NINE LIVES TO MURDER

Babson (Past Regret, 1992, etc.) is at her most antic in this tale of transposed personalities. Famed Shakespearean actor Winstanley Fortescue, soon to be knighted, has suffered a fall from a ladder, possibly accidental, during rehearsal of his new play, knocking skulls with Monty, the theater's cat, on his descent. Now Win, living in a nursing home, has Monty inside of his psyche. Meanwhile, Monty is thinking like Win and serving as his protector when further attempts are made on the actor's life. Inane chatter flows liberally as the slowly recuperating Win is attended to by friends and family -- his loving wife and co-star, Miranda, his bibber ex-wife, Antoinette, his son, Gregory, theater manager Rufus, sympathetic wardrobe mistress Tottie, viperish reporter Jilly, and others. Meanwhile, Monty struggles to cope with newly expanded thought processes often at odds with his natural instincts, until the unsurprising havoc-wreaker is pinpointed. Veteran Babson's easygoing narrative skills are wasted on this charmless, contrived story of possible interest only to avidly enthusiastic cat lovers. To others, a dog.