When you’re given the name Trouble, you have a lot to live up to. Add to that the fact that my dad is a super feline detective, and you can see I carry a heavy burden. If you throw in the fact that I speak with a British accent—even though I was raised in Wetumpka, Alabama–you can easily see how that would leave a bloke knackered.

Because I was raised in the South, let’s get the genealogy out of the way. Who your people are is a very important thing where I come from, so I want to get my pedigree out in the open. I am Trouble, son of Familiar the black cat detective. My mother was a lovely feral cat on the streets of Washington D.C. She gave birth to me and my siblings after a rousing encounter with Dad, and then she was hit by a car. It was touch and go if we would survive for a few days, but Dad brought his humanoid, Eleanor, to save us. And so she did. She scooped us up and took us home and nurtured us until she could find the perfect home for each of us.

It was a harsh beginning, but life has taken a positive turn. Now I rely on Tammy Lynn, a bookseller in middle Alabama. Forsooth, my conversational train has derailed and I pride myself on logic—we were talking about my lineage.

My dad had quite a reputation as a private dick. I inherited his ability to see clues that the humanoids (bless their hearts) overlook. And I have studied the tactics of the most brilliant of all fictional sleuths, Sherlock Holmes. I prefer the television series featuring that hunk of humanity, Benedict Cumberbatch—a cat lover if ever I saw one. He is quite feline in his nuanced expressions and sharp movements. Hours of studying the brilliance of Cumberbatch as Sherlock has honed my sleuthing skills and influenced my diction. Such is life.

Back in the day, when Dad was traveling the world solving cases, I was just a wee sprog. Now I am sleek, agile, and ready to take on villains of all stripes. Let me add that the bipeds desperately need my help. Humanoids are not the most logical species (with the exception of Sherlock Holmes). They easily fall victim to the base impulses of crime—lust, greed, revenge. Of course, there are fabulous specimens like my Tammy Lynn, a woman with a heart of gold and a functioning brain. Like Tammy, they sometimes need a shove in the romance lane as well as crime solving. I’m very accomplished as Cupid’s assistant, too. In fact, there are few things I’m not truly good at. As you, dear reader, will see if you venture into one of my tales.

My first documented case is Familiar Trouble, a little nod at my dad’s accomplishments as well as my own new life. The story features my very own Tammy Lynn. Her obsession with folklore and stargazing takes her out to the high ridge of an impact crater in her own backyard of Wetumpka. While she is scoping out the stars for a glimpse of a configuration the Choctaw Indians predicted, she unwittingly stumbles into what may be a serial killer and a body dump.

Tammy is a plucky young woman who loves her community—but she also yearns for something more in her life. She’s reluctant to risk her heart again, but I can clearly see what’s best for her. Even when she doesn’t want to look. As Tammy is pulled deeper into the nightmare reality of a maniac known as the Silk Stocking Killer, she works with Deputy Aiden Waters, who has a host of personal secrets he’s not sharing.

One thing I’ve learned in my short career as a gumshoe is that humans eat terrible food—not exactly applicable to crime solving, but a fact that may speak to their highly emotional behavior at times—and they lie. Most interesting is that they lie to themselves. Felines, the more superior species, own their nature. We are cats. Elegant, watchful, discriminating, and courageous. We can also be quick and brutal. We own that. Humans struggle against accepting their true selves.

But enough comparing apples to inferior apples, it’s time to solve a mystery. Join me and the Familiar Legacy writers to bring the adventures of Trouble, son of Familiar, to life. First on the schedule is Familiar Trouble, July; then Trouble in Dixie (Rebecca Barrett) in August; and Trouble in Tallahassee (Claire Matturro) in September. And on and on as the cases and tales unfold.

Take a word of advice from a sage black cat, and join us for some fun and tall tales! (I’m also excellent at puns!) Yours in crime solving, Trouble.

You can read more about Trouble and Tammy in Familiar Trouble, the first book in the NEW “Familiar Legacy” mystery series.

BLOOD IS THICKER. . . Sometimes a unique talent is inherited—and such is the case for Trouble, son of Familiar the black cat detective. Trouble’s rather indolent life in the sleepy town of Wetumpka, Alabama is upended when a serial killer arrives on the scene. Trouble begins to apply the skills he learned from his dad and his hero, Sherlock Holmes.

When local bookseller Tammy Lynn is attacked at the site of an impact crater, Trouble realizes he must protect his human and solve the mystery of the Silk Stocking Killer.

Aiden Waters, a local deputy, has tracked the SSK to Wetumpka. Since his wife’s murder, Aiden won’t risk romance, but when Tammy is endangered, everything changes. Especially their hearts.

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About the author
Carolyn Haines is the USA Today bestselling author of the Familiar, black cat detective series. Familiar Trouble is the first book in the Legacy series. Haines is also the author of the Sarah Booth Delaney humorous mystery series and the Pluto’s Snitch mystery series. She does see ghosts—but runs away because she’s afraid. And she operates an animal rescue on her Alabama farm. You can learn more about her at the following links. Connect with Carolyn at carolynhaines.com, on Twitter, on Instagram, on her Amazon Author page, on BookBub, and on Facebook.

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