Felidae
The Felidae series, Book 1
Akif Pirinçci
Villard Books
Fiction, Mystery
Themes: Anthropomorphism, Felines, Medicine, Religious Themes
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Description
When the clever tomcat Francis and his lonely owner move to new neighborhood, the first thing he notices is the unusual, chemical odor emanating from his new home. The second is the corpse of a murdered cat in his new backyard. This isn't the first feline killed in the neighborhood, and Francis soon finds himself hunting a serial killer of the feline species amid a mysterious cult that practices in his attic and old records that tell of inhuman - and inhumane - experiments carried out many years ago by a madman.
Review
I don't remember where I found this book (I'm thinking the Bargain Book section of Barnes & Noble many years back) but the price was right, so I bought
it. I usually don't like mysteries, but this one was different in many ways. Though it stars cats who speak to each other, there's no hidden feline magic or
mythos to speak of; it's simply a mystery with an unusual choice of setting and cast. This was an interesting story, which survived translation fairly well (it
was originally printed in Europe.) I was guessing right up to the end. As someone who likes to think of herself as a conscientious cat owner, though, I couldn't
help noticing the rampant irresponsible ownership practiced by the humans in this book. I must say that, had the cats been fixed and kept indoors, none of the
carnage could've occurred. That said, I thought this was a unique tale. If you're a cat lover, and you can find a copy, give it a try.
(As a quick update, I see evidence that Pirinçci wrote more books in this series; one of these days, I might try tracking one down.)