Cat Shining Bright by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Joe and Dulcie have kittens.  Joe is very much the proud papa but he wants to get back to his investigative work.  He stays home like a good boy until murder happens, then he goes back on the hunt.

William Morrow and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 15th.

The cats always dominate this series and I find it fun to read.  Joe and his buddies are very protective of their humans and they also want to stop crime and help the police chief.  He's not aware they speak to humans yet, but he accepts their phone calls and wishes he knew who the informers were...

When Joe heads out to the crime scene, he doesn't realize the two male kittens are following him.  By the time he finds out, they're almost in trouble.  Trying to send them home does no good.  They're determined to be involved!

With two boys and a girl, Dulcie is plenty busy taking care of kittens.  But investigating is in her blood, too.  Soon she's in on the hunt.

It starts with car thefts and graduates to murder.  One of the thieves gets identified but the finger prints on him do not match with the prints of the man Wilma has identified.  What's going on?

It's mix of crime from the past and in the present and it doesn't take too long for the combined crime fighting team to take them down.

Having cats use a telephone is a bit much, but there are a lot fun cat antics and people bonding going on, too, so it's OK.  If you like cats, you'll enjoy this series.