Cat's Cradle

Thames Valley Mystery #7

by Clare Curzon

OLD LORELY PELLING WAS AS QUEER AS TWO LEFT BOOTS …

A reclusive eccentric with a checkered past and dozens of cats, her shooting death is first believed accidental, the result of local boys’ target practice. But Detective Superintendent Mike Yeadings of the Thames Valley Police Force believes darker motives are behind the death of the old woman. The villagers are astounded that Lorely has named her neighbor’s children sole inheritors of her estate. For Yeadings, it means unraveling the tangle skein of deception, scandal and desperation in Lorely’s long, frustrated life—and the secrets she shared with a killer.

Genres: Mystery

251 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 1991

About the author

Eileen-Marie Duell Buchanan (1922-2010) was a British author who specialized in writing literature belonging to the mystery, suspense, or detective genre. She wrote under a number of pseudonyms, including Marie Buchanan, Marie Duell, Clare Curzon and Rhona Petrie. She studied French and psychology at King's College in London.

Reviews

[Eugene · Rating 4 out of 5]

🍷🍷
Really enjoyed this mystery quite a lot. The characters were all grainy and well-seamed, life having sculpted their characters, and one felt that in reading about them. This isn’t normally the case in books of this genre, and not as often as should be in other fiction either. To get this elusive quality in a garden variety who-dun-it is notable, and well appreciated. Oh yeah, the plot was really good too, and the finish terrific. It is distressing that so many of these somewhat older (1992) mysteries are difficult to find even in used book venues. The search goes on!

[Sarah Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good mystery. Keeps you guessing til the end.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this, the seventh installment of Clare Curzon's Mike Yeadings series, the Thames Valley police are called in to investigate the death of Lorely Pelling. Miss Pelling lived a reclusive life on property that belonged to her family, all dead now, collected cats, grew her own vegetables, and had sold off some of the family's land in order to live that way. The police immediately wonder if a stray shot from an earlier teens party (where the kids were practicing shooting) at the nearby home of the Welch family may have been the cause of her death, but other clues come to light that suggest it was foul play. Mike Yeadings, a Detective Superintendent, and his team are in charge of the investigation, and must get to the bottom of Miss Pelling's murder, but unwilling witnesses, too many suspects and some red herrings aren't going to make it easy for them.

This is my first Mike Yeadings novel, because the first few are very rare and hard to come by (and I don't buy ex-library editions). Normally I prefer to start at the beginning of a series, but this time due to unavailability, this is where I began. I don't know what I've missed as far as character development, but I like Yeadings as a character and will definitely be reading more of Curzon's work. The ending of this novel seems a bit strange, considering it was originally written in 1991 (I won't say why in case someone plans to read this) but otherwise, the book was good, the mystery was solid and I liked it.

[Mim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this out of a box of books given to me by my neighbor. It was small, a mystery, a writer that was new to me, so I read it and enjoyed it. Very British. Good story.

[Lori]

pretty good, a long series, and the older ones can't be found. will get more.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good puzzle mystery: who shot the reclusive cat lover and why did she leave all of her property to her neighbor's children?