Escaping Los Angeles and theugly memories of her son’s recentmurder, Maudie Toola returns to her childhood home of Molena Point with her orphaned grandson, facing the upcoming Christmas holiday with trepidation. But she is not aware that the small seaside village is being plagued by a series of brutal attacks on single women . . . orthat the heartless fiend who shattered her world hasfollowed her here.

Feline sleuth Joe Grey and his cat pals have a lot on their dish this holiday season, and it overflows when an elderly wandering tomcat appears on the scene bearing an important message from a state prisoner for the chief of police. But this lonely old cat also has a personal agenda—as does Maudie Toola, who knows more than she’s telling about her son’s killer.