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A Perkins & Tate Mystery #2
Murder at the Cat Show
Attempts by the public relations firm of Perkins and Tate to publicize a combination cat show and cat art exhibit are jeopardized by the pilfering of a valuable sculpture fo Dick Whittington's cat, followed by the gruesome murder of the show organizer. Reprint.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Marian Babson
70 books77 followersMarian Babson, a pseudonym for Ruth Stenstreem, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, but lived in London for the greater part of her life.
She worked as a librarian; managed a campaign headquarters; was a receptionist, secretary, and den mother to a firm of commercial artists; and was co-editor of a machine knitting magazine, despite the fact that she can’t knit, even with two needles.
A long sojourn as a temp sent her into the heart of business life all over London, working for architects, law firms, the British Museum, a Soho club, and even a visiting superstar.
She also served as secretary to the Crime Writers’ Association. She became a full-time writer whose many interests included theatre, cinema, art, cooking, travel, and, of course, cats, which feature in many of her mystery books. Her first published work was 'Cover-Up Story' in 1971 and 'Only the Cat' (2007) was her 44th novel.
The publisher's tagline for her style is "Murder Most British," a style reflected in each of her novels. Any violence is not graphically described and the sleuths are usually amateurs.
She re-used certain characters, such as the publicity firm Perkins & Tate, and a couple of ageing actresses, her books all stand-alone and can be read in any order.
Gerry Wolstenholme
September 2010
She worked as a librarian; managed a campaign headquarters; was a receptionist, secretary, and den mother to a firm of commercial artists; and was co-editor of a machine knitting magazine, despite the fact that she can’t knit, even with two needles.
A long sojourn as a temp sent her into the heart of business life all over London, working for architects, law firms, the British Museum, a Soho club, and even a visiting superstar.
She also served as secretary to the Crime Writers’ Association. She became a full-time writer whose many interests included theatre, cinema, art, cooking, travel, and, of course, cats, which feature in many of her mystery books. Her first published work was 'Cover-Up Story' in 1971 and 'Only the Cat' (2007) was her 44th novel.
The publisher's tagline for her style is "Murder Most British," a style reflected in each of her novels. Any violence is not graphically described and the sleuths are usually amateurs.
She re-used certain characters, such as the publicity firm Perkins & Tate, and a couple of ageing actresses, her books all stand-alone and can be read in any order.
Gerry Wolstenholme
September 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
August 27, 2019
Just had to reread this when I saw it has finally been reissued in ebook. As delightful as the first time read and each other time. Even though this being a cozy the murder mystery is very thin, the setting and characters make up for it. My favorite is all the cat personalities, from beautiful empty headed star to tough guy Tom, and the whole cat show scene.
March 19, 2022
Murder at the Cat Show is an exceptional cat themed cozy whodunit thaf breaks the formula a bit. The main character, Doug Perkins, runs a PR firm with his friend, Gerry Tate. And end up doing the PR for a cat show/exhibition event. The crowning jewels are a solid gold statue done in the likeness of one one of the exhibitioners cat's, and two live tigers. Of course the organizer of the event is no peach to work with. So when she turns up dead in the tiger cage. No tears are shed.
May 7, 2020
This book was a cat lover's delight. I hadn't read the first book in the series, but I had absolutely no problems figuring out the characters. For once, the main character wasn't trying to do the police's job of solving the crimes. He was simply reporting on the investigation.
August 1, 2020
Much better than the first in the series. Unlike the first installment, where almost no one was likable, in this book, all but the ultimate villain seemed at least slightly endearing. And of course, what's not to like with cats?
January 20, 2022
This was too much fun. Perkins is a bit of an ass but I am all about stories where Not A Cat guy falls head over heels for a cats. There is a murder mystery! Our main character doesn't solve it, it's kinda like watching the mystery getting solved from a minor suspect's POV. Ridiculous and fun!
November 8, 2018
Very good. Not so much for the mystery elements, but it is a perfect rendering of how someone becomes interested in cats.
