When there's crime in town, it's up to The No. 2 Feline Detective Agency to pounce. Hettie Bagshot, well known for her work in the famous Furcross case, along with her partner Tilly Jenkins, is on the case, and these two will paw through the clues, scratch at all the leads, and sniff out the answers. A bit Sherlock Holmes, a tad small British hamlet from an earlier time, and lots of fur, and you've got Cat Among the Pumpkins.

Mandy Morton's newest installment in her cat detective series (yes, the cats are the detectives, as well as the rest of the characters around town) sparkles with imagination and catnip as Hettie and Tilly search for the killer who is terrorizing their town.

The approach of Halloween brings out the ghost stories. Marmite Sprout has written a book called Strange But True Stories, and one of those stories brings back the legend of Milky Meyers. The young son of the local milkcat, Milky was rumored to have killed his entire family in one terrible day and now he supposedly haunts the family house.

While Hettie doesn't believe in ghosts or their stories, she does get involved when the postcat Teezle Makepeace finds Mavis Spitforce dead in her kitchen, the knife still in her back. Teezle tells Hettie that Mavis had been working on her own version of the Milky Meyers story, the true story, shortly before she died. But then Teezle disappears too, and the danger is growing. Hettie needs all the comfort of her catnip pipe to help her solve this mystery.

Cat Among the Pumpkins is a whimsical cozy for cat lovers. It can be a little challenging to read if you're not familiar with British expressions from several decades ago, or if you have an issue with anthropomorphism. But if you've got those covered, then this is a charming mystery with enough catness to leave you purring.

Galleys for Cat Among the Pumpkins were provided by Minotaur Books (St. Martins Press) through NetGalley.com, with many thanks.