Book review: Murder mystery meets cat lifesaving

Trap, Neuter, Die: A DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery by Sharon Marchisello. Level Best Books, 2024. Softcover, 286 pages.

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While Trap, Neuter, Die — the first entry of the DeeLo Myer Cat Rescue Mystery series by Sharon Marchisello — does involve a homicide investigation, cat lovers need not worry. There’s also plenty of feline lifesaving.

The novel’s protagonist, DeeLo Myer, has been sentenced to community service in her small Georgia town. So she’s helping the local humane society’s trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) program, humanely trapping cats so they can be spayed or neutered and vaccinated before being returned to their outdoor home.

She’s paired with the feisty, crusty Catherine Foster, a TNVR expert. On their first night out, DeeLo and Catherine stumble upon the body of a local bookstore owner who, as it turns out, had quite a few townspeople who had reasons for wanting her dead.  

The police investigating end up arresting Catherine for violating an outdated town ordinance that says TNVR is illegal. She’s also held as a suspect in the bookstore owner’s death. So to clear Catherine’s name, DeeLo takes up the tasks of finding the real murderer. Now that she’s come to care about the cats as well, she also makes it her mission to change the ordinance against TNVR.

Author Sharon Marchisello has crafted an excellent cozy crime novel filled with a cast of likable characters, both human and feline. Avoiding the problem of many agenda-driven books, Sharon manages to seamlessly incorporate TNVR information into the larger plot without allowing it to override the mystery. The novel is as satisfying as it is informational and will appeal to all cat lovers with a penchant for crime-solving stories.

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Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.