This cozy crime story will attract descriptors like quirky, charming, unusual and strange. That's what happens when you replace people with cats and carry on with the world. CAT AMONG THE PUMPKINS includes names like Teezle Makepeace, Mavis Spitforce, and Marmite Sprat. The perceptive will spot that it's set in an alternate England, perhaps the late twentieth century, while the agency is called No 2 Feline Detective Agency.

Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes' Night occur in this world too, and the village cats and kittens are dressing up, getting out the paraffin lamps and carving pumpkins. Hettie Bagshot, a tabby who runs the agency, is called away from a talk in the village hall to the scene of an elderly lady cat's death. Sure enough, a murder appears to have been committed. Some locals think it has connections to the folktale of 'Milky Myers' a milkman who is said to have murdered householders and vanished.

One feature I noted is that this world which has post deliveries, international shipping, coinage, similar religions to today, Indian food, television, motorbikes, and bicycles, doesn't have a police force. So if nobody is prepared to pay for a crime to be resolved, it won't be. The cats evidently have opposable thumbs but it's not always clear if they are walking on four legs or two, while their tails are seldom mentioned. They don't twitch their ears, wash their fur or sense with their whiskers. They come across as cat-shaped humans wearing clothes, handbags, and lipstick. The lack of consistency is sure to infuriate some cat lovers, while others will be delighted at the cheeky images and more will see the tale as allegory.

In short, if you are thinking of giving this mystery to a cat lover, make sure they will appreciate it, as I think they could either love it or hate it. Mandy Morton, a cat lover herself, has been a musician and a freelance arts journalist and lives in rural England. CAT AMONG THE PUMPKINS is her second book in this series inspired by her own tabby cat. First published in 2014, it has been reissued so there are a few more books in the series to date.