Anyone who knows me will understand how excited I was to find a surprise copy of a book that has a cat as a protagonist in my post box! Sadly I haven’t had time to read it yet, but I am delighted to invite the author, L. T. Shearer, onto Linda’s Book Bag to tell me all about it. My huge thanks to Philippa Mc Ewan at Pan Macmillan for putting us in touch with one another.

Let’s find out more:

Staying in with  L. T. Shearer

Welcome to Linda’s Book Bag L.T. and thank you for agreeing to stay in with me.

It’s an absolute pleasure, I am so happy to be here. And I love what you’ve done with the place. I feel so at home here.

With all these cat ornaments I expect you do. 

Tell me, which of your books have you brought along to share this evening and why have you chosen it?

I have brought my second book – The Cat Who Solved Three Murders. It has only just been published, so it is hot off the presses. And I love the shade of green that the publishers have used for the cover. Green is my favourite colour. It’s so calming. I have used a lot of green in my bedroom. And in my bathroom.

I adore the cover. Tell me, what can we expect from an evening in with The Cat Who Solved Three Murders?

You can expect the unexpected!  The hero of The Cat Who Solved Three Murders is a calico cat called Conrad. That in itself is unexpected because the vast majority of calico cats are female and Conrad is very much male.

By the way, do you say calico?  I always do to describe a cat that is black orange and white but some people say that it’s an Americanism. Those people say that I should describe them as tortoiseshell and white, which is so clumsy. And I have never liked tortoiseshell as a description. It makes me think of tortoises, and they are nothing like cats. So I say calico and that’s the end of it!

I’m with you all the way L.T. A calico cat is most definitely NOT a tortoiseshell cat. I’ve had both (Candy and Muffin) and they were completely different.

But the biggest surprise about Conrad is that he talks!

Talks?

Yes, he talks, and quite eloquently. But the only person he talks to is Lulu Lewis, a retired police detective who lives on a narrowboat. Most of the time the narrowboat is moored in Little Venice in West London but she drives the boat around the canal system, and in The Cat Who Solved Three Murders the boat is moored in Oxford.

Intriguing!

I know, you’re wondering if ‘drive’ is the right word to describe how you move a narrowboat, and you can trust me, it is. But you don’t park them, you moor them. Just so you know!

That’s me told then!

Anyway, Lulu and Conrad have taken their boat – The Lark – to Oxford to attend the sixtieth birthday of an old friend of Lulu’s. But when she gets there they discover that there has been a robbery – and a murder.  The local police are investigating, but it’s Lulu and Conrad who crack the case. So yes, expect the unexpected!

A talking cat and a murder sounds the perfect combination to me. I’m so glad I have The Cat Who Solved Three Murders on my TBR.

What else have you brought along and why have you brought it?

I have brought one of my cats with me. Her name is Christmas, and she is black with white socks. There was quite a bit of competition among my cats as to who should escort me to your book bag, but Christmas doesn’t get out much so I chose her.

I have a feeling you might not be taking her home again… I miss my cats so much I’m sure Christmas would fit in purrfectly. How did you get her?

Like all my cats, Christmas is a rescue cat. I found her at the side of the road on Christmas Day last year. She was in a real state, weighed less than a couple of pounds, literally just fur and bones and covered in small cuts and lesions. I thought she had been in a fight but I managed to find a vet that was open and the vet said she had a severe fungal infection and a host of other issues. It was touch and go, but Christmas knew that we were trying to help her and she is a fighter.

She spent six weeks at the vets and he did a great job. She now weighs more than six pounds, has glossy fur and bright green eyes.

She’s completely beautiful.

Christmas sleeps on my bed, and follows me everywhere I go. When I take the car, she sits in the driveway until I come back. She is a lovely house cat, but still has her street cat ways. She sticks close to me, but doesn’t really like me picking her up. And I can stroke her, but she makes it clear I’m doing it for me, not for her. She gets the best of food, but still prefers to go rooting through the bins to find a chicken leg or a piece of meat. I do talk to her, but unlike Conrad, she never replies. Not so far, anyway!

Give her time L.T. – and you don’t know what she’s thinking! She might be off solving murders whilst you’re out.

Thank you so much for staying in with me to chat about The Cat Who Solved Three Murders. I really must get it to the top of my TBR as soon as possible. Now, whilst I give Linda’s Book Bag readers a few more details, let me see if I can persuade you to leave Christmas here with me!

The Cat Who Solved Three Murders

Conrad the cat detective and retired police detective Lulu Lewis travel to Oxford on their canal boat and investigate a case of art theft in a grand country manor house.

Retired police detective Lulu Lewis’s life changed forever when she met a street cat named Conrad. There’s something very special about Conrad, but it’s a secret she has to keep to herself.

When Lulu takes her narrowboat to Oxford, she is planning nothing more stressful than attending a friend’s birthday party. And drinking a few glasses of Chardonnay.

But a brutal murder and a daring art theft means her plans are shattered – instead she and Conrad find themselves on the trail of a killer. A killer who may well strike again.

The Cat Who Solved Three Murders was published by Macmillan on 26th October 2023 and is available for purchase through the links here.

About L.T. Shearer

L T Shearer has had a lifelong love of canal boats and calico cats, and both are combined in The Cat Who Caught a Killer, a one-of-a-kind debut crime novel which continues with The Cat Who Solved Three Murders.

For further information, find L.T. Shearer on Facebook.