Siamese Cat Books for Adults - Novels, Short Stories, True Stories, Cozy Mysteries, New Books, and More...

Cats in the Belfry (Doreen Tovey)

Doreen Tovey wrote fourteen humorous, semi-autobiographical novels about her life with the Siamese cats, donkeys, and other animals she loved. The first of her Siamese cat books was Cats in the Belfry, first published in 1957, about her blue point Siamese Sugieh and kittens Solomon and Sheba. More books followed, nine of which have recently been republished as the Feline Frolics series.

Doreen's novels are listed on her Amazon author page; the Feline Frolics books are available in paperback and Kindle.

Her later work is out of print and tends to be expensive when you find it. Look out for rare finds in thrift stores! A complete list of Doreen's books is also available on our dedicated Doreen Tovey page.

'The Cat Who...' (Lilian Jackson Braun)

Lilian Jackson Braun's 'Cat Who...' murder mysteries were the forerunners of many of the modern 'cozy' mysteries, listed further down this page.

Starting with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, first published in 1966, featuring former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran (spelled with a 'w' because of his Danish father), his Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum and an assorted cast of unusual characters, Lilian Jackson Braun published twenty-nine novels in all.

Koko and Yum Yum are not conventional Siamese cats - in fact, they're the ones who usually solve the mysteries!

As the series begins, Jim Qwilleran is a small-time art reporter. Through a series of unusual incidents, he inherits a huge fortune on condition that he moves to the small town of Pickax, Moose County (four hundred miles north of anywhere).

Thereafter he enjoys a wonderful life, solving murders, usually of prominent citizens and other residents in the surrounding areas.

The whole series has now been re-released in paperback and Kindle, and the complete list can be found on our dedicated 'Cat Who...' page.

The Incredible Journey (Sheila Burnford)

A 1960s classic and one of the Siamese cat books that everyone probably knows, The Incredible Journey is an adventure story about a Labrador Retriever, a Bull Terrier, and a Siamese cat who make a dangerous journey through 300 miles of the Canadian wilderness to find their owners, meeting obstacles, unexpected help and friendship along the way.

Usually thought of as a children's book (and also listed on our Siamese cat books for kids page), it wasn't specifically written for children and contains plenty for adults to enjoy.

The Incredible Journey is very much worth another look if you haven't read it recently.

Return to Tythecott: The Story of a Siamese Cat (Sylvia Court)

Told from a Siamese cat's viewpoint, Return to Tythecott, with its beautiful cover artwork by Suzanne Le Good, is based on a true story - that of a special but traumatized cat, Rufus, who came into author Sylvia Court's life after being rescued from a derelict barn.

Sylvia had often wondered how such a beautiful creature could have ended up in such dire circumstances, and one day, sitting at her computer with Rufus on her lap, she felt the urge to start typing.

Through Rufus's eyes we follow his journey from his happy early life as a young Siamese kitten, through a series of fortunate and not-so-fortunate incidents as well as some truly terrifying times (in which he uses up a number of his nine cat lives) to the point where, eventually, the story comes full circle in the Return to Tythecott of the title.

The Expatriate Siamese (Pamela Legge)

Another tale told from the cat's point of view, The Expatriate Siamese stars Tia Maria, a beautiful chocolate point Siamese living with her owners on the Spanish Balearic island of Majorca after early beginnings in the UK.

Tia Maria has a wonderful life and enjoys the freedom of her mountain home, but events take a frightening turn when she is abducted by kidnappers.

Narrated by Tia Maria herself, the novel is fictional but has a basis in truth, as Tia Maria's owners did emigrate to the island, and some of the incidents described really happened.

Moon Diamonds (Madeleine Purslow)

 Moon Diamonds is about an actress, Monica, whose memory starts to fail her at crucial times, following the death of her mother. For a professional who relies on her memory for work, this is a disaster.

Deciding to retire rather than keep on struggling, Monica sets about filling her suddenly empty time (some of these scenes are hilarious!) and finds this difficult, but her love of her Siamese cats comes to the rescue.

Gentle, funny, poignant, and sweet, with well-drawn characters, Monica's dealings with the breeder from whom she gets her second cat are, in particular, a joy to read.

Hospitality to Angels (Madeleine Purslow)

Madeleine Purslow also wrote Hospitality to Angels, in which a four-year-old chocolate point Siamese called Lawrence has a pivotal role to play.

Lawrence is given a new home with Elizabeth after the death of his former owner, and the novel follows a year in Elizabeth's life as she struggles to reinvent herself after a lifetime spent in her mother's shadow.

There are some great characters in the story, together with a perfect depiction of an English village where everyone knows everyone else and makes it their business to know everybody else's business, too!

The story follows Elizabeth through moments of humor, fear, and sadness, and without giving too much away, you find yourself cheering her on when she eventually breaks free of her chains.

Some time ago I came across a delightful book called Charles: The Story of a Friendship by Michael Joseph, author and publisher.

