’s going to be fireworks!

Petectives is free today!

Free feline fiction for Labor Day! If you have a Kindle or the Kindle app and you’re in the mood for some cat literature please click on the link at the right and check out “Petectives”.

Book description:
PECTECTIVES
It’s almost Halloween and cat detectives Yoshi and Gatsby are up to their collars in mystery in this humorous whodunnit for pet lovers. When Gatsby and Yoshi decide to help a pretty young cat find her missing brother, what starts as a routine missing pet investigation soon pits them against both a gang of vicious criminal pit bulls as well as the neighborhood dog police, who are looking into rumors of dogfights. While Gatsby’s up to his whiskers in danger and romance, Yoshi’s putting together the pieces of a puzzle that could rock their community. Can the boys find a missing cat and shut down a dogfighting operation while staying two steps ahead of the local dog police? It’s all in a night’s work for the Petectives!
An 18,000 word mystery novella.

Petectives Profiles #3 Duke

A closer look at the characters in the Petectives stories
Duke is an entirely fictional character
• Duke is the leader of the Dog Patrol, an informal canine police force dedicated to keeping order in the neighborhood.
• 7 years old. Black and tan German Shepherd. 85 pounds. Disciplined, intelligent, honorable and somewhat cynical.
• Duke served as a police dog until he was injured in the line of duty
• Avid TV watcher – Duke’s favorite show is ‘The Littlest Hobo’, a show about a hyperintelligent German Shepherd who travels from town to town helping people and catching criminals.
• Duke has a gruff demeanor but he’s mostly friendly with Gatsby. Duke is not so friendly with Yoshi – he finds him to be arrogant and pretentious. Duke and Yoshi do have a history of working together before Gatsby was born and they both have a deeply hidden mutual respect for one another.
• Personal feelings aside, Duke respects Yoshi’s intelligence and Gatsby’s investigatory skills and would love for them to join the Dog Patrol but all three of them realize that cats wouldn’t be likely to follow his orders. He grudgingly agrees to work with them when necessary.