Cat Pay the Devil by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Molena Point, California, should be a tranquil place. Nestled quietly on the Pacific coast miles below San Francisco, it's not the kind of town escaped convicts seek out. But if you're a thief named Cage Jones, you've just sprung yourself from the clink, and the woman who turned state's witness and helped put you behind bars lives there––where better to go than Molena Point?

Wily Tomcat Joe Grey knows that something sinister is afoot when he hears about Cage Jones––but he doubts that his girlfriend Dulcie's suspicions that the escaped thief is after Dulcie's human companion, Wilma, are justified. But when Jones shoots a federal officer, and the bodies of two peaceful, local residents are found brutally murdered in their home, even the suspicious Feline Detective knows that things are only going to get worse. Paw–in–paw with Dulcie and their tattercoat friend Kit, the indomitable feline trio––with special powers that only a few select humans are privy to––team up to capture the thief, and in one of award–winning author Shirley Rousseau Murphy's most suspenseful and unforgettable books to date, bring peace to the town they love.