Street Cat Blues - Alison O'Leary

Author: Alison O'Leary

Genre: Cosy Mystery

Rating: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: Cats? Yes. Cosy Mystery? Yes. Crime? Yes. Conflicts? Yes. “Catisfied” with the book? Not as much as I had hoped.

Story Synopsis:

Aubrey the cat is finally living a happy life. He has put behind a past where his ex-owner was found killed, with the authorities taking Aubrey to the rescue centre. After a long time there, Aubrey has finally found the perfect cat owners (assuming cats allow people to own them) in Jeremy and Molly. However, the killings seem to be continuing. Aubrey didn’t mind when crotchety senior citizens were bumped off but when the kind Mr. Tellings is the next victim, Aubrey decides to investigate the matter with the help of his feline friends.

The story comes to us in a limited third person narration mostly from the pov of Aubrey.

Pro ✔: I loved the portrayal of Aubrey. (First off, what a perfect name for a cat! Snooty and cool at the same time – just like cats!) Aubrey has very clear likes and dislikes, and loves passing remarks on events in a sardonic manner. He does have a soft side to him but as a true-blue cat, he can’t allow it to be revealed in public. His narration allows a unique perspective.

Con ❌: As it's written from the pov of the cat, the plot initially felt like a novel idea. But soon the flipside of the situation revealed itself. A cat is a cat after all; it can play only a minimal active role in the proceedings. Beyond that, all it can do is tell us what it overheard. As such, quite a lot of the content comprises conversations – cat conversations with each other, human conversations with each other while Aubrey is overhearing them, OR human conversations with Aubrey. After a point, it becomes tiresome to see most of the plot coming out only through conversations and barely any action.

Pro ✔: The cat characters are wonderfully developed. Each has a distinct personality and this is put to good use in the plot.

Con ❌: Most of the human characters are uni-dimensional. What you see is what you get, and what you get is a clichéd good side or a bad side, no grey areas. The only exception to this is the teenaged Carlos, whose track is written mostly well. But even in his portrayal, there are some odd elements that don’t make sense in real life. Also, there is not enough of detailing on the background of the characters, mainly because Aubrey wouldn’t have known these details for him to narrate them. But to a reader, this results in an incomplete understanding of circumstances. Lastly, there are too many character names in the initial few chapters. It becomes quite tricky to remember who was who.

Pro ✔: I admired the imagination of the author. (She has got to be a cat lover!) Looking at things with a “cat’s eye” couldn’t have been an easy job and she handles it excellently. She also tackles some serious themes such as conservative Christian “morality” and racist attitudes.

Con ❌: There is a little repetitiveness in the writing. The scene changes are abrupt at times and a great part of the story flow seems jumpy. There’s also a fair bit of info dumping at the end.

Pro ✔: As a cosy mystery, the book has no gore or grisly scenes. So those who like this genre might enjoy the cat-oriented investigation.

Con ❌: As all the crimes happen not on page but in the background, and most of the crimes are only revealed through conversations, the crime part loses some of the impact. The big reveal is not that great.

Pro ✔: The new edition by Bloodhound Books has an outstanding cover which suits the story well and creates an interest too. This cover was one of the reasons I opted for the book.

Con ❌: The cover is hardly visible anywhere online. I had to dig deep to find a copy. 

All in all, mixed feelings. The segments related to Aubrey the cat were fun to read but the murder mystery part of it and the writing flow left me dissatisfied. Still, if you want to try out a unique perspective in cosy mysteries, that of a cat, you could certainly give this novel a try. Keep in mind that mine is an outlier review. So please go through the positive reviews before you take a call on this book.

My thanks to Bloodhound Books for a complimentary copy of “Street Cat Blues”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.