Mudpie Interviews: Sylvester from Nine LiFelines by Joyce Ann Brown (w/Giveaway)

From the publisher: The elevator won’t go to the tenth floor, someone is breaking into condos, and the well-heeled Ukrainian renter isn’t paying the rent. Beth and Arnie have retired to the building where Beth’s last rental unit is located, and Beth, the klutzy landlady, has declared herself through solving mysteries. Then, her renter is arrested for the murder of the neighbor who fell (was pushed?) from the tenth-story balcony and the dead neighbor’s grandchildren are left with only their wheelchair-ridden grandmother to care for them. Beth feels compelled to help out.Are Sylvester’s psycho-cat behaviors providing clues? Is the renter actually the killer? Do the break-ins and elevator problem have anything to do with the murder? Even Arnie, who has always told Beth to keep her nose out of police business, gets involved—for the sake of the children.

Purchase Link: Amazon

Welcome Sylvester! Angel Truffles interviewed you last summer but I hope you don't mind taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with me too. I understand there have been some changes to your living arrangements in the past year? Can you tell us a little about that and what those changes have meant for you? 

Living at the top of a ten-story building—what could be more fun for a cat? Unless it was living in a tree house. I’m an indoor cat, though, and probably a little too spoiled to live outdoors all year.

One thing I enjoy here that I didn’t get to do when we lived in our big house is going for walks on a leash. Beth walks me around the condo building and on the Trolley Track Trail where she speed-walks for exercise. I reap the benefit.

Beth is the landlady of a rental unit in our condo building. I’ve met her tenants. Hélène is from Paris and speaks to me with a wonderful French accent. Her toddler daughter, Fabienne, is learning to speak three languages—French from her mother, Ukrainian from her father, and English. My little friend, Fabienne, and I are pushed in our own strollers on the trail when we get tired of walking.

Give us the scoop on your new book, Nine LiFelines...and do you lend a paw in Beth's investigation?

The minute we move into our new condo on the tenth floor of the building where Beth is a landlady for a different unit, Beth and Arnie discover some strange things going on in the building. The elevator won’t go directly to the tenth floor, someone is breaking into condos just to steal some small items such as rubber bands or paper coasters, and Beth’s renter is slow with rent payments even though he makes good money.

Then, the neighbor across the hall falls from his tenth-story balcony, and the police call it a homicide. All the evidence points to the Beth’s tenant. He’s arrested, and Beth tries to prove his innocence for the sake of his wife and child. She also wants to help the family of the murdered man. Of course, I help by scratching out clues.

In this book you spend a lot of time with kids...how do you feel about the little rugrats?

I was shy of Beth and Arnie’s grandchildren when they first started crawling. It was only because they grabbed at my tail and hit, rather than stroked, my fur. Back then, I hid away in a bedroom or under the sofa whenever they visited. Now, they have grown into small humans, and I relate to them as such. Fabienne, my toddler stroller buddy, is still young, but I care about her, especially, and consider her a person to be protected.

Is your character based in any way on your author's two kitties, Moose and Chloe?

Moose and Chloe act cat-like crazy sometimes, and Joyce Ann Brown uses that behavior in her stories. She has been other cats’ human, too, and her relatives and friends have cats. She hears all the stories. In the first book of the Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series, CATastrophic Connections, my character was based on a story my author heard from a good friend about a psycho cat who saved her mistress from an attacker.

Anything you can tell us about your upcoming adventures?

After their adventures in the third book in the series, Nine LiFelines, Beth’s husband, Arnie, said that now they’ve retired from their careers, Beth should retire from solving mysteries. She agreed. I’m getting up there in years, too. But… Beth’s mother, Olive, moved into a retirement community, and we’ve been going over there to visit her. A couple of times, we saw a rough-looking, red-faced man coming out of the apartment next door, and Olive told us he was her neighbor’s son-in-law. Through the wall, she hears him yelling. I noticed that frown of concern on Beth’s face. I wonder if she’s thinking about looking into the situation—sleuthing. Actually, I may have felt a guttural growl escape from my throat at the sight of the big ape. Keep watching for updates.

Tortie Shorties Review: This is the first book I've read in Joyce Ann Brown's Psycho Cat and the Landlady Mystery series, and the crime-solving duo of Beth and Sylvester didn't disappoint!

Beth and her husband Arnie have moved into the building where their rental unit is located, and while they're looking forward to a carefree summer with their grandchildren visiting, they can't ignore the strange goings on in their new home, not the least of which is their mysterious neighbors in the penthouse across the hall. Beth and Arnie have never met their new neighbors, but when a man falls (or was pushed?) off his 10th story balcony, Beth decides to bring food over and express her condolences. What she finds is a Spanish-speaking lady in a wheelchair and two young children who have been forced to lead a very sheltered existence. Beth attempts to befriend the family by introducing the kids to her grandchildren and in the process learns all about the tragic lives they've been forced to lead. When Beth's tenants downstairs (who are falling behind in their rent payments) get caught up in the mystery, she ends up in a very sticky situation.

If you like your cozies to star cute kids and cats, a timely message, and a surprising outcome, this is the one for you!

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