CRIES AND WHISKERS

Animal rights meet designer drugs in frigid Cambridge, Mass.

Freelance writer Theda Krakow (Cattery Row, 2006, etc.) covers the club scene for the local newspaper. Her latest assignment is a new band who have just rented a hall for their first big gig. Theda and her cat Musetta share an apartment when she’s not with her boyfriend Bill, a homicide cop currently on crutches. After an acquaintance of hers is killed in a hit-and-run, Theda starts asking questions. Gail Womynfriend, a member of a radical animal-rights group, had been violating the group’s precepts by trying to rescue feral cats from a sparsely populated factory building whose prime location had drawn the attention of a local builder. Theda worries that her friend Tess, who had a car accident the night of Gail’s death, may be involved. When Theda and her friend Bunny are slipped a designer drug during dinner at a club, it’s clear that her questions have hit a nerve. There are almost too many suspects: musicians Theda panned; drug makers who didn’t like her questions; animal activists; even the builders struggling to keep a low profile. When Musetta goes missing and Theda gets a call from the catnappers, she must put all the pieces together to save her beloved pet.

A fast-paced look at the Boston music scene and a delight for cat fanciers.