The first in a new series, Black Cat Crossing, set in small town Lavender, Tx, has fledgling author Sabrina Tate newly arrived back to town to help her Aunt Rowe (short for Rowena) care for her vacation cottage business while Rowe recovers from a broken leg.  Soon after, cousin Bobby Joe (not just the black sheep of the family, more like the rotten sheep) turns up and quarrels with Aunt Rowe and later turns up dead.  With her new pet cat, Hitchcock (wrongly called El Gato Diablo, the devil cat) Sabrina races to solve the murder before her aunt is arrested for his murder.

I really enjoyed this book; a really great plot with so many twists, I stopped trying to figure out who killed Bobby Joe.  There were also a couple of side-plots that really added to the book, rather than distracting from the main plot or bogging things down.

The main character was likeable, I enjoyed that she was also a fledgling mystery writer (whose book sounds pretty interesting!) and Hitchcock the cat is a great side kick. Lots of colorful small-town characters, but not so many that you can't keep them all straight. 

One comment though; in the book, Sabrina answers a call on her cell phone and when the other person hangs up, Sabrina hears a click, then the dial tone.   Except there are no dial tones on cell phones.  A small point, but it annoyed me none the less.

Overall, a great start to a new series and I'm already eager for the next one.