Cat on the Edge

A Joe Grey Mystery, Book 1

By: Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Narrated by: Susan Boyce

First the large, powerful feline discovers that, through some strange, inexplicable phenomenon, he now has the ability to understand human language. Then he discovers he can speak it as well! It’s a nightmare for a cat who’d prefer to sleep the day away carefree, but Joe can handle it. That is, until he has the misfortune to witness a murder in the alley behind Jolly’s Deli - and worse, to be seen witnessing it. With all of his nine lives suddenly at risk, Joe’s got no choice but to get to the bottom of the heinous crime - because his mouse-hunting days are over for good unless he can help bring a killer to justice.

©1996 Shirley Rousseau Murphy (P)2013 AudioGO

Good first story.

I was iffy at first but folklore was introduced which changed my thought of silliness to you never know with folklore. Tommy Knocker to Fairies to cats. Look forward to the other books.

Wonderful creative book

It's a clever book. I loved this book. it is written from a cat's perspective. Maybe you need to be an animal lover. or have you ever wondered what cats think? well here it is... .I loved the fanciful ideas from the first few sentences. they're like teasers to your imagination. the author described thoughts that a cat may think versus human thoughts. it is clever and ingenious. Other authors have tried but this writer gets you hooked with the first 3 or 4 lines. As you listen, the paragraphs pull you in as she elaborates on the Joe Grey, the cat's views of his human. As time goes on the cat's ideas are funny, how he describes his owner's behavior - the cat does not want to be human... he's happy as a feline 🐈

not my taste

This Story is not my type of story. it was just a little to unreal for me.

Cute

I listened to this thinking I wanted something surface that I could listen to while I sewed. And it was exactly that, it was cute and kept my attention. I would listen to another one. It wasn’t real in depth or anything so you could follow along while doing something else easily

Talking, Shape Shifting Cats

What fun to discover this series! Joe Grey, a tom cat, belonging to Clyde Damon was the unfortunate witness to a murder behind the deli near their house. The phenomenon immediately caused Joe to be able to speak, read and write HUMAN language! Unbeknownst to Joe, another cat, Dulcie, has also witnessed the crime. Dulcie belongs to Clyde’s friend, Wilma Getz. And worst of all, the murderer saw the two cats . . . and he KNOWS!!! He understands their secret . . . but how??? This weirdly wonderful tale and the perfect narration by Susan Boyce is escapism at its best! Joy Grey calls Clyde on the phone and tells him that he’s on the run and will come home when he can. Of course, Clyde thinks he’s going nuts. Joe Grey and Dulcie stay one step ahead of the murderer, whilst trying to discover the motive, when they discover ANOTHER cat . . . but this one has the ability to SHAPE SHIFT! I am not usually a fan of the outlandish, but this book . . . and series is an exception . . . I’m not at all sure that I’d feel that way if I were reading it in print, but the Audible version is not to be missed . . . what a ride! Don’t miss it! This listen is for adults, but not overly explicit! Crime solving cats. Can’t wait for the next book.

good story

ood story, very nice voice reading it, different from what I normally read, but fun with twists and turns

Excellent story

Loved this book- a super fun listen- can’t wait to listen to the next book in the series

A mystery featuring cats

I enjoyed this book very much.
Talking cats try to solve a murder mystery, saving their skin and protecting their human friend. I listened to the book because it’s in the free audiobook catalog and my expectation for it was not that high. However, I found it a rather pleasant surprise. A cute and interesting mystery, and I would like to recommend it.

me - wow

loved it
as a cat lover it hit home
can't wait to read the next one

A cat turns detective

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.