Joe Grey is a cat who has inexplicably found himself possessed of human-style intelligence and the capacity for human speech, although he doesn't like to do it in front of people. Then he witnesses a murder and has reason to believe someone is going to try to pin it on his human.

It's a really cute idea, but I have to say the execution just felt kind of... weird... to me. The author is prone to describing things, especially the cats, in this slightly over-done, almost flowery-feeling way that kept making me stop and wonder if it was meant to be some sort of self-parody. I don't think it was, though, which is kind of a shame, because I think this could have been really fun if it had leaned into the absurdity of its premise a little more and thrown in some humor.

It did still have an entertaining moment or two, and I like the author's spot-on observations about how normal cats communicate using body language, but mostly I think reading it just gave me lots of distracting thoughts of how I would have written everything in it differently. ( )

So this was a really cute book. Joe Grey is a cat, one night he witnessed a murder, around this same time he Joe also realized he can speak, think, read and totally comprehend the human language. Not just the normal kitty words but everything. And the murderer is after Joe and his girlfriend Dulcie who also saw the murder. The story progresses from there as the 2 cats have to hide and figure out what is going on. Of course they have to protect their humans too. ( )

So this was a really cute book. Joe Grey is a cat, one night he witnessed a murder, around this same time he Joe also realized he can speak, think, read and totally comprehend the human language. Not just the normal kitty words but everything. And the murderer is after Joe and his girlfriend Dulcie who also saw the murder. The story progresses from there as the 2 cats have to hide and figure out what is going on. Of course they have to protect their humans too. ( )

I read a lot of books that involve cats helping solve crimes. I love cats. I love reading mysteries. Why not combine the two? Out of all the books I've read that combine cats and murder, I have to say that this one is the most imaginative and original.

Joe Grey is a typical tom cat. He roams the streets looking for lady-cats, hunting for food and investigating his neighborhood. He naps in the sun and has a pretty great life, as cat's lives go, thanks to his owner, Clyde. One day, Joe's life is turned upside down when he suddenly has the power to understand human speech. Not only that, he can read, too. And, as if that wasn't enough, he can also talk. Before the shock of his new talents can even begin to wear off, Joe Grey witnesses a murder in an alleyway, and the murderer follows him home. Joe needs to investigate the case to protect his owner from the killer.

Readers definitely need to be able to suspend reality for this book. The concept was cute enough for me to be able to temporarily believe that a cat could suddenly have the power to speak and read. Why not? :) It made for a fun read. The plot was a bit predictable....but I'm willing to let that go because...well....talking cats. :)

There are 17 books in the Joe Grey Mystery Series. I don't know if I will read them all, but I will definitely be reading more in this series! Readers who enjoy mysteries, and who also love cats, should definitely try this series.

My rating: 7/10
Ages: 10 ( )

Joe Grey is a cat who has been through a lot of changes in the last week or two. He can suddenly understand human language. Sitting with his human, Clyde, while Clyde reads out loud to him, he finds he can even read the words on the page.

That's unsettling enough. Then he discovers he can speak human language.

Joe does not regard this as a Great Step Forward. It's very upsetting to him. He likes being a cat. Clyde's human friends are a lot more annoying, now that he can understand their conversation--entirely focused on things cats consider trivial.

But he might have found ways to appreciate these changes, with some time. Instead, he and one of his cat friends, Dulcie, who has experienced the same changes, witness the murder of a business associate of Clyde's. And the killer sees them. Not only sees them, but apparently realizes that they can tell what they've seen--that they are witnesses who matter.

They each go home, Joe to Clyde and Dulcie to Wilma, but it's not long before they both realize the killer knows where they live. They're on the run, and they need to solve the crime if they are ever going to be able to be safe again.

They start investigating, and discover the human world is ridiculously complicated. Clyde runs a service garage in space he rents from a car dealership, and part of the deal is providing service to the dealership's cars. He connected with the owner of the dealership originally through an old school acquaintance, Jimmy Osborn, who is employed as the manager. Jimmy is married to Kate, whom Clyde really likes, and is friendlier with than Jimmy, but, you know, married to Jimmy. The owner of the dealership, Samuel Beckwhite, is the man who was murdered. He was married to Sheril, who has been having an affair with Jimmy. Jimmy has a connection with Lee whose last name I won't even guess at the spelling of. (I listened to the audiobook.) Lee is Welsh, and he grew up listening to all sorts of Welsh stories about cats, which, yes, is highly relevant to events.

This book was first published in 1996, and in some respects it shows its age. It's trivial that this is set some years before cellphones were everywhere, and this piece of tech we take for granted comes up only in passing, near the end, as something the mayor thinks is too fancy and expensive for the police, who could really use them. More annoying for the current reader will be he fact that there's some lazy stereotyping, the slut-shaming of Sheril, and the Latino waiter who doesn't speak English too good. Kate is a housewife, making Jimmy's home beautiful and a good showplace for his success.This was still pretty normal for the time, and Wilma, for instance, has a very different background. It's still a bit jarring for today's readers, though. I will say, in Kate's and Murphy's defense, when push comes to shove, she proves to be no spineless pushover.

I enjoyed this. It's a lot of fun. It does have some flaws, though, and won't be for everyone.

I bought this audiobook. ( )