March 15, 2024
Perkins & Tate is a struggling Public Relations firm. "Struggling" may be too kind a description
Now they have been asked to do the Public Relations for a special cat show, in London. Its theme is "Cats Through The Ages" There are half a dozen celebrity cats, all of whom are working - making money for their owners. They are in a row with a gold statute based on Dick Whittington's Cat (solid gold with emerald eyes) and an ancient statute of Bastet, the Egyptian Cat God, at one end and a pair of Siberian Tigers at the other end. That's in addition, of course, to the regular cat show with all the judges, ribbons, competitors and three kids who are trying desperately to get into the show.
The cast of characters is certainly entertaining, Not all of them are human, either. Doug Perkins is the firm's on-site representative. He and the show organizer's cat, Pandora, quickly become attached. Mrs. Chesne-Malvern, Pandora's owner, doesn't approve and tells Doug to leave Pandora alone. Doug Perkins might accept this - after all, she's the one writing the checks - but Pandora doesn't care what that woman says. Want a list of the humans and their cat? It's more fun to let you find them as the story goes along.
Then the gold cat is stolen. The next day Mrs. Chesne-Malvern is murdered and her body shoved into the cage with the tigers. The security guard is attacked and left in a coma. Then just to keep things on an uneven keel, the police inspector handling the case dislikes and is afraid of cats.
In the end it's tigers who get the proper revenge for the theft, the murder of Mrs. Chesne-Malvern and the attack on the guard. The cat owners find themselves becoming friends, the cats are content and the kids reclaim Champ - the Manx that one exhibitor claims for his own. Satisfactory.
Now they have been asked to do the Public Relations for a special cat show, in London. Its theme is "Cats Through The Ages" There are half a dozen celebrity cats, all of whom are working - making money for their owners. They are in a row with a gold statute based on Dick Whittington's Cat (solid gold with emerald eyes) and an ancient statute of Bastet, the Egyptian Cat God, at one end and a pair of Siberian Tigers at the other end. That's in addition, of course, to the regular cat show with all the judges, ribbons, competitors and three kids who are trying desperately to get into the show.
The cast of characters is certainly entertaining, Not all of them are human, either. Doug Perkins is the firm's on-site representative. He and the show organizer's cat, Pandora, quickly become attached. Mrs. Chesne-Malvern, Pandora's owner, doesn't approve and tells Doug to leave Pandora alone. Doug Perkins might accept this - after all, she's the one writing the checks - but Pandora doesn't care what that woman says. Want a list of the humans and their cat? It's more fun to let you find them as the story goes along.
Then the gold cat is stolen. The next day Mrs. Chesne-Malvern is murdered and her body shoved into the cage with the tigers. The security guard is attacked and left in a coma. Then just to keep things on an uneven keel, the police inspector handling the case dislikes and is afraid of cats.
In the end it's tigers who get the proper revenge for the theft, the murder of Mrs. Chesne-Malvern and the attack on the guard. The cat owners find themselves becoming friends, the cats are content and the kids reclaim Champ - the Manx that one exhibitor claims for his own. Satisfactory.
October 10, 2020
An unpretentious and genuinely fun whodunnit (except you sort of know who it was all along and just go along for the ride). The cat psychology was better than most animals-solve-crimes books. In this one cats care about attention and treats and leave other nuances to humans. The characters are fairly straight forward and the reader's sympathies duly elicited.
Some annoying gender stuff but kept light enough that it might have been irony. I'm open to reading more of these and I enjoyed every fur-centric, purring minute of my time reading this one. Also the man meets cat inevitable relationship was nicely played (even if I had mild niggles over some details of cat behaviour and "discipline")
Some annoying gender stuff but kept light enough that it might have been irony. I'm open to reading more of these and I enjoyed every fur-centric, purring minute of my time reading this one. Also the man meets cat inevitable relationship was nicely played (even if I had mild niggles over some details of cat behaviour and "discipline")
February 15, 2024
A fun little book! I like how the cats are as important of characters as the people. The mystery actually takes a bit of a backseat behind the personal interactions and character developments here, and our main character Perkins really doesn't do too much when it comes to investigating, but he still gets to witness everything going on so we as the reader can do the usual of coming up with our own ideas. I liked this one!
