Murder at the Cat Show (Paperback)

Douglas Perkins is a public relations official for London's prestigious Cats Through the Ages Exhibition. He is indifferent towards the critters, but has every intention of doing his best for his client, the overbearing Rose Chesne-Malvern. Perkins watches the exhibitors as they set up their booths, including those of a kitty litter marketer, the "court" of a TV commercial cat, and a display of two live adult Sumatran tigers. He notices the different ways they each interact with their animals and other exhibitors. Things run rather smoothly at the show until one of its more valuable exhibits is stolen. He then finds this is one job where his agency is really going to work hard for its public relations fee.

It is absolutely brilliant how well Author Marian Babson renders the personalities of all the different cats in her 1972 novel. Among some of the more illustrious feline characters are Pandora the Endearing, Precious Black Jade the Vicious, and Silver Fur the Stupid. Even the tigers are convincingly portrayed. This is obviously someone who has had a lot of experience around cats and shows incredible talent for distinguishing them in fiction.

The protagonist's character growth is stronger here than demonstrated in many other stories of the genre, which comes out through its love story subplot. After Perkins spends one night with his new lover, he is incredibly protective of her. When he's at a point of losing her, we see a life-changing moment.

Babson's prose is crisp and keeps interest. Her style is "sensuous" and without any waste. If criticism must be made, this reviewer noticed Perkins initiates very little of the action until the climax. He's more of an observer watching the conflicts unravel instead of actively investigating himself. On the other hand, the sequence comes together well and with good humor. If the novel is entertaining regardless, is this really a big deal?

MURDER AT THE CAT SHOW makes no pretensions at being a "serious" mystery genre story, but Babson's crafting is nonetheless superb. Readers who like cats will find this short novel a warm and fuzzy high.