To Catch a Cat

In this suspenseful psychological thriller, British veteran Babson eerily portrays the workings of terrified and obsessed minds. Anxious to impress the boys at his new school, 11-year-old Robin agrees to sneak into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Nordling and steal their pedigreed Norwegian Forest cat, Leif Eriksson. After grabbing the cat, Robin overhears a heated argument between the Nordlings. Then Nils, the husband, staggers out of the bedroom, his wife Ingrid's blood on his naked body. Robin flees and, uncomfortable with the relatives he's living with while his mother and her new husband honeymoon, keeps the fact he's witnessed a murder--and taken the cat--to himself. Nils knows he was seen, but not the witness's identity. Pretending to be a grieving widower whose wife has been killed by burglars, he seeks to find and silence the witness. All the while, Nils has to wonder whether the missing feline will prove his undoing. Meanwhile, Robin sees his chances of escaping without suspicion of theft, if not murder, vanishing rapidly. Babson weaves her separate threads into a tight plot, alternating between the sympathetic Robin and the horrid Nils. A swift and sure climax leads to a clever and satisfying resolution. Babson's established name, together with a December release date and eye-catching cat cover, should ensure good sales. (Dec. 14)