"Talking cat fans will welcome Murphy’s exciting 18th mystery [Cat Bearing Gifts] featuring feline Joe Grey, in which Joe’s tortoiseshell friend, Kit, plays a lead role. . . . Anyone unfamiliar with this cozy series will be quickly drawn in by the complete believability of Murphy’s crime-solving felines and their helpful human companions." --Publisher's Weekly, October 1, 2012
"The 16th Joe Grey book [Cat Coming Home] is sure to please veteran fans of the series. All the favorites are back -- Joe, Dulcie, and Kit -- and the heartwarming stories of an orphaned child and a stray cat at Christmas will tug on more than a few heartstrings." --Romantic Times, November 2010
"Because Murphy succeeds in weaving the holiday elements into her mystery plot seemlessly, this novel is every bit as strong as the other entries in the series -- a rarity for so many holiday mysteries. A heartwarming and saitisfying tale that shows, yet again, why the Joe Grey novels have won the Book of the Year award from the Cat Writers Association eight times." --Booklist, November 1, 2010
If you don't see moving book covers within 10 seconds,
click here.
If they move too fast, center your mouse pointer on or below them, not to the side.
So many of you have asked about Murphy’s next book, folks. She can now tell you the publication date: February 11, 2014. She will be telling you more about the book itself a bit later, just to tweak your curiosity a while longer.
Folks, we’re still thrilled that Cat Telling Tales won the coveted Muse Medallion Award from the national Cat Writers Association this last November. We cats still feel very smug, both at the award and also at the judge's kind comments:
“When writing a series with the same characters, it’s easy to get formulaic. But this book kept the characters fresh with timely observations of the current U.S. economy. The author blends important information on TNR while staying entertaining and not preachy. The story is well-designed and crafted with enough held back to make the ending satisfying and with just enough loose ends to wrap up in the next book in the series.”
Such a compliment, plus the honor of the award itself, plus the good friendship of all our friends at CWA sure gives a cat a lift. We were so pleased, too, at all your messages about Cat Bearing Gifts that have appeared on the Web, thank you, one and all, we do treasure your friendship, human and cat alike. We think of you often, and we are strengthened by your support when the crime scene gets rough and we’re up against bad guys who are bigger and tougher than we are--or who think they are tougher! At times of danger and life-threatening decisions, we know you’re out there for us, we feel like you have our backs, for sure, against the evils of the world.
Your pals, Joe Grey, Dulcie, Kit, Pan and Misto
Besides the Joe Grey books, published in ebook editions by HarperCollins, Murphy has two earlier fantasy series available as ebooks: the Dragonbards trilogy and the quintet originally published as the Children of Ynell series. For the details, click on "Fantasy Novels" below.
And she also has brought out an ebook edition of a realistic teen novel, Unsettled, originally titled Poor Jenny Bright as a Penny.
The reading order of the Joe Grey novels is as follows:
Cat on the Edge Cat Under Fire Cat Raise the Dead Cat in the Dark Cat to the Dogs Cat Spitting Mad **Cat on the Money Cat Laughing Last Cat Seeing Double Cat Fear No Evil Cat Cross Their Graves Cat Breaking Free Cat Pay the Devil Cat Deck the Halls Cat Playing Cupid Cat Striking Back Cat Coming Home Cat Telling Tales Cat Bearing Gifts
If you've been looking for The Catswold Portal, the 2005 paperback edition is still in print and can be obtained from bookstores. Click on "Fantasy Novels" above for details! (This book is not part of the Joe Grey mystery series.)
**Cat on the Money is a novella available only in ebook form. The first
8 chapters were originally published as a serial in Cats Magazine, which was discontinued before it was complete.
The entire story will remain here at this site; just click on the title. It can be
downloaded as a single printable PDF file, in addition being read online chapter by chapter.
New!
Cat on the Money can now be obtained in the ebook formats EPUB (for the Nook and others), MOBI (for the Kindle), LRF (for Sony readers) and PDB (for Palm readers) at Smashwords , Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, and other retailers.
All of the Joe Grey books, plus The Catswold Portal, are in print. If you can't find them, any bookstore can order them for you--just ask! Independent bookstores in particular are happy to provide this service for their customers.
You can see the jackets and descriptions of all the Joe Grey books in reverse order of publication, with the newest first, by clicking on "Cat Mysteries" in the navigation bar above.
If you have a question about the stories or about Shirley Rousseau Murphy, be sure to look at the FAQ Page to see if it's answered! Click on "Author FAQ" below.
Shirley Rousseau Murphy is not online, but if you send e-mail to her at
murphy@joegrey.com it will be promptly forwarded via fax modem, as will the comments in the Guest Book.
She no longer maintains a mailing list because the ISP for this site no longer lets us send bulk mail. For notifications of book releases, connect with her official Facebook page.
Shirley Rousseau Murphy does not sell copies of her in-print books personally. She does have signed copies of some of her out-of-print children's books and fantasy novels available at low discount prices -- click on "Children's Books" and "Fantasy Novels" above.
The Joe Grey books have won eleven Muse Medallion awards!
For best cat novel of the year from the national Cat Writers' Association,
presented at their annual conferences.
Cat Under Fire
Cat Raise the Dead
Cat in the Dark
Cat Spitting Mad
Cat Laughing Last
Cat Seeing Double
Cat Cross Their Graves
Cat Playing Cupid
Cat Striking Back
Cat Coming Home
Cat Telling Tales
Website created by Sylvia Engdahl
Last updated April 27, 2013
