Kate Carlisle | The Mysterious Appeal of Cats

Next time you visit the mystery section at your favorite bookstore, count the number of books that have cats on the covers. Although it might be easier to count the ones that don't. There has been a cat on the cover of every one of my Bibliophile Mysteries. And my Fixer-Upper Mysteries, too! And now there's a cat on the cover of my latest book, RIPPED FROM THE PAGES. Well… a kitten. The same kitten that appeared on the cover of THE BOOK STOPS HERE last year because finally, Brooklyn Wainwright has a cat of her very own. Charlie (aka Charlemagne Cupcake Wainwright Stone, a weighty name for something so tiny and cute).

Cats and cozy mysteries seem to go together, and I think it's because cats are both
mysterious and cozy. They don't express themselves as openly and as enthusiastically
as dogs do. Their love is not automatic—you have to earn it. You have to prove
yourself worthy of being allowed the honor of petting a cat.

Once you do win the love of a cat, that's where the "cozy" part comes in. Can there
be anything cozier than sitting in a comfy chair to read a good book, with a cat
curled up in your lap? Their purr is hypnotic and almost magically disperses the
stresses of the day.

I'm going to have fun watching little Charlie grow up, and I hope readers will, too. Although the books are published about a year apart, much less time passes in Brooklyn's world between books, which means that although Charlie was first introduced two years ago, she's still just a kitten. Here's a snippet from RIPPED FROM THE PAGES so you can see how Charlie reacts the first time she meets a dog face-to-face.

My parents’ next-door neighbors, the Quinlans, generously offered up their gorgeous French-style cottage for our use. They were off to Europe for three months. We offered to pay them rent, but all they required from us was that we take good care of their golden retriever, Maggie.

Once we were unpacked and exploring the kitchen, Derek and I watched Maggie and
Charlie sniff and circle each other for a few minutes. Finally, they seemed to agree
that they could live in peace together. At least, I hoped so. Maggie ambled over to
her bed and settled herself down on the fluffy surface. Charlie followed right behind
her, clambered up and perched directly on Maggie’s big paw. Maggie stared at the tiny
creature for a long moment and I prepared myself to whisk the cat away. But then
Maggie let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. Charlie snuggled up against the big
dog’s soft, warm fur and was asleep several seconds later.

Derek and I exchanged smiles. I had a feeling we would all be very happy here.

And now here I was, sitting in my mother’s kitchen on a bright, Monday morning, drinking coffee with Robin and listening as my mother tried to brush past the fact that I did indeed have an alarming tendency to come upon dead bodies in the strangest places. Luckily, that wasn’t likely to happen in Dharma anytime soon.

Are you a cat person or a dog person (or both)? Share a cute story about a pet in
your life.

About Kate Carlisle

New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle is a native Californian who worked in television production for many years before turning to writing. A lifelong fascination with the art and craft of bookbinding led her to write the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. Her latest book is RIPPED FROM THE PAGES, available now in hardcover and ebook. KateCarlisle.com | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

About RIPPED FROM THE PAGES

When book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright temporarily relocates to her
parents’ place in Northern California, she finds that wooden barrels aren’t the only
things buried in the wine caves of Sonoma….

Excited to explore the secrets of wine country, Brooklyn attends an excavation of the
caves hidden deep under her parents’ commune—and the findings are explosive. A room
is unearthed, and it contains a treasure trove of artwork, rare books, a chest of
jewelry…and a perfectly mummified body.

A closer examination of the murdered man’s possessions reveals a valuable first
edition of Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hidden in the book is
a secret map that unveils an even greater hoard of treasures brought to California by
French winemakers fleeing the Nazi invasion with the commune leader’s grandfather,
Anton, among them.

As reporters and art appraisers flock to Sonoma to see the precious bounty, questions
begin to rise—did Anton hide these items to protect them, or did he steal them for
himself? Who is the mysterious man left for dead inside the cave? But not all crime
is buried in the past. When a new presence threatens the town’s peace, Brooklyn
decides to do a little excavating of her own and solve the mystery of the treasure
before anyone else is written off.…