The Cat in the Brown Coat
(2026)(The fourth book in the Hercule Purr-Row Case Files series)
A novel by Jamie Kleinkauf
Penny Lane didn't plan on entering the cutthroat world of competitive cat shows. But when Countess, the champion Persian she inherited, receives an invitation to the Colonial Cat Fanciers Expo in Mystic, Connecticut, it'd be rude to say no. Penny packs up her boyfriend Paul, her retired-detective neighbor Agnes, and her tuxedo cat Hercule Purr-row, who considers the entire expedition beneath him but agrees to attend in a supervisory capacity.
Then a famous judge collapses mid-ring. Days later, the most hated groomer in the business turns up dead in her booth, and what looked like an accident starts looking like something else entirely.
When suspicion falls on Paul, whose history with the victims and access to veterinary compounds put him square on the police's radar, Penny can't afford to sit back and let things play out. She's a retired librarian, not a detective, but she knows how to listen, how to notice what people say when they think no one's paying attention, and how to connect details that don't add up.
Hercule, for his part, has already identified the killer, mapped every scent trail in the convention center, and is deeply annoyed that the humans are taking so long to catch up.
With the expo locked down, the suspects penned in, and a mysterious figure in a brown coat caught on camera near the crime scene, Penny and Hercule have a long weekend to untangle old grudges, shattered love affairs, and one lie so spiteful it turned deadly.
The Cat in the Brown Coat is the next book in the Hercule Purr-row Case Files series, following Murder on the Feline Express and Death on Denial River.
Genre: Mystery
Then a famous judge collapses mid-ring. Days later, the most hated groomer in the business turns up dead in her booth, and what looked like an accident starts looking like something else entirely.
When suspicion falls on Paul, whose history with the victims and access to veterinary compounds put him square on the police's radar, Penny can't afford to sit back and let things play out. She's a retired librarian, not a detective, but she knows how to listen, how to notice what people say when they think no one's paying attention, and how to connect details that don't add up.
Hercule, for his part, has already identified the killer, mapped every scent trail in the convention center, and is deeply annoyed that the humans are taking so long to catch up.
With the expo locked down, the suspects penned in, and a mysterious figure in a brown coat caught on camera near the crime scene, Penny and Hercule have a long weekend to untangle old grudges, shattered love affairs, and one lie so spiteful it turned deadly.
The Cat in the Brown Coat is the next book in the Hercule Purr-row Case Files series, following Murder on the Feline Express and Death on Denial River.
Genre: Mystery