Rear Garden - Barrie James

Rear Garden: The Cat Who Knew Too Much is the second novel to feature York's finest feline sleuth, Theodore.

After Theodore moves to the York suburb of Acomb with his owners, Jonathan and Emily, Jonathan breaks his foot and is incapacited for several weeks. With nothing to do but watch Hitchcock films and stare out of the French doors at the houses behind, he soon suspects that there is a murderer at large. Theodore knows that there is a killer in the suburban midst. But how is he to prove it and make sure that the killer gets what's coming to her.

With many references to classic Hitchcock fillms, Rear Garden is a comic romp through the leafy suburbs, leaving many a bloody footprint (and pawprint) on the well-trimmed lawns.