Truffles Interviews...Thumper from Elaine Faber's Black Cat's Legacy

Hey everybody, Truffles at the keyboard! Today I'm purring with excitement because I'm interviewing Thumper, the feline star of Elaine Faber's new Black Cat Mystery series. Black Cat's Legacy is the purr-fect book to take with you on vacation this summer!

Guess what, guess what, guess what??? Would you believe that Elaine also has a tortoiseshell cat named Truffles??? I've posted her picture below...she sure is a cutie pie!

Black Cat’s Legacy is available at Amazon for $3.99 for e-book or $13.00 for paperback on Elaine's website (free shipping).

Welcome Thumper, thank you so much for joining me! How did you and Kimberlee come to meet?
Thanks for inviting me, Truffles. Let’s see... Kimberlee and her little girl, Amanda, had some car trouble and left the freeway to have the car checked. She stopped at Herman’s Motor Lodge, where I live. Kimberlee used to live in the tumble-down house next door when she was a toddler. That’s where her father was murdered 25 years ago.

What's a typical day like for you at Fern Lake?
Before Kimberlee arrived, I greeted the fishermen on the dock, or helped out in the gift shop. At night, I’d select a vacationer missing his kitty back home and sleep on the end of his bed. On BBQ night, with a well-placed ankle rub, I would score a bite of hamburger or hotdog. I prefer mine without mustard. Visitors from the East Coast are usually the softest touch. Kids are always a push-over.

What is the mystery that you get to help Kimberlee solve in Black Cat's Legacy?
Well, you know how humans mistakenly say we have instinct? Not on your tin-type. Everything our ancestors ever saw or did is in our ‘memories’ all the way back to the 17th century. When certain things trigger those memories, we can ‘see’ the whole event our ancestors experienced. Because my ancestor witnessed the murder−Oh my−I knew I had to help Kimberlee solve her father’s murder. I figured it would tax my energies immensely, but it was my legacy to help her. When we started to uncover the Fern Lake mysteries, Kimberlee found out more about her father than she ever wanted to know.

In what way are you able to help her out?
Kimberlee meets Brett, an author writing a book about her father’s murder, and a shapely blonde homicide detective who has the hots for Brett. (Though, he has the hots for Kimberlee! Look out! Love triangle!) They joined forces to solve the murder. The house, where the murder occurred, had sat empty for 25 years ago. Thus, there were letters and pictures and secret hidey-holes in the house that I would try to point out to Kimberlee, but she didn’t always recognize the clue. In addition, I loved Amanda and comforted Kimberlee when she quarreled with Brett…when the course of true love takes a turn for the worse.

Have you noticed any bad people being prejudiced against you because you're a black cat?
Are you kidding? I am so gorgeous and with my magnanimous personality and catitude, most folks are completely besotted when I give them the time of day. There was someone at the lodge who hated Kimberlee and terrible things began to happen once she arrived. It was all Brett could do to keep her there. But you know how girls are. She stayed for Brett, often to her continued dismay.

Now onto some important cat stuff: do you have a favorite toy, food, and napping spot?
I prefer to nap on the lawn swing right outside the office door where I can scope out each visitor and assess their weaknesses when it comes to BBQ night. Favorite food... Hum. I like my canned meat in the AM and krunchies throughout the day. I do prefer a spot of cream just before bedtime. People are my playthings. It tickles my fancy to see how quickly I can twist a cat-hater around the sixth toe on my front foot and have him eating out of my paw before he leaves.

Anything you can tell us about your upcoming adventures?
In the sequel, coming out this fall, Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, Kimberlee takes me to Texas to visit her grandmother. We see wild horse, beautiful sunsets and prairie flowers. But there’s also a rattlesnake, a mountain lion, a dishonest attorney, a questionable stable master and more intrigue and mystery than you can imagine. Of course, at one point, I have to save Grandmother’s wretched life, even though I don’t like her much. She is family, after all. The vacation would have been a complete bust if I hadn’t met my soul-mate, Noe-Noe, and fell in love. Yowza! I’ve been a bachelor so long, who knew?

Pretty sure you’d like my book, Truffles. Through part of the story, I’m the POV character and you get to experience the Fern Lake adventure through my eyes. Things look different when it’s the cat telling the story.

Thanks for having me, Truffles. I’ve enjoyed our little talk. I hope you’ll let me interview you on “MOM’s” website, www.mindcandymysteries.com. If you want to write to MOM, she’s at Elaine.Faber@mindcandymysteries.com. She loves to write to authors and readers.

This is Elaine's Truffles the tortie!!!

Blurb: Thumper, the resident Fern Lake black cat, knows where the bodies are buried and it’s up to Kimberlee to decode the clues.

Kimberlee’s arrival at the Fern Lake lodge triggers the Black Cat’s Legacy. With the aid of his ancestors' memories, it’s Thumper's duty to guide Kimberlee to clues that can help solve her father's cold case murder. She joins forces with a local homicide detective and an author, also researching the murder for his next thriller novel. As the investigation ensues, Kimberlee learns more than she wants to know about her father. The murder suspects multiply, some dead and some still very much alive, but someone at the lodge will stop at nothing to hide the Fern Lake mysteries.

About the Author: Elaine Faber is a member of Sisters In Crime, California Cat Writers, and Inspire Christian Writers where she volunteers as an editor on their annual anthology. Her stories have appeared in multiple magazines and anthologies

Elaine enjoys talking about her novel, Black Cat’s Legacy, on mystery panels and at book signing events. The sequel, Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, featuring Thumper, a cat that plays cat and mouse with murder will be published in the fall. 

Elaine is currently putting the finishing touches on a WWII novel, where Ms. Agnes Odboddy, an eccentric widow woman fights the war from the home front. She sees Black Marketers and Nazi spies around every corner. Her accusations are usually misguided until she gets involved with a missing fortune from Hawaii, a casket company, six roosters and an old lover from her past. Find more of Elaine’s stories on Facebook and at www.mindcandymysteries.com

Tortie Shorties

Book reviews that are short and sweet...just like Truffles!



Do yourself a favor and download this little gem onto your e-reader before heading out to the beach this summer. Whether you're a fan of romantic suspense, gothic romance, or my favorite, the cat cozy, this is a real page-turner with loads of intrigue. I always love cozies where there is a mystery from the past to be solved, and this one has the extra special twist of Thumper helping Kimberlee solve the mystery by leading her to important clues using the memories of his feline ancestors. Suspenseful, atmospheric, and compelling...oh, and Truffles thinks that Thumper is a real hunk, too!