Title: The Dark Hiss of Magic (The Cat Lady Chronicles Book Two)
Publisher: Harperfire
Author: Helen Harper
Pages: 284pp

Kit McCafferty — cat sith, former assassin, and proud caretaker of a brood of independent felines — was all set to enjoy her retirement in the magical border town of Coldstream. After getting caught up in a scheme to summon a demon, which she barely thwarted, Kit now finds herself diving into the Tweed River to rescue a drowning witch, and then stumbling into a serial murder investigation. Well, she may be a retired assassin, but Kit has ethics; she’s not going to stand by while someone cuts a bloody swathe through the innocents of Coldstream. With the ginger-haired werewolf Thane at her side, and a diverse group of witches, nymphs, trolls, and ordinary humans both helping and hindering her investigation, Kit moves closer and closer to solving an ancient mystery … one which could upset the balance of power in Coldstream and the world beyond.

Helen Harper is a terrific author, and I have loved almost everything that I have read by her. The Cat Lady Chronicles is no exception. Coldstream is a fully-realized city filled with a variety of species, dark corners, quirky neighborhoods, and competing political factions. Kit just wants to keep her head down, take care of her cats, and hang out with the mysterious Trilby at the market; she has no interest in getting dragged into the skirmishes between the witches, druids, werewolves, and others. That very reluctance makes her just the hero needed to keep the people of Coldstream safe.

Then there are the cats. Tiddles the kitten, who is making Thane’s life miserable (or so he claims). She Without an Ear, He Who Roams Wide, He Who Guards, He Who Must Sleep, She Who Loves Sunbeams, and He Who Crunches Bird Bones all contribute in some way to her adventures … though they do complain loudly when she misses mealtime.

As of this writing, The Cat Lady Chronicles is a trilogy, with a fourth book coming in May 2026. Harper is launching a sequel series featuring different characters, but I really hope we see more of Kit, Thane, and the kitties in future books. Highly recommended to fans of Harper’s other series, as well as fans of the Sparks and Philtres series by Tansy Rayner Roberts, the Little Yokai series by Scott Walker, Lindsay Buroker’s Death Before Dragons series, and Under the Dragon Moon by Mawce Hanlin.