Stable Cat

The lead cat, Mycroft (aka Big Mike), a 25-pound Abyssinian named after Sherlock Holmes's older brother, is just one of several anthropomorphic creatures who hold center stage in this busy caper set in small but continually seething Empty Creek, Ariz. Horse trainer Jack Loomis has been shot and killed, and his employer's prize Arabian stallion has been abducted. The news of the horsenapping moves the town to grief; the murder of the trainer, who had a reputation for cruelty to animals, inspires mixed emotions. Penelope Warren, outgoing proprietress of a prospering mystery bookstore, has spent four years in the Marine Corps and is an honorary member of Empty Creek's police department. As she is drawn into the case, she brings along Big Mike, who has his own ideas about how to play good-cat/bad-cat with the suspects. Penelope soon discovers that Loomis and Maryanne Melrose, the ranch owner's wife, had been lovers, and that some newcomers to Empty Creek are not what they seem to be. Then there is another killing-exactly like the first. A crew of richly drawn and voluble town characters add opinions and-even better-fresh gossip to the investigation, keeping the proceedings lighthearted. Cats, dogs and horses contribute insights to this tale in which everybody, whether on two legs or four, appears to be in rut. (June)