Whiskers & Wards
(2026)(The first book in the Whispering Falls: Cozy Magical Cat Mystery series)
A novel by Hazel Whitmore
Clara Mercer has a plan: six weeks to settle her late aunt's estate in Whispering Falls, Pennsylvania, then back to her career in Philadelphia. She's a project manager. She's good at plans.
Then a dead man turns up on the creek trail. The Victorian house hums when she touches the walls. And the large orange cat in the parlor looks at her with the patience of someone who has been waiting for exactly this moment and clears his throat.
Bartles has things to tell her.
Seven house cats with specific posts, specific functions, and opinions about everything from ward maintenance to breakfast scheduling have been running the Blackwood estate alone since Evie Blackwood died — and the ancient magical system woven into the bones of the property has been running without a keeper for weeks. Something in the surrounding wood already knows it. Thirteen shelter cats need a home. A murder needs solving. And the ward system needs a keeper who understands how to take over a legacy system mid-crisis.
Clara has a PMP certification, a very good spreadsheet, and a sheriff who stops by more often than strictly necessary. She'll figure out the rest.
Whiskers & Wards is a warm, witty, slow-burn paranormal cozy mystery with a sharp protagonist, seven cats who will absolutely take over if given the chance, a mystery that requires genuine solving, and a small Pennsylvania town full of people who've been keeping secrets the falls already know.
The mystery resolves completely. The magic is just beginning.
🐾 Check the back pages for your FREE Reader Vault — bonus content, the series prequel, and more.
Perfect for fans of Amanda M. Lee, Leighann Dobbs, and Annabel Chase.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Then a dead man turns up on the creek trail. The Victorian house hums when she touches the walls. And the large orange cat in the parlor looks at her with the patience of someone who has been waiting for exactly this moment and clears his throat.
Bartles has things to tell her.
Seven house cats with specific posts, specific functions, and opinions about everything from ward maintenance to breakfast scheduling have been running the Blackwood estate alone since Evie Blackwood died — and the ancient magical system woven into the bones of the property has been running without a keeper for weeks. Something in the surrounding wood already knows it. Thirteen shelter cats need a home. A murder needs solving. And the ward system needs a keeper who understands how to take over a legacy system mid-crisis.
Clara has a PMP certification, a very good spreadsheet, and a sheriff who stops by more often than strictly necessary. She'll figure out the rest.
Whiskers & Wards is a warm, witty, slow-burn paranormal cozy mystery with a sharp protagonist, seven cats who will absolutely take over if given the chance, a mystery that requires genuine solving, and a small Pennsylvania town full of people who've been keeping secrets the falls already know.
The mystery resolves completely. The magic is just beginning.
🐾 Check the back pages for your FREE Reader Vault — bonus content, the series prequel, and more.
Perfect for fans of Amanda M. Lee, Leighann Dobbs, and Annabel Chase.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hazel Whitmore's Whiskers & Wards