Tabby Trouble: A Cat Aunt Cozy Mystery, #1

By Iris Leigh

I don't ask for much, and I know for sure I didn't ask to communicate with cats.

But when I agree to cat sit my best friend's cats, that's exactly what I get for my trouble—well, that and a baffling murder mystery to solve.

Now my next-door neighbor is dead under mysterious circumstances, the talking cat is giving me orders, and my cat is missing, and somehow both are connected.

It's up to me to figure out how and why and solve the murder in a town full of potential suspects.

I'm going to need a little more than luck and a chatty cat to help me solve this puzzle, but there's one big problem. I've never solved a crime before, let alone investigated one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Iris Leigh
• Release date: Jul 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201848026

Iris Leigh

Iris Leigh stumbled upon the genre of cozy mystery by accident. Since Iris is easily scared she does her best to avoid horror books, tv shows, and films. But dying for some type of mystery without all the suspense to make her heart burst from terror was when someone asked if she had ever read a cozy mystery. Now she has fallen in love with the genre and started to write to bring her stories to life.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Are you sure I was the only one you could ask? I took in the mess before me, my once very clean living room no longer spotless as bags of cat food, a pail of kitty litter and a pile of carpeted wood pieces that somehow assembled into a cat tree lay scattered before me.

Absolutely! my best friend’s voice chimed through the phone speaker. Her medium-length black hair was tucked back behind her ears and her dark eyes shone at me as we video chatted. I was sure she could see the unease in my body language as I tried to process everything, because her eyes definitely shined with the satisfaction of successfully tricking her best friend into watching her cats. Something I realized I should have probably said no to, the longer I looked at her. Her smile never wavered from her face.

One week ago, I was in the same exact position talking to the same exact person. Except one week ago, I wasn’t having to share my home with three cats. She couldn’t have just one cat. No, she had turned into a crazy cat lady earlier than most and adopted three. When she wanted to travel abroad, she needed someone she trusted to watch her babies and somehow, I was the only one she could call. Or I was the only one gullible enough to agree to the request.

I don’t feel confident about this. I spoke softly as one the cats sat down right in front of me.

She stared at me like she wanted something. But since I didn’t speak cat, I wasn’t sure what that might be. Even though I’d been given the names of the cats, I had no idea which one was currently sitting in front of me.

I can’t tell who is who.

It’s easy! Turn the camera around, let me see which one you are looking at.

I maneuvered the phone so that that screen was no longer showing my face but instead showed the feline who sat before me. Her green eyes never left me as I tried to get her full form to display for my best friend.

That’s Luna! You can tell because she is the biggest of the three and has longer fur!

Moving the phone away from the now identified cat that was supposedly Luna, I directed my friend’s attention to a cat that could pass as Luna’s twin, who was hiding in the corner. Upon arrival, the twin had scurried off and refused to remove from her spot.

That is Zaira! She is smaller than Luna and her fur is about half an inch shorter, too.

My face scrunched in thought and I tilted my head while trying to process her statement. I took in the two cats, who weren’t twins. How could she tell a half of an inch of fur difference between the two cats, especially over the phone?

Fur that’s half an inch shorter? Right...Whatever you say.  Rolling my eyes briefly, I crouched to the floor to return Luna’s stare. I pursed my lips and cleared my throat, doubts flooding through my mind as I wondered if I was going to do this correctly. Was it too late to back out and not be responsible for three additional bodies?

I wasn’t much of a cat person. With dogs you waited for them to approach you, sniff you, and then the rest became history. Could the same be said for cats? Cats and dogs had to be similar. If not, this was a disaster waiting to happen.

What are you doing? my friend asked.

Shh...I’m trying to bond.

Luna looked at me. She didn’t take a step forward or attempt to smell me, she just stared. We stayed like that for a few moments—just one human and one cat analyzing each other. But in the end, she just walked away. No sniffing, no petting, no type of interaction. Absolutely nada.

Was it possible to be instantly disliked by a cat? Could she tell I was a dog person? Scratching my head briefly and pushing down the doubt that was steadily increasing, I turned to the next cat in sight—Zaira.

You’ll like me, right?

Still crouched down to the floor, I wobbled a little closer toward her, but as soon as I moved forward, all that sat in front of me was empty space. One second she was there and the next second she wasn’t. Blinking rapidly and looking around, I tried to replay the last few seconds, wanting to understand fully what had just happened. There was a gray cat with supposedly half an inch shorter fur with green eyes there one second, and then suddenly she was gone, like she could run at light speed.

What the... I muttered, looking at the now empty spot in front of me.

Yeah, she's a fast one! My friend’s voice boomed through the phone as her laughter couldn’t be contained.

I drew back and tensed up as I leapt to my feet as a loud bang followed by the sound of glass shattering rang throughout my home.

And that’s Lola. Got to be careful of that one, she can be a bit feisty.

I sprinted to the kitchen, where the loud noise had come from. Where I could only stand and gawk at the mess. The third cat, Lola, had jumped on the counter and knocked over my rack of clean dishes straight onto the floor. Utensils were strewn about on the floor and spanned from one side of the kitchen to the other. The utensils were intact but that couldn’t be said for the millions of little shards of glass that gave my kitchen floor a twinkle. There wasn’t a single piece of glassware that had survived the fall. Everything that was once on the counter was now on the floor.

Meanwhile Luna, absolutely oblivious to the mess she’d caused, sat perched on the windowsill above the kitchen sink, looking outside, totally content as her tail swished back and forth.

You get used to it. My friend's voice rang out from the phone clutched within my hand, pulling me from the increased anxiety at the mess I would have to clean up.

Dragging my eyes from Luna and doing my best to skip over the huge mess that I would have to clean up but really didn’t want to, I stared at the beaming eyes of my best friend through my cell phone. Her bright smile concealed the laughter that threatened to release but the slight twitch of her cheeks gave her away. She was amused at everything unfolding and at having tricked me into watching her crazy cats. Well, at least that made one of us amused because I was definitely not.

I’ll get used to it? You must be crazy! I shook my head vigorously in disbelief and hollered out as Zaira poked her head into the kitchen to see what the commotion was all about.

But the cat who had caused the whole mess still sat perched on the windowsill, unfazed by the mess she’d made and especially unfazed by the shrieking human behind her. Which was me.

I think I should go. Call me if you have any questions! I appreciate you! And with those parting words I was no longer staring at my best friend but instead the home screen of my phone.

Did she just hang up on me? Pulling up her contact information I attempted to call her back, fully intent on sending the cats somewhere else, hopefully somewhere very far away, but to no avail. She didn’t answer, At least one of us was smart.

Taking a look at Lola and then looking at Zaira, I spoke out loud to voice my confusion as if the cats could understand. It's just us now, I guess.

Zaira bobbed away, and I was left staring at the empty spot on the floor that was once occupied by an animal with fur a half an inch shorter than her twin. I drew my breath in, held it, then released it as I tried to gather my thoughts. I repeated the steps a few times. Haunted by the days that would follow now that I was in charge of three cats.

Why did I agree to this?

Chapter 2

I let loose a yawn as my hand tried to muffle the next one begging to be let loose. The bags under my eyes were darker than usual, and my body felt sluggish. It was only the third day, but it felt like a million had passed.

If having cats was any indication of what parenthood would be like, then I was nowhere ready to be a parent. One eye open while sleeping was becoming a normal thing now, and it sucked.

Randomly through the night, I heard crashes and the ringing of the bells on their collars as they darted around the home.

Every