The Black Cat Detectives: A Mystery by Kit Gray
About The Black Cat Detectives
The Black Cat Detectives: A Mystery
Cozy Animal Mystery
Setting - Corvin's Crossing—a small fictional island off the coast of New England
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books
Publication date : May 26, 2026
Print length : 304 pages
Hardcover ISBN-13 : 979-8892425520
ASIN : B0FNW3NQ3C
Paperback ISBN-13 : 979-8892425537
ASIN : B0FNVM2SHD
Digital ISBN-13 : 979-8892425544
ASIN : B0FNW6TDN4
A charming cozy mystery with a delightful twist: The detectives are three kittens with magical powers, determined to solve a most purr-plexingcase.
Precocious kittens Bippity, Boppity, and Boop are exceedingly loyal to their human, the twenty-eight-year-old up-and-coming magician Mila. She saved them from starving to death in a dingy Corvin’s Crossing alleyway and has been nothing but loving ever since, even though her own life is in shambles.
So when Mila’s sketchy boyfriend and business manager turns up dead at the end of her big magic show—she’s the prime suspect. With evidence mounting, there’s nothing stopping the sheriff from hauling away Mila to the human pound. Unless the kittens can solve the crime and clear hername.
The kittens will have to use their dubious control over the laws of physics and every whisker of know-how they’ve got to catch the real killer if they want to save their happy home with Mila. This is one meow-stery more tangled than any ball of yarn they’ve encountered yet.
About Kit Gray
Kit Gray aka Elise Scott writes from their lived experiences of queerness, disability, neurodivergence, fat-positivity, and petting three cats with two hands. Their life has been an adventure, from facilitating equine therapy for trauma survivors to counseling at-risk youth with the aid of an inordinately large sub-woofer and beyond. They earned their BA from Mount Holyoke and their MS from Capella University. Their debut novel, a cozy mystery featuring three kittens with the ability to bend the laws of physics, who must solve a murder to save their rescuer from the human pound, is forthcoming from Crooked Lane in May 2026. Elise is a Not Quite Write Prize winner and Best-of-the-Net nominee. Their short work has appeared/is forthcoming in The Advocate, Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive Horror, The Not Quite Write Anthology 2025, The B'K, Five Minutes, Knee Brace, All Existing, and Quibble, among others. Find out what they’re working on now at http://elise-scott.com.
INTERVIEW
1.
When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer?
I
figured out how to read on my own when I was about three years old. I’ve loved
reading for as long as I can remember, and as soon as it occurred to me that every
story began in someone’s mind, I knew I wanted to be a writer.
As
I grew up, I became more practical and focused my studies and energy on things
I could do to make a living and make a difference in the world, which is how I
ended up with an advanced degree in psychology working directly with kids or
training and supporting educators. But even when most of my writing was
business-focused, I never lost the yearning to write fiction.
2.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
That
depends on the book. I’ve written a rough draft of a book in four weeks. I’ve
had one take me three months. Occasionally, I’ll get stuck on something or fail
to see how all the pieces are coming together, and it’ll take me longer.
3.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
My
life has a lot of moving pieces in it as a solo parent of a neurosparkly
homeschool kiddo, so most of my writing happens once she’s gone to bed. The
good news (well… maybe) is that among other things, my disability makes it so I
can’t sleep much, so I have a lot of time in the middle of the night when other
people are sleeping.
4.
What would you say is
your interesting writing quirk?
I
make a playlist of songs for every book I write. Sometimes I even do one for
each POV character. I listen to music in one ear throughout the day as a core
pain management strategy (chronic pain is a part of my disability), so I’ll be
listening to the playlist for whatever I’m working on as I go about my business.
That keeps my semi-conscious mind working on my story no matter what else I
have going on. Then at night, I’ll be absolutely raring to write! I typically
do my best work between midnight and dawn.
5.
How do books get
published?
Books
get published a lot of different ways. Some authors are indie, and self-publish
their books. There are incredibly supportive communities and tons of phenomenal
resources for people interested in this path.
Some
authors choose a hybrid path, working with a publisher who handles some of the
responsibilities of a traditional publisher, but not all of them.
As
for me, I chose the traditional publishing route. I queried for years and
eventually found my dream agent. I couldn’t be luckier to be represented by
Marisa Corvisiero at Corvisiero Literary. We worked together on polishing my
manuscript and developing a submission strategy, and then my agent sent the
book out to editors, and I got an offer from Crooked Lane, which has been a
magical experience. They’re everything I never knew I needed and wanted from a
publisher, and my editor there, Denise Zaza, is brilliant and kind and utterly
wonderful.
The
path I chose took a long time and involved a LOT of rejection, but I wouldn’t
change a single thing about it.
6.
Where do you get your
information or ideas for your books?
I’m
a research nut, and learn from books and the internet and any expert who knows
about any tangential little thing that might be vaguely relevant to what I’m
writing.
For
example, the human protagonist in The Black Cat Detectives is a stage magician.
In order to write her and the story well, I had to make a study of how stage
magic works, and then learn a bunch of magic tricks, a few of which I perform
at readings and author events!
As
for my ideas, they come from all over. An interesting news article. A fun fact
about two historical figures who lived at the same time, but never met. A
random question or statement made by a stranger on the internet.
For
The Black Cat Detectives, the idea came from closer to home. I had a terrible
year where all five of my elder cats crossed the rainbow bridge all in the same
year. Each one had a different illness, and they went one at a time. It was
unrelenting, and I lost touch with my joy.
Then,
one night, it occurred to me that I could write about kittens! I could bring
all of their cleverness and goofiness and sweetness and mischievousness and
magic to life on the page, and that’s how Bippity, Boppity, and Boop were born.
They helped me find my way back to joy, and I hope they bring joy to everyone
who reads their story!
7.
When did you write your
first book and how old were you?
I
started working on my first book in my early thirties, but I made the mistake
of showing my opening pages to someone I trusted and whose writing I admired.
Their feedback absolutely crushed my confidence. It took nearly a decade for me
to get over that and try again.
I
finished my first draft of my first novel in 2018, so I would have been forty,
but it will NEVER see the light of day. I learned a lot by writing it, though, and
by writing my second book, which was also fatally flawed. Along the way, I
found my writing soulmate, April McCloud, who was the first person to talk
craft with me a in a meaningful way, and who devoured craft books as
voraciously as I did. She writes so differently than I do, and so
magnificently, we learn from one another every day. And then I found more
writing friends. Community is an extremely important part of the writing
journey.
I
wrote the first draft of what would eventually become The Black Cat Detectives
when I was 44, in November of 2022. It will officially be my first book, but it
was the fifth full novel I’d written.
Since
then, I’ve written two other novels and a screenplay, and I’m planning my next
two novels while drafting my WIP.
8.
What do you like to do
when you're not writing?
I
like to take my kiddo out for hikes or camping when I can stand/walk, or for
drives to beautiful places, especially state parks and forests. We are both
avid bakers, and like making delicious treats far more than we like eating
them, so friends, family, my daughter’s ballroom dance teachers, our vet, our hair
salon, and more are accustomed to having cookies and cupcakes and homemade
bread and more foisted on them.
I
like to read, ideally with a cup of coffee or a pot of tea beside me, and
always with a pile of dogs and cats atop me slowly cutting off circulation to
my feet.
I
love growing things, but my houseplants have to be resilient, because sometimes
during a bad patch, they’ll get neglected as my whole world focuses to keeping
my kiddo happy, healthy, educated, fed, and well-cared-for. We also have been
working on cultivating an edible landscape around our house and growing native
herbs and flowers to support our pollinators.
My
kiddo is also and avid storyteller and writer. At age 7, she completed her
first 4000-word early chapter book and even composed a beta request letter and
asked her friends for feedback! We’ll see if the passion stays with her as she
grows, but in the meantime, I am her typist and her biggest fan!
9.
What does your family
think of your writing?
Not
all of them have read it, but everyone supports me in their own ways. My
parents read any draft I share with them, though sometimes, with some of my
darker speculative work, I’ll check in with them and see if it’s something they
want to read. But they’re incredibly supportive and enthusiastic. I also have a
robust found family of writers, as I’ve mentioned above, who are always willing
to trade betas, talk craft, and help me be the best I can be!
10.
What was one of the most
surprising things you learned in creating your books?
I
knew that a lot of people are involved in the making of a book, but I have been
so lucky to get to (virtually) meet so many of the people on my book’s team and
to collaborate with them and understand their roles.
It’s
one thing to acknowledge the existence of theoretical people doing theoretical
jobs, but getting to know individuals and getting a deeper sense of each
person’s role in helping my book be the best it can be has really given me an
appreciation for all of the layers of stuff about bookmaking that I don’t know,
and all of the complex and nuanced jobs everyone is doing to bring my kittens
to life and put them in the hands of readers. It’s humbling and beautiful, and
I’m honored to be a part of it.
11.
How many books have you
written? Which is your favorite?
The
Black Cat Detectives is my debut, so I haven’t written any other books that are
available to the public yet. But I have four other completed novels that I have
high hopes for. One is a cozy mystery, and the others are all in different
genres.
12.
Do you have any
suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Very
little about writing advice is one-size-fits-all, in my opinion, and I know how
toxic feedback and advice can be, especially when they fail to take into
account the individuality of the writer and their work.
But
I will say that for every writer I know who’s thriving, a key step in the
journey has been to find writer friends who understand you and what you’re
trying to achieve with your writing. Another essential skill is to let yourself
sit with feedback until you can feel which pieces of it are helpful and which
pieces are missing the bigger picture.
When
giving feedback, some people will get locked into particular rules and try to
get you to eradicate things from your work. For a while, adverbs were a popular
target. I’ve seen people go after the past perfect tense or specific words like
“that” or “of.” One that’s big right now is filter words.
(For
those who don’t know, filter words are things like thought, felt, saw, etc.
So the advice would be to change “Emily saw a ghostly light first, like a
pinprick on the horizon.” to “A ghostly light appeared like a pinprick on the
horizon.” The argument is that the structure containing the filter word creates
a step of distance between the reader and the narrator’s sensory experience.)
While
I agree that we want to give our readers the most immersive, engaging writing
we can, I’d encourage you to trust yourself and find your own voice, even if it
breaks some of these “rules.” The real question is this: is a particular word
or grammatical construction or plot device serving a purpose in your writing?
Is it doing what you want it to be doing?
Returning
to the example of filter words, for instance, I will often use them to help my
reader experience cognitive dissonance along with my narrator if they’re
shocked and struggling to process. Naming Emily and calling attention to her
seeing it puts us outside of her body, creating an eerie “watching it happen to
herself” vibe that’s simply not there in the example without the filter word.
Neither is wrong. Neither is better. It’s just a question of what effect you’re
going for in that moment, both for your character and for your reader.
So
understanding the “rules” is good, but it’s also good to let yourself break
them if they’re not serving you.
13.
Do you hear from your
readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
So
far, I’ve only directly heard from a few readers, though I would certainly love
to hear from more. I’ve been lucky, up until now, that people who have reached
out to me have been very positive, sharing that the story and characters
brought them joy or telling me who they loved most or wishing for a book 2.
If
other readers see this and want to get in touch, there is a form on my Contact
Me page where you can send me your thoughts and opinions if you like! (I also
have a spot where you can ask the kittens for real-life advice!)
14.
Do you like to create
books for adults?
I
do! I have also written a couple of works in the young adult/new adult
crossover space. I haven’t tried any younger age-ranges, but 75% of the novels
I’ve written so far and all of the short fiction, flash fiction, and poetry
have been for adults. The great thing about cozies, though, is that while
they’re aimed at an adult market, any age of reader who’s up for reading about
murder can potentially enjoy them. My daughter has read The Black Cat
Detectives at least three times, and she just turned 9.
15.
What do you think makes
a good story?
For
me, a story either needs characters I will follow anywhere, a plot with
unrelenting momentum that pulls me forward in ways that are surprising, yet
feel inevitable, or prose that doesn’t get in the way of telling the story, but
has moments so rich and lavish that I want to spend time feeling the words in
my mouth and hearing them resonate through the air around me. Give me two of
those things, or better yet, all three, and I’m in.
16.
As a child, what did you
want to do when you grew up?
I
always wanted to be a parent, and I hit the jackpot on that one. When I was
little, I wanted to be a vet, right up until I realized that I would have to
deal with animal suffering and death. I knew I couldn’t handle that. Then I
wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t believe I could make a living at it. So I
decided I’d find a way to make the world a better place through my work, and I
did my best at that until I became disabled.
17.
What Would you like my
readers to know?
The
Black Cat Detectives is my love letter to cats, but more than that, to joy. My
fondest hope is that when readers put it down, what you take away with you is
that connection to your own joy. I hope it shines for you, bright and vibrant, and
stays with you as you go about the business of daily living. I think especially
in these times we find ourselves in, we all really need that.
-
- Websitehttps://elise-scott.com/
- Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/AuthorEliseScott/
- BlueSkyhttps://bsky.app/profile/elisescott.bsky.social
- Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/elisescottwrites/
- Xhttps://x.com/buttonjar1
- GoodReadshttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/58697146.Kit_Gray
- Storygraphhttps://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/authorkitgray
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