When the Cat's Away

A purloined feline from a Madison Square Garden cat show is the tip-off to a trail of murders, South American drug lords and a gang war that only Kinky can unravel. But there's more than one way to skin a cat, and Kinky may soon be wishing for nine lives.

Out of print for nearly a decade and never before available in electronic format, When The Cat's Away is the third of Kinky Friedman's internationally acclaimed mystery novels, republished with a new introduction by the author. 

   "His irreverent, bawdy and often outrageous adventures are like no others." (San Diego Union-Tribune)

   "A surefire cure for the blues." (New York Times)

   "Kinky Friedman is a hip hybrid of Groucho Marx and Sam Spade." (Chicago Tribune)

   "How is this mystery writer different from all other mystery writers? We don't read him to find out what happens next, we read him to find out how far he will far he will go." (The Washington Post)

   "Dear Kinky, I have now read all of your books. More, please. I really need the laughs!" (former President Bill Clinton)

   "A true Texas legend." (former President George Bush)

   "Genuinely funny fiction is rare, but genuinely funny crime fiction is rarer still. All the more reason, therefore, to celebrate..." (Sunday Times)

From the Author's Introduction: "Mysteries with cats as central characters have become so plentiful and predictable that I can’t believe that I’ve written fourteen and a half of them. … I would also argue that the cat is not so much a character in my novels as it is a conscience. You remember those. A lot of people used to have them in the Sixties. Back then, consciences were really in style. They were almost as popular as cats. … In When the Cat’s Away, the search for Jane Meara’s missing cat, Rocky, leads the Kinkster and his companion Ratso on a voyage of self-discovery not to mention traveling down the tawdry trails of murder, drug rings, gang wars, and the New York publishing business. In the real world Jane Meara was once a favorite editor of mine. Rocky was once a favorite cat of Jane’s. Rocky was bugled to Jesus about five years ago but she walks these pages undaunted and graceful as ever. That’s part of the reason I’m so pleased that Vandam Press has chosen this particular book to reprint as part of its new Masters of Crime series. It proves that some cats, as well as some books, do have nine lives. It also provides a chance, at least in the casino of fiction, for Jane to find Rocky again.. ..."