In the Shadows

My favorite feline curled on my lap and snuggled next to my leg when I was knitting or reading last week. When he wanted a treat, he craftily curled his tailed around my leg as he passed me. And when he slept on the black leather couch, much of his body was in its shadow.

Shadow, the feline in Kate Klise's and M. Sarah Klise's latest book in the 43 Old Cemetery Road series, seems hidden for much of the story - until a litter of kittens at the end reveals the reason for her absence. For those not familiar with the sisters' books (including Regarding the Fountain, Letters from Camp, and two others in this series), be prepared for constant puns and a different format. Their novels are told through messages, letters, newspaper articles, stories, memos, and other interesting word-filled correspondence. Till Death Do Us Bark kept me giggling as their use of invented names and ghostly language flowed over the pages.

Consider the main characters Olive C. Spence, the ghost who inhabits the Spense Mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road, Ignatius (aka I.B.) Grumply, the writer who buys the house and forms a writing partnership with Olive, and Seymour Hope, the young boy whose parents abandoned him and who has been recently adopted by the former two. Add to these folks the town sheriff, Mike Ondolences, the lawyer Rita O'Bitt, the banker Fay Tality, and the librarian M. Balm. With more pun-filled language, the mystery of the town's deceased millionaire's fortune unfolds through limericks (with a short guide for writing them included on the inside back cover) and research. It was the perfect book to complement the seriousness of One Hundred Names for Love, finished yesterday as well.