title: Black Cat's Legacy: A Tale of Intrigue and Murder with a Touch of Whimsy
author:  Elaine Faber 
description: I starting writing Black Cat's Legacy as a short story. I planned that it should be a story centered around something buried years ago by a baby that would become the current clue in a mystery. Thinking that a nice little romance would be in order,a novelist writing a book about a cold case murder became the love interest. Thumper, the cat came into the story shortly after and as the story evolved, the cat took over the story! It became a murder mystery wherein the cat, with the aid ofhis ancestors' memories about the days surrounding the murder tries to help solve the crimes. He became so integral to the story and so involved with the protagonist, Kimberlee, her little girl and the author, that from what started as a potential mystery-romance turned into a cozy CAT Mystery.<br /><br />Following Black Cat's Legacy, the story continues and book two was born, Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, planned for publication in late 2014. Another mystery with Thumper, the cat with the memories, this time set in Texas on a horse ranch. Attempted murder, internet fraud, and embezzlement abound, but Thumper meets his lady love and together, they must prevent murderand protect the family from other insidious acts.<br /><br />Book three, Black Cat and Angel's Journey takes up where Book Two leaves off. All in all, if you don't fall in love with Thumper and Angel, you just aren't into Cat Mysteries.
zlib_text: > _Rapture in Death_  
  > ---  
  > In Death [4]  
  > J. D. Robb  
  > Penguin (1996)  
  >  
  > * * *  
  >  
  > Rating: | ★★★★☆  
  > Tags: | Mystery & Detective  
    
  # Chapter 1
  
    
    
    
  
  The alley was dark and stank of piss and vomit. It was home for quick-footed
  rats and the bony, hungry-eyed felines who hunted them. Red eyes glinted in
  the dark, some of them human, all of them feral.  
  
  Eve's heart tripped lightly as she slipped into the fetid, damp-edged shadows.
  He'd gone in, she was sure of it. It was her job to follow, to find him, to
  bring him in. Her weapon was in her hand, and her hand was steady.  
  
  "Hey, sweetcakes, wanna do it with me? Wanna do it?"  
  
  Voices out of the dark, harsh with chemicals or cheap brews. Moans of the
  damned, giggles of the mad. The rats and cats didn't live here alone. The
  company of the human garbage that lined the sweating brick walls was no
  comfort.  
  
  She swung her weapon, crouched as she sidestepped a battered recycling unit
  that, from the smell of it, 