Golden Age of Detective Fiction

This week, I’ll be reviewing a selection of cat-themed short stories and books for #ReadingtheMeow2025. Most of my picks are from the Golden Age of Mystery fiction, which is set between the two world wars.

You can learn more about how to participate or learn more about what I’ll be reviewing this week by checking out my introductory post here.

Thank you to Literary Potpourri for hosting #ReadingtheMeow again this year.

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Introduction

Today, I’m reviewing a full-length book that’s sure to pique your interest: Murder at the Cat Show by Marian Babson. This book, unlike my previous reviews of short stories, delves into a captivating mystery set in the world of cat shows.

You may be familiar with Babson’s unique charm in her numerous cat-themed books such as To Catch a Cat, The Company of Cats, The Diamond Cat, or, Only The Cat Knows. or from her Trixie Dolan and Evangeline Sinclair cat themed mystery series, or her other cat-themed mystery series: The Brimful Coffers, or her other, other cat-themed series: Perkins at Tate.

(What I’m saying is… You could read only Marian Babson’s work for several Reading the Meows.)

Murder at the Cat Show, the second book in her Perkins and Tate series, is a delightful blend of mystery and humor. It features intrepid British public relations firm publicists working with their favorite type of client: celebrities. Except, these are cat celebrities, which adds a whole new layer of humor, especially for Perkins, who isn’t a cat lover.

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The Plot:

Perkins and Tate are hired to do the publicity for “Cats through the Ages,” a prestigious cat show held in the heart of London. The story revolves around a selection of rarefied celebrity cats: commercial cats, movie star cats, cats of excellent breeding and pedigree, along with their eclectic, neurotic, and overly protective stage parents. The cats play a significant role in the plot, vying for center stage and top billing, which adds an interesting dynamic to the story.

Pandora, the on-site cat show organizer’s cat, is instantly smitten with Not-A-Cat-Guy Perkins, but her owner, Mrs. Chesne-Malvern, and Perkins do not get along from the start. Perkins decides to give Mrs. Chesne-Malvern a wide berth, keep his head down, and get his paycheck at the end of the event.

To be fair to Mrs. Chesne-Malvern, there are a lot of cats and people to wrangle, and she also booked two giant and very dangerous tigers, Thisbe and Pyramus, as the main attraction for the cat show. The tigers, caged and under the watchful eye of their handler Carlotta, have put everyone, cat and human alike, a little on edge. If cats are the kings and queens of the jungle, who will come out on top at this cat show filled to bursting with egos and primal instinct?

Not long into the setup of the event, the winner’s prize, a gold Dick Whittington statue with gleaming emerald eyes, is stolen, and the hired security guard is knocked out. Thinking there’s a sticky-fingered thief on the loose and that they might get a bigger payday if they recover the statue, sometimes private sleuths, Perkins and Tate, go on the prowl to find the statue.

However, the ante is raised when Mrs. Chesne-Malvern is killed and her body is stuffed into one of the tiger’s cages. Perkins and Tate can’t help but notice that nobody is mourning the events organizer; the claws are coming out as everyone blames someone else for wishing her dead.

Poor little Pandora, now without an owner, soon becomes the responsibility of Not-A-Cat-Guy Perkins, who has to learn the ins and outs of taking care of a cat as he tries to clear the good name of the tigers and dodge the police, who are afraid of cats, seemingly in every form.

Who killed Mrs. Chesne-Malvern, and why? It’s up to Perkins and Tate to solve these mysteries and more before the cat show ends.

It is a jungle at the cat show.

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The Review

Murder at the Cat Show is so delighfully campy and over the top. All of the cats: from warm, and nuturing, Mother Brown, to the rarefied and lonely Pandora, to the pretty and vacous Silver Fir are so hilariously crafted and interesting characters that it would be easy for Babson to phone in her characterizations for their humans, but each one is experty- and hilariously written as neurotic or vapid, or cantakerous, that the begining of the book is almost overwhelming as I got to know the different personalities in the book.

The reader stays in the world of the cat show for a long time- we meet the cats, their owners, their fans, kids breaking into the show, the vendors, who sell products which are marketed to fantical cat owners, and the staff of the event all through the eyes of Perkins- who makes sure to iterate and reiterate that he is not-a-cat-guy, and think this whole cat centric world is insane.

(Except, the cat Pandora is cute. But that doesn’t mean anything!)

We are embedded in the world of the cat show for a significant portion of the book, meeting the cats, their owners, their fans, kids breaking into the show, the vendors, and the staff of the event all through the eyes of Perkins. The mystery doesn’t kick in until chapter nine, with very little of the story to go. So if you like your mysteries to start with a bang and most of the story to be devoted to investigation, this book might not be for you.

Murder at the Cat Show is foremost a book about a cat show and the zany behavior of its participants, and the mystery thread is scant. It’s a fairly predictable solve, but a fun, if not challenging mystery. The predictability of the plot provides a sense of reassurance, knowing that the story will unfold in a familiar and enjoyable way. Babson makes up for any deficiencies in the mystery by having a rather intense and action-packed reveal of the murderer starring the tigers: Thisbe and Pyramus.

While Murder at the Cat Show is marketed as a mystery, it’s really about cats. Cat personalities, cat owners, and is full of hilarious cat puns, and ridiculous cat products. The emotional core of the book doesn’t come from the mystery, but rather Perkins, Not-A-Cat-Guy, realizing…that he might be a cat guy!

Murder at the Cat Show ends with a warm and fuzzy, ahem, furry resolution worthy of a Hallmark movie. 

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Final Thoughts

Do you like cats? Are you in the mood to read a feel-good story with lots of obviously ridiculous characters? Are you in the market for a book chock-full of cat puns and fast-paced dialogue? Are you in the mood for a sideshow of murder?

Then, Murder at the Cat Show is a purr-fect read for you.

At only 187 pages, Murder at the Cat Show certainly packs a lot in, and I was enjoying myself so much that it was a little sad to leave the raucous cat show and come back to real life.

However, I cuddled my loving Norwegian Forest Cat, Zara, and remembered that cats in books are great, but nothing replaces the real thing!