Cat’s Claw opens with Pecan Springs Sheriff Sheila Dawson fending off the good old boy attitude of some of the guys around the office. Sheila's team was investigating a break-in at Kirk's Computer Sales and Service, the most recent in a series of break-ins plaguing the town.

George Timms, a prominent citizen of Pecan Springs, was caught on video tape and identified as the intruder. Come to find out he was being blackmailed due to information he had left on his computer. The only other people who had access were the employees at the computer store.

When the owner of the computer story was discovered dead in his home of an apparent, Sheila found herself in the midst of a murder mystery that included a stalker, a soon-to-be ex-wife out to get all she could get, and a property line dispute with a determined neighbor.

As if this weren’t enough, Sheila also had to sift through information provided by nervous neighbors who took their neighborhood watch responsibilities very seriously. She needed to find the killer and the motive as quickly as possible in order to restore order and bring peace to a neighborhood where she and her husband were also living.

As the investigation continued, disturbing information came to light questioning whether Kirk’s death was really a suicide, and police found out not all upstanding citizens were who they thought they were. The deeper the police delve into the case, the uglier the findings are. When the truth finally comes to the surface, it isn’t pleasant.

Cat’s Claw is the twentieth book in the China Bayles Herbal Mysteries written by Susan Wittig Albert. Although the author has Sheila as the main focus in Cat's Claw, China still plays an important role maintaining the continuity of the series. Albert understands that a series of this length needs to stay relevant and she has used this change to freshen the long running series a bit and it works well in this case.

The usual friends and family members in the small town are either seen or referred to, newer characters are given more to do, and all is well that ends well in the neighborhood.

Cat’s Claw was purchased by me for my own reading pleasure via Kindle books, and for review purposes. If you would like to purchase any of the books in the China Bayles series or any other Susan Wittig Albert novels, they are available at Amazon.com.