The Black Cat Detectives
A charming cozy mystery with a delightful twist: the detectives are three kittens with magical powers, determined to solve a most purr-plexing case.
Precocious kittens Bippity, Boppity, and Boop are exceedingly loyal to their human, the 28-year-old up-and-coming magician Mila. She saved them from starving to death in a dingy Corvin’s Crossing alleyway and has been nothing but loving ever since, even though her own life is in shambles.
So when Mila’s sketchy boyfriend and business manager turns up dead at the end of her big magic show, she’s the prime suspect. With evidence mounting, there’s nothing stopping the sheriff from hauling Mila away to the human pound. Unless the kittens can solve the crime and clear her name.
The kittens will have to use their dubious control over the laws of physics and every whisker of know-how they’ve got to catch the real killer if they want to save their happy home with Mila. This is one meow-stery more tangled than any ball of yarn they’ve encountered yet.
Additional information
| Genre | LGBTQ+, Mystery/Crime, Speculative |
|---|---|
| Age | Adult |
| Publisher | Independent |
| Imprint | Crooked Lane Books |
| Language(s) | English |
| Format(s) | eBook, Hardcover, Trade paperback |
| Author | Kit Gray |
| Release Date | 26 May 2026 |
| Release Month | May Releases |
| Author Identity | Chronic Illness, Disabled, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Neurodivergent |
About the Author
Elise Scott’s writes from their lived experiences of queerness, disability, neurodivergence, fat-positivity, and petting three cats with two hands. They earned their bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke and their Master’s from Capella University, and now write full-time in Connecticut. Elise is a 3rd place winner of the Not Quite Write Prize and a Best of the Net 2025 nominee. Their first novel, The Black Cat Detectives, featuring three kitten sleuths who must solve a murder and prove their rescuer’s innocence before she’s hauled away to the human pound forever, debuts on May 26, 2026. Their work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Advocate, Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive Horror, The Not Quite Write Anthology 2025, The B’K, Five Minutes, High Shelf, HerStry, Knee Brace, All Existing, and Quibble, among others. Elise is represented by Marisa Corvisiero at Corvisiero Literary Agency. Find out what Elise is working on now at http://elise-scott.com.