July 20, 2020
Abandoned at Chapter 7. The mystery was just starting, and another review says the murder doesn’t happen until Chapter 9. Not the best book to choose if you want a quick on-your-toes mystery. It also gets really confusing with which cat belongs to who and who the characters are. Not very likely to finish.
January 25, 2024
I bought this for 25 cents at the library book sale, only because of the cat on the cover. I was going to give it only 2 stars, but it's no one's fault that I decided to read it, so I decided on 3 stars. This is not a genre that I normally read (a cozy mystery), but if you like them, you might like this book.
August 15, 2018
An enjoyable, quick read. I guessed who-done-it early on, but the characters were amiable enough to keep me reading. It was well-paced, if a bit predictable. I enjoyed how he described the cats' behavior and personalities.
February 7, 2017
A cute little cozy with a jacket that is purrfection!
Library recommendation after I finished The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths.
Library recommendation after I finished The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths.
March 5, 2018
Hard to follow while listening on audio, but the narrator Steven Crossley is always entertaining.
January 12, 2019
哈哈哈哈哈哈猫奴养成，最后收了一只暹罗猫哈哈哈哈哈哈，猫真是太可爱了。
February 11, 2019
Audiobook performed by Steven Crossley
August 30, 2019
A light read that made me smile .
February 29, 2020
cute, these books are really cute.
May 6, 2020
Breezy little mystery..
Unfortunately not really to my taste. I prefer police procedural with quick murders. No one is murdered here until the ninth chapter.
Unfortunately not really to my taste. I prefer police procedural with quick murders. No one is murdered here until the ninth chapter.
December 31, 2020
This was what is called a cozy mystery and it was cute. The cats added to it.
July 29, 2021
Amusing cat owner characters and devastating moment when little Burmese mother cat challenges a tiger to defend her kittens. :)
September 21, 2022
4.0 Another fun light read
June 21, 2023
Great!
I really liked this one! I haven't read it before so it was a lot of fun. Definitely for car lovers.
I really liked this one! I haven't read it before so it was a lot of fun. Definitely for car lovers.
January 13, 2020
hardcover
January 16, 2023
Good fuzzy fun.
February 25, 2020
Fun animal mystery.
Don't you love it when the main character can be changed by an animal. In this book several special show cats. Their love and loyalty make this a good read.
Don't you love it when the main character can be changed by an animal. In this book several special show cats. Their love and loyalty make this a good read.
January 1, 2017
This book is terrible, but it's the kind of terrible that's all in good fun. The dialogue is hilarious, the setting for the crime is equally silly, and of course the ending is no surprise to anyone at all. I picked this book out of a free book bin in front of my local bookstore and I've been saving it all year to serve as the capstone for my 2016 reading challenge. Worth it!...but only because I got it for free.
May 24, 2020
I'd read a previous mystery by Marian Babson and enjoyed it very much. I found this ebook on sale and since I was familiar with her work, I glommed on to it.
I wasn't disappointed especially since I love cats.
The mystery takes place at a cat show were the protagonists are the PR firm hired to publicize the event. As anyone who has a cat or two knows, cats are their own people and I can't imagine having that many cats under one roof. Granted, most of them are used to this kind of life, but still, cat wrangling (especially at the end of the book) wasn't my idea of fun. But the book was fun and well worth reading. I'd definitely be interested in picking up more books in the series as long as I can get them on sale.
I give this book a solid Four stars! -- well worth reading and you'll have a great time at it!
I wasn't disappointed especially since I love cats.
The mystery takes place at a cat show were the protagonists are the PR firm hired to publicize the event. As anyone who has a cat or two knows, cats are their own people and I can't imagine having that many cats under one roof. Granted, most of them are used to this kind of life, but still, cat wrangling (especially at the end of the book) wasn't my idea of fun. But the book was fun and well worth reading. I'd definitely be interested in picking up more books in the series as long as I can get them on sale.
I give this book a solid Four stars! -- well worth reading and you'll have a great time at it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews