I found this good-condition hardcover at the Book Cellar. It's the often-hilarious tale of a woman whose cat Tibia disappeared for weeks - and then turned up again, in good shape, but with a tendency to wander off. Desperate to know where he'd been, author Paul tried technology, from collar-mounted cat-cam to tracking-GPS, only to find that the wanderings of a cat are... baroque, to say the least!

There's more to the story, including Paul's traumatic accident and the prolonged and disruptive recovery - which may have featured in upsetting the cats. (She had two, Tibia and Fibula - great names for cats! - but Fib was more sedate and stayed at home.) At times, Paul got seriously overwrought about the possibility that Tibia was hanging out at other people's houses, and went so far as to attach a note to the cat's collar to let whom-it-may-concern know that they were feeding someone else's cat.

I could sympathize with the worry over a missing cat and the jealousy over one that seems to like other households more, and I loved the various technical tricks - and the ups and downs of the subsequent search for The Dastardly People Who Keep Feeding My Cat. The writing's lively and arch, the illustrations charming, and the whole story quite satisfying - not least because Paul's girlfriend (Wendy MacNaughton, who illustrated the book) supported her through her recovery, bolstered her during the missing-cat trials, and eventually moved in, giving the tale a nice romantic wrap-up.

Among the many delightful bits: the illustration showing the "cat owner's thought breakdown" in chart form, with a tiny percentage devoted to regular life and the majority allocated to "where is my cat? what is my cat doing right now? Is my cat depressed? Why is my cat peeing on the (blank) again?" {wry grin}

Without spoiling things, I can say that the author did find out where Tibia had been hanging out. The process of the search expanded her awareness of her neighborhood in ways she didn't expect, and the solution was... entertaining. Fun book!

I left this book among the holiday wreaths outside Trader Joe's on DW Hwy in south Nashua on this chilly afternoon; hope the finder enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2017 E-less release challenge. ***