—The Drood Review
“Easy-going narrative style … Babson at her most antic.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“You’ll want to check it out.”
—Washington Post
“A charming, witty farce.”
—Poisoned Pen
“An adorable book.”
—Deadly Pleasures
Other titles from St. Martin’s Dead Letter Mysteries
THE NUN’s TALE by Candace M. Robb
CURLY SMOKE by Susan Holtzer
HOOFPRINTS by Laura Crum
THE TWELVE DEATHS OF CHRISTMAS by Marian Babson
THE PRINCE LOST TO TIME by Ann Dukthas
MURDER IN SCORPIO by Martha C. Lawrence
MURDER IN THE CHATEAU by Elliott Roosevelt
CRACKER: To SAY I LOVE You by Molly Brown
BONDED FOR MURDER by Bruce W. Most
WIN, LOSE OR DIE ed. by Cynthia Manson &
Constance Scarborough
MORTAL CAUSES by Ian Rankin
A VOW OF DEVOTION by Veronica Black
WOLF, No WOLF by Peter Bowen
SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS by Donna Huston Murray
FALCONER’S JUDGEMENT by Ian Morson
WINTER GAMES by John Feinstein
Dear Mystery Reader:
You’ve probably heard of or read the polls that the cat has now overtaken Man’s Best Friend as this country’s number one pet—another sign that mystery readers are trendsetters. For years and years now they’ve preferred felines over canines. Just ask my cat Dagmar, who benevolently allows me to feed her, pay the rent and occasionally brush and pet her. You see, cats are just the sort of prickly, idiosyncratic, eccentric, independent and intelligent characters mystery readers (and editors) love.
One of the reasons Marian Babson’s novels are so popular is because she writes about such creatures—both human and feline. Another is that she is one of the finest practitioners of the art of suspense. Throughout her novels, she cleverly, inventively, ever-so-subtly terrorizes her readers, which is, of course, why they rush to buy her books.
If Whiskers and Smoke is your first foray into Babson’s work, you’ve got a treat ahead of you—catnip for the mystery reader.
Yours in Crime,
Dana Edwin Isaacson
Dagmar
Senior Editor
St. Martin’s DEAD LETTER
Paperback Mysteries
All the characters and events portrayed in this story are fictitious.
WHISKERS AND SMOKE
Copyright © 1984 by Marian Babson.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
First published in the United States of America in 1985 by the Walker Publishing Company, Inc.
Previously published as A Trail of Ashes
eISBN 9781466816107
First eBook Edition : April 2012
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 84-15315
ISBN: 0-312-96181-2
Walker Publishing paperback edition published in 1986
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition/March 1997