Cat Breaking Free

By: Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

The fur starts flying when a gang from L.A. comes up to tranquil Molena Point, California, and begins breaking into the village's quaint shops. Joe Grey, Feline P.I., has called Molena Point home since he was a kitten, and he doesn't take well to marauding strangers.

Joe even wonders whether the blonde who's moved in next to his human companion Clyde could be a part of the gang - she's been acting pretty suspicious lately.

But when the strangers start trapping and caging feral cats it proves too much for Grey. And when one of the gang is murdered, and a second mysterious death comes to light, he has no choice but to try and stop the crimes.

©2005 Shirley Rousseau Murphy (P)2008 BBC Audio

Talking cats, but...fun and a great reader!!!

OK, this mystery features talking cats, so it's probably not for everyone. I've actually followed this series (in paper) from it's beginning, and although the writer can be a bit too bourgeoisie sometimes, there still are some interesting characters and bizarre sub-plots. What has really breathed new life into the series for me is the audiobooks with narrator William Dufris. He also does the highly entertaining Holmes on the Range series. His voice has just the right touch of humor to make the talking cat thing palatable and interesting. I kinda thought that Joe Grey would be more of a tough cat, though...

Recommended juvenile literature

Charming murder mystery with cats that can read and talk ... but only their "owners" know. As an adult reader, it was disappointing and you can drive holes through some of the story. But for juvenile readers... PURR fect! Nothing racy, no bad language. Cute, cute, cute.

not happy with new narrator

new narrator is horrible! he should never do women voices and stick to only children books only. I thought this was a cute easy listen series but now I dont think I'll be able to finish the books because of new narrator.

Terrible narration

The awful narration made all the difference ,and not in a good way.If I hadn't listened to and loved previous books ,I would never listen to another Joe Grey mystery.The stories are well written creative and the characters are real three dimensional people. This narrator makes the down to earth tomcat sound like the kind of arrogant snot that you'd find looking down his nose at you in a New England drawing room.He makes Joe completely repellant.He is also terrible at women's voices .Please change back to the original narrator.,or I'll have to reconsider getting the rest of the books in the series.

A Home For Kitt!

Enjoyed the story about Kit getting her new home. Then the surprise of her very own tree house! I love that Charley is
writing a book about Kits life with exclusive pictures off the little tortoise shell. Did not care for the store line. To grusome for my tast for this writer. I have enjoyed all her other books so far.
Did Not care for the narrator at all.

Condescending cat?

Would you try another book from Shirley Rousseau Murphy and/or William Dufris?

No

Has Cat Breaking Free turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

How could the performance have been better?

Well, this book is written from the cats perspective, which would have been fine, but the cat sounds, to me, condescending! I purchased the title because of the reviews, they're great, I guess my idea of entertainment is very different from other people.

What character would you cut from Cat Breaking Free?

Don't know, didn't finish, and don't know if I will.

Any additional comments?

I'm still in search of a better kitty mystery!

Narration Makes a Difference

Was surprise to hear a new male narrator on this book after listening to the same female voice on the first 10 books in the series. The new take on characters and voices was hard to follow. Most of the main characters came across as Whitney and annoying. Not the comfortable, likable characters I had come to know. I didn’t enjoy this story as much as the others.

Caged Cats and Old Dates

The narration by William Dufris is not up to Susan Boyce standards . . . but other than that, this is a solid entry in the Joy Grey Mystery series. Charlie Harper finds a feral (talking) cat while she is out horseback riding, and releases him. The cat, Stone Eye is the leader of the clowder which Kit belonged to up on Hellhag Hill. Charlie also discovers a dead motorcyclist. Meanwhile an old flame of Clyde's has moved in next door, and Joe Grey has his eye on her. Chichi Barbi stole money from Clyde when they were dating, and Joe Grey is sure that she's up to no good. Joe, Dulcie and Kit are determined to get to the bottom of the murder of the cyclist, the return of the clowder to Hellhag hill and exactly what Chichi Barbi is up to. Another great Joe Grey story! Don't miss it!

Great book, Narration not so much

I have been working my way through this entire series and have loved the narrator, then I got to this book. I almost quit with the series because of it. The only reason I did not is because I looked ahead and saw it was only two books and I will be getting back to the previous narrator, but this took some serious perseverance. This narrator made the characters sound like the most pompous, snobby, pretentious, whining idiots. Made me not even like the good guys, or the CATS! The book was great fun, but would be a better read than listen, especially if you are used to the previous narrator.

The fun concept was lost in the execution

The book is wordy. meanderung, and repetitious which kills the fun concept. What a waste of potential.