Cats Don't Need Coffins

 Cats Don't Need Coffins (1946) by D. B. Olsen (Dolores Hitchens)

This is Olsen's seventh book featuring septuagenarian sleuth Miss Rachel Murdock--about mid-way through the series of 13 books, all of which feature cats in the title. It is also, in my opinion, a very mid-range book. Rachel and her disapproving sister Jennifer--who disapproves of everything from Rachel's getting mixed up in murders to drinking--are invited to Miriam Hamilton's luxurious mansion. Ostensibly, Miriam is feeling guilty about her father's having swindled the Murdock ladies' father and she wants to give them compensation (in a grand ceremony to show how good she is). Rachel doesn't believe it for a minute, but she is very curious about Miriam's real reasons behind the invitation.

According the the messenger, what Miriam really wants is Rachel's help in discovering the person and motive behind a series of disturbing events. But does she really? When Rachel & Jennifer arrive at Miriam's home, it seems the woman is avoiding them. She's constantly not available and doesn't even join the family and her guests for meals. Rachel gets background on the situation from Miriam's stepchildren (Rex Flanders and Sharon Hamilton, gardner (Checkers), lawyer (Mr. Braudryck), the messenger & his brother (Joe & Bart Dewel), and the servants. There has been a campaign to unnerve Miriam--her prize flowers have been trampled and a "dismal" (Rachel's word) doll has appeared with all the appearance of having been murdered and buried.

Before Rachel can meet with Miriam to get her side of things, Miriam is found dead in her bed with horrible injuries--her bones are fractured as if she's been crushed. When it's discovered that Miriam was actually killed by an old tractor--which her stepson Rick had the most use for--the investigating sheriff immediately focuses attention on the young man. But Miss Rachel is certain that someone else is responsible. Now she just has to find the evidence to prove it to the disbelieving lawman.

As I mention above, this was a very middle-of-the-road read for me. I enjoy the Rachel Murdock books very much, but I think I missed her working with Lieutenant Mayhew. Olsen tried to set up the same relationship of half-antagonism/half-cooperation with Sheriff Butterworth that Rachel enjoys with the lieutenant, but it just doesn't come off. And Rachel doesn't seem to be on the top of her game here when it comes to sleuthing, especially when compared to the selections from the series I've already read. 

The best part of the book is the involvement of Jennifer--the relationship between the two sisters has always been a comical one. But in this outing Jennifer overhears a conversation that contains--in her mind--a clue. A clue that Rachel has missed! So, Jennifer goes off on her own little scavenger hunt. When Rachel catches her in the act of crawling around boilers, she refuses to tell her sister what she was up to. It isn't until the wrap-up that Jennifer is willing to reveal what she heard and why she was playing detective on her own. There's also the little matter of the athletic abilities of these two seventy-year-olds. Having looked up Rachel's bio for Kate at Cross Examining Crime, I now know that she was the earliest known stunt-woman in motion pictures. So, if she's kept fit, then it's reasonable that she could be crawling in and out of windows. But Jennifer? Yes, the scene is funny. But is it realistic?

I will say that overall Olsen captures her characters very well. All of them--not just the Murdock ladies. We get excellent thumbnail sketches of each one and the action that follows fills in the characters nicely. The setting is also good, though after being told that Miriam had a 35-room house I was expecting more of the action to take place indoors. Given the under-lying comedy in the plot, I think there was a missed opportunity for a B-movie, hide-and-seek feel late at night. 

An enjoyable mystery with a twist at the end. I did see it coming, but it may come as a surprise to some. ★★★

[Kate has also reviewed this one--giving it higher marks than me. Perhaps, if like Kate this had been my first outing with Rachel Murdok, I might have joined her with a higher rating. Please see Kate's review HERE.]

First line: Miss Jennifer Murdock, a plain spinsterish little old lady of seventy-two, put on the most disapproving expression she knew and looked across the hump of her embroidery hoop at her sister.

Last line: Miss Rachel just discreetly kept still.
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Deaths = 4 (one poisoned; one natural; one stabbed; one shot)

*The cover above belongs to the edition I have. Unfortunately, mine did not come with a dustjacket.