A Cat Of One's Own : an Alice Nestleton mystery

Alice Nestleton Mystery #17

by Lydia Adamson, Anna Fields (Narrator)

When Jake the cat is stolen, his owner's rescue attempt has fatal results. That's when Alice Nestleton, the cat-sitting actress, decides to take up sleuthing again.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cats, Animals, Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Lydia Adamson is the pen name for Franklin B. King who is an author, free-lance writer and copywriter. In addition to the Alice Nestleton series, he is the author of the Deirdre Quinn Nightingale and Lucy Wayles series. He lives in New York City and also wrote under the name 'Frank King'.

Reviews

[Karen GoatKeeper]

A friend calls Alice after several years of no contact wanting Alice to help her get a cat. She is now a widow and her husband's old dog needs a feline companion, a last request of her husband. So Jake comes home.
And disappears.
And the ransom call arrives. The money is delivered. The friend is dead. Alice is a suspect.
Amanda is not the person Alice knew her as, exactly. This double or triple life sends Alice off in pursuit of a murderer.
This fast paced book keeps Alice in touch with several people from past books as she bounces from theory to theory taking readers down various trails seeking the right one. This book is a bit dated as it raises issues of the past on animal rights and leaves a couple of things incomplete.

[Matthew]

This was my first Alice Nesteton mystery, and overall, I found it pleasantly enjoyable. Jumping into a long-running cozy mystery series at book seventeen was admittedly a little disorienting. There are a lot of recurring characters and relationships to keep track of, but I caught on quickly enough.

Alice herself is a sometimes-working actress who inevitably stumbles into sleuthing, usually with a cat involved in one way or another. The whole thing has that light, weekend-read charm that's quick, undemanding, and easy to settle into.

While a bit unmemorable, I can see myself picking up more from the series. I would recommend these books for anyone who loves cozy mysteries, stories that take place in New York City, are centered around the theatre world, involve cats in them, or a no-hassle, quick mystery.

[Sarah Kavaljian]

I'm a sucker for a cat related story and the author clearly loves and knows cats. the twist to the mystery was interesting enough, I just couldn't connect with any of the characters except Sam. Too much of an air of self-importance in the main character for me.

[Rose]

Set in NYC's lower East Side, protagonist has 2 cats, well-written with satisfying cultural allusions--what's not to like?

[Lea Ann]

I feel like I would have enjoyed this more had I read previous books in the series. Not going to lie. Kind of a weird, little mystery story.

[Kathei]

If you like cats and you like mysteries then this series is for you.

[Debbie Stirling]

audiobook

[Sandra Strange]

This series provide quick, entertaining, easy reads. The protagonist is Alice Nestleton, a New York City actress of great skill, but who never gets the starmaking break so moves along the fringes of the drama world and knows EVERYONE. Her day job keeps her going--she's a cat sitter, and therein lies the tale--and many tales-- of the murders in which she continually finds herself involved. She investigates using her associates and her niece to interview and research the mysteries. Part of the attraction of these is that she's almost always mostly wrong in her conclusions, but they help her extract truth and get to the right solutions in the end. However, Alice shares the morals and mores of stereotypical New York drama personnel. The books almost always include sensual scenes as she shares her bed with some continuing and some characters exclusive to each novel.

[Susan]

An old friend of out-of-work actress Alice Nestleton needs a cat, right now. Alice helps her adopt two-toned, aloof Jake. But soon Jake is kidnapped, and shortly after that something even worse happens. Alice finds herself under police suspicion, and wanting desperately to do something to provide closure. She enlists her friends, as usual, and soon has a perfect theory--but not a shred of evidence.

[Michelle]

This book was only 186 pages, and a really fast read. I hope to read more by her, as this was my first time reading this author. I liked reading about Jake the harlequin cat, and the other characters pets.

[Phillis]

So Alice sets up the sting and the murderer get caught. Think is, it wasn't who Alice thought it was! Ok on to the next Alice Nestleton book.

[Dana]

Fun light read as are all the Alice Nestleton mysteries