First published in 1943, the book is out of print now, but copies are still available occasionally in the used book section on Amazon. It tells the story of the loving relationship between Michael Joseph and Charles O'Malley, a Siamese kitten he buys in 1930 as an addition to a household that already includes several cats.

Charles enjoys a varied life, from London in the early 1930s, through an army existence during the early years of World War II, and an idyllic existence on a farm until, in 1942 at the age of 12, he dies after a short respiratory illness.

The book ends with a beautiful poem, written by Michael Joseph, in a moving tribute to his beloved cat.

In a similar vein to Charles, above, Kym: The Story of a Very Special Friend was first published in 1976. Kym is the biography of Joyce Stranger's much-loved purebred Siamese - a cat who dominated and played havoc with her life. Kym was accident-prone, eccentric, and a great talker - as the book blurb says, "a cat with the grace of a dancer and the instincts of a prizefighter."

Joyce Stranger's fictional animal novels were well-loved favorites. In this true story, Kym's adventures are funny and frightening, and the scrapes he gets into are sometimes death-defying.

Harking back to an earlier time, some of Kym's adventures would probably be frowned upon these days but the book is endearing and addictive and beautifully told through Joyce Stranger's eyes.

Rescue Meez (Siri Zwemke)

Siri Zwemke single-handedly founded the Siamese Cat Rescue Center of Virginia and Rescue Meez is about her experiences. Siri details the mistakes she made, the successes she had, the things that went right and the things that went wrong over twenty years of being a self-described 'crazy cat lady'.

The book is honest, funny, and heartbreaking - matter of fact and down-to-earth, a delight and a tear-jerker, with tales of shelters, hoarders, cats rescued from terrible conditions - and even from guns.

Along the way, we meet Siri's favorite Siamese cats, including one so desperate for a home of his own that he forcibly trades places with another cat about to be rehomed, and hitches a ride all the way to North Carolina!

Never Tease a Siamese (Edie Claire)

The first modern Cozy Mystery I read was Never Tease a Siamese, by Edie Claire. I bought it for the title, but despite having a beautiful blue point on the cover, the book is only tangentially about Siamese cats.

One of a series of murder mysteries featuring an amateur sleuth called Leigh Koslow, whose dad is a vet, the Siamese cats in the title are part of a mix-up at Leigh's dad's veterinary clinic, but they're not an important part of the story. Although Leigh does have a cat of her own, it isn't a Siamese.

There are, however, several Cozy Mystery series in which Siamese cats are owned by the lead characters.

The Georgie Shaw Cozy Mysteries is (currently) a nine-book series. As you'll see, each of the covers features a Siamese cat. The cat in question, Miles, is owned by the series' protagonist, Georgie Shaw, who is thrown into a series of murder mysteries - and a love affair with a handsome detective.

The book description reminded me of the TV series Hart to Hart (for those who remember it): "When Georgie Shaw met Detective Jack Wheeler it was love and murder at first sight."

Georgie Shaw and Jack Wheeler have a second chance at love as they solve their way through a series of unlikely murders, many of them taking place at a theme park called Marvelous Marley World - which bears a resemblance to a family of famous resorts featuring a well-known mouse ...

Katherine Sinclair Cozy Mysteries  (Angie Cabot/Gary Jonas)

The Chakra Outline is the one and only Katherine Sinclair Cozy Mystery, but it's highly entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

"You are cordially invited to a murder ..."

Katherine Sinclair's aunts, Liz and Clara, own a metaphysical bookstore in Cassandra Springs, Colorado. Liz thinks she's psychic, and Clara sees ghosts.

Katherine is invited to attend an annual murder game by Aunt Liz. Aunt Liz thinks she is going to be murdered, so, unsurprisingly, she later turns up dead!

It's up to Katherine to solve the mystery, along with her only ally, A Siamese cat called Nico.

(Angie Cabot is one of the pen names of author Gary Jonas, best known for his Jonathan Shade series.)

'The Cats That' series of eleven novels by Karen Anne Golden is, to my mind, the series that's probably the most similar to Lilian Jackson Braun's books, and the longest in the Cozy Mystery genre of Siamese cat books.

The heroine, Katherine "Katz" Kendall, inherits a fortune and a huge pink mansion in Erie, Indiana, from her aunt (not unlike Jim Qwilleran's inheritance in The Cat Who ...) on condition that she lives in the house and takes care of her aunt's cat, Abby the Abyssinian.

Abby, together with Katz's own Siamese cats, Scout and Abra (plus others, as the series unfolds) always play a role in solving the mysteries.

Then there's the five-book Sarah Blair Mysteries series, in which the heroine combines a love of Siamese cats with a love of cooking and a habit of getting caught up in juicy murders!

This is reflected in the titles - One Taste Too Many, Two Bites Too Many, Three Treats Too Many, Four Cuts Too Many, and Five Belles Too Many.

Featuring Sarah Blair's feisty Siamese cat RahRah, each of the novels ends with a recipe or two for foods that feature in the book.