Catspaw for Murder — Dolores Hitchens

A spry seventy-year-old sleuth and her feline companion sniff out clues to a crime: “The observant Rachel is an appealing Jessica Fletcher antecedent.” -- Publishers Weekly

A letter has arrived at the home shared by the elderly Murdock sisters and their black cat, Samantha. It stirs Rachel's curiosity, and Jennifer's alarm, as she fears her sibling will once again head off on a dangerous adventure in detection. The letter-writer is an old friend's granddaughter who explains that a bizarre drawing of a hand has been slipped under her door, making her very uneasy, and she'd appreciate Rachel's sleuthing skills.

Leaving a furious Jennifer behind and toting Samantha in her travel basket, Rachel departs Los Angeles to visit Prudence Mills and assess any possible threat to her. There'd been conflict over her late father's business dealings, and Prudence's little sister encountered a prowler in her bedroom. Even more troubling, Prudence's face has been scarred by an unseen attacker -- and for some reason, she fears telling the police. Now, in the snowy mountains, Rachel will be entangled in a chilling mystery -- and, as a child of pro-temperance activists, visit a bar for the first time in her seventy years . . .

“Dolores Hitchens has been writing novels of mystery and suspense, under a variety of names and in a variety of styles, but always entertainingly and often achieving something more than casual entertainment.” -- The New York Times

Catspaw for Murder was previously published under the pseudonymD. B. Olsen