The Alarm of the Black Cat

 The Alarm of the Black Cat (1942) by Dolores Hitchens writing as D. B. Olsen

Synopsis (from the book flap): A strange encounter with a little girl named Claudia and a dead toad sparks elderly detective fiction fan Rachel Murdock's obsessive curiosity, and she winds up renting the house next door just to see how things play out. but soon after she and her cat Samanta move in, Rachel realizes they've landed right in the middle of a deadly love triangle that's created animosity among the three families who surround her.

When Rachel find's Claudia's great-grandmother dead in her basement, she reaches out to a friend in the LAPD to solve the crime. they soon learn the three households have been torn apart by one husband's  and a complicated will that could lead to a fortune. In a house plagued by forbidden love, regret, and greed, Rachel will have to trust her instinct, as well as Samantha's instincts, to survive--and keep Claudia out of the hands of a killer whose work has just begun...

A few general observations:

1. Why is the cat in the title a "black cat"? There is no black cat anywhere in this story. The only cat mentioned is Miss Murdock's cat Samantha--and Samantha is more of a ginger tabby (and sometimes described as yellow).

2. How many times can a 70-year-old woman get clobbered over the head and still retain all her senses? Miss Murdock has the recuperative powers that would give most thriller heroes a run for their money. Bash her on the head and she'll be out cold for a few minutes and then up and at 'em and ready to track down the miscreants.

3. There's a heck of a lot of action going on at night in this cozy little neighborhood. Everybody seems to be awake and running about, but hardly anybody sees anyone else. And the one person who does see something doesn't really realize what they've seen--which misleads Mayhew and Miss Murdock for a good bit of the story.

I have to say that of the four Olsen/Hitchens books I've read so far (and three featured Miss Murdock), this is my least favorite. Miss Murdock does tend to run into trouble in these books, but in this one she seems particularly reckless and could have been killed twice over. She's also terribly secretive with Lt. Mayhew--keeping back important evidence which puts her even further in danger. The other thing I didn't care for was the danger to Claudia. I've mentioned before that I don't like mysteries that feature danger/harm to children and this killer is a bit too ruthless for my liking. Fortunately, Claudia isn't killed.

The motive is a good one and I thought Olsen/Hitchens did a fair job of spreading the suspicion around. But the plot didn't seem to move as smoothly as in her other work--the action seemed fairly jerky to me. ★★ and 1/2

First line: There are times when Miss Rachel Murdock considers that the solution of murders should be left to the general public.

Last line: "With such a name she could do no less," Miss Rachel assured her.

*******************

Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; one stabbed; one shot)