Book 1Coming
Murder at Seabrook Pier
A locked cabinet. A missing music box. And a death the police called an accident.
Coming to Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
Penrose Investigations, the prequel
A Small Matter of a Missing Cat
Arthur Penrose spent thirty years catching criminals. He had rather hoped retirement would be quieter.
Arthur Penrose is seventy, retired, and not investigating anything. Then Mrs Finch mentions Dora Tilling’s missing cat. The police were not interested. Penrose says that cats wander, and goes back the next morning all the same. The prequel to the Penrose Investigations cosy mysteries, and where they begin.
Free with the Postcards, coming soon.
Not for sale, and not quite ready. It will be sent, free, to readers of Postcards from Seabrook.
Format
- Ebook
- Free to subscribers
Every Penrose mystery stands alone. Start here if you like.
In this book
The players
The case
A missing cat, and a retired detective who would like to finish his tea in peace.
Arthur Penrose is seventy, and retired after thirty years in the police. He walks the sea wall at half past eight, takes his usual table at Finch’s Tea Room and reads the Seabrook Chronicle. He is fine. He is perfectly fine.
Then Mrs Finch mentions Dora Tilling’s cat. A grey tabby, twelve years old, always home before dark, and missing since Sunday. Dora is seventy-eight and lives alone. The police were not interested.
Cats wander, Penrose says. It is what they do. These things usually resolve themselves.
They do not resolve themselves.
He goes back the next morning, and takes out a notebook he has not opened since he left the force. Down at the harbour, the old fish store at the far end of the quay has two new padlocks. Bright steel, properly fitted. Penrose notices them because he notices most things.
His grand-niece Alice, who is sixteen and edits the school paper, finds a public record on her phone in about twelve seconds. Inspector Wainwright observes that none of it is a crime.
It is not an investigation. Penrose is taking a walk.
A Small Matter of a Missing Cat is the prequel to the Penrose Investigations series: a short cosy mystery set in a small British seaside town, where the tea is strong, the gossip is reliable, and nothing is ever quite as simple as it first appears.
Questions readers ask
Is A Small Matter of a Missing Cat a standalone?
Yes. A Small Matter of a Missing Cat is a complete story and needs no other book. It is also where the Penrose Investigations begin: it tells how a missing cat talked Arthur Penrose out of retirement. Read it first, or come back to it after one of the novels.
Is A Small Matter of a Missing Cat a cosy mystery?
Yes. A Small Matter of a Missing Cat has no gore and no swearing, and nobody dies in it. The trouble begins with a missing cat, and most of the detecting is done on foot or over tea.
Is there a cat?
Yes, and in A Small Matter of a Missing Cat he is the case. Dora Tilling’s grey tabby, twelve years old, has not come home. Readers of the later books know him as Holmes. He is an ordinary cat: he does not talk and he does not solve anything.
Where is Seabrook?
Seabrook is a fictional seaside town on the south coast of England, with a Victorian pier, a working harbour and a High Street. No county is ever named. The nearest railway station is at Hartbury, two miles inland. A Small Matter of a Missing Cat is set there in October 2025, after the summer visitors have gone.
How long is A Small Matter of a Missing Cat?
A Small Matter of a Missing Cat is a novella of thirteen chapters, a good deal shorter than the novels that follow. It has not been released yet, so there is no page count to give.
Is A Small Matter of a Missing Cat on Kindle Unlimited?
No. A Small Matter of a Missing Cat is not sold anywhere, so it is not in Kindle Unlimited. It is the free book for subscribers to Postcards from Seabrook, the monthly newsletter, and will be sent to them when the download is ready. The three novels that follow are planned for Kindle Unlimited.
Is there an audiobook of A Small Matter of a Missing Cat?
Not yet. An audiobook of Book 1, Murder at Seabrook Pier, is in production, and none has been announced for A Small Matter of a Missing Cat.
What order should I read the Penrose Investigations in?
Any order you like. Every Penrose mystery stands alone. If you prefer to begin at the beginning, this is it: A Small Matter of a Missing Cat comes first, followed by Murder at Seabrook Pier, Grounds for Murder and The Seabrook Regatta Sabotage.
Also in the series
Book 2Coming
Grounds for Murder
Stolen tools. Prize plants destroyed. And a week of trouble the police called a civil matter.
Coming to Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
Book 3Coming
The Seabrook Regatta Sabotage
Regatta week, and somebody is sinking Seabrook’s chances one boat at a time.
Coming to Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.
Holmes wisdom: Holmes gives off more heat than seems reasonable in an animal of his size. Penrose has not complained.