Detective Lieutenant Stephen Mayhew has been heard to complain that the murder of the Sticklemann woman was the damnedest case that he ever met up with; that it got progressively worse as it dragged along; and that it set him at such insane tasks as pulling hairs out of Miss Rachel's wealthy cat and forcing a timid fat woman to scream. Samantha, the cat to whom a fortune had been left, was very much the center of the whole story, from the moment when she brought in to Miss Rachel some delicious-looking raw meat, with glistening poison crystals on it, through to the time when she saw murder committed, but remained shining black when the whole tiny room was made a red shambles. As for Miss Rachel herself: there was shock and grief, and a time when the cold fingers of death had almost clutched her. But at only one time was she really desperately afraid. Dolores Hitchens introduces the three characters who make of this book an excellent story packed with suspense, excitement and mystery. - Summary by original book cover