This summer, there’s trouble brewing at the Cove County Fair!
Camelia Collins, Ocean Cove’s most recent resident over seventy years of age, is all set to go to the fair! The smell of the popcorn, the roar of the crowd, the Ferris wheel and the pony shows—things she remembers from childhood and looks forward to experiencing again.
But something’s up at the Cove County Fair. Camelia’s new friend Alice, keeper of an aging tiger, is murdered, and the tiger goes missing. Who did it? A rogue band of aggressive animal activists seem like the obvious culprits, but they deny the act.
Only one entity knows the truth—the ghost cat Soji, but will the capricious spirit decide to come forward before someone else dies?
Mudpie was very excited to have the opportunity to interview Soji, the feline star of this series. We hope you enjoy meeting her!
Welcome, Soji! Thank you so much for chatting with me today. Could you start by telling us a little about yourself and how you came to meet Camelia? After all, you are...um...a ghost...
Soji: What to say? I Soji. Does not everyone know? But since you ask so nicely, I tell. I do like to speak of myself.
I, the spirrrit manifestation of one long-dead. Here my history, as written in the Ocean Cove Museum in the room of my name:
Soji was born around the turn of the twentieth century in one of Ocean Cove’s original homesteads. It is said she lived to the ripe old age of thirty-two. When she passed, her owners were so devastated, they laid her to rest in the back yard under a flat river stone engraved with the words, ‘Now Gone To Her Tenth Life, Beloved Soji.’
Everyone agrees she was black, though some say she was big and long furred like a Norwegian Forest cat and others say slim and shorthaired. In her manifestations as the Ocean Cove Ghost Cat, she always appeared misty white, as might be expected of a phantom. Many claim to have witnessed her, and our archive is fortunate to have photographs.
The property on which she was buried was sold during World War II. Sometime after that, the original homestead was razed and a new house built, but the stone remains to this day.
And of the human Camelia? Her coming to live in my home coincided with danger. Though I not manifest for many decades prrrevious, only I could save her life.
What made you decide to spend your time in the afterlife solving crimes?
Soji: Not a decision but a calling. Some say I come back to right great wrongs. I, the Joan of Arc of cats.
Do you have any interaction with living kitties, such as Camelia's tuxie Blaze?
Soji: The living cat Blaze is my frrriend. He is warm against my cold. I am feline, after all, and do enjoy a cuddle.
I read that you're the 7th black kitten of a 7th black kitten. What does that mean?
Soji: Yes, it is true. That rare lineage makes me immortal. I not know about it when alive, but found to my surprise that even after death, I still here. Now I free. I come and go at will, stalk through walls, appear out of thin air. I do miss chasing mice, for I have no need to eat. Sometimes I still do it for fun. To be a ghost cat is supreme!
Can you give us any clues as to what's next for you?
Soji: Christmas is coming…
About the Author:
Cat Writer Mollie Hunt is the award-winning author of two cozy series, the Crazy Cat Lady Mysteries and the Tenth Life Mysteries. Her Cat Seasons Sci-Fantasy Tetralogy features extraordinary cats saving the world. Mollie also pens a bit of cat poetry.
Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, the Cat Writers’ Association, and Northwest Independent Writers Association (NIWA). She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and a varying number of cats.
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