Cat and mouse: Former Oxford DJ writes detective novels starring unusual sleuth
Nov. 18—Picture this. A cute little kitty-cat that does all things that cats do, but with one peculiar talent: He solves murders.
The imagination that birthed this character resides in the creative noggin of Chris Abernathy. Longtime area residents may recall him as an Anniston resident who for many years was a radio host on Oxford FM station K-98. But now, as a Mobile-area resident, Abernathy writes stories featuring "Detective Whiskers," a crime-fighting feline who helps his human counterpart, Sheila, solve murders in a cozy-small Florida beach town.
Abernathy said these books are in what is known as the "cozy mystery genre." Cozy mysteries are stories in which there is a murder that occurs and someone who is not a traditional police officer investigates it — typically, some type of amateur sleuth.
Abernathy said this type of story is becoming increasingly popular in today's culture.
Detective Whisker novels are just that: Cozy. They're mysteries generally set in small towns with quirky characters. The whole feel of the book — aside from the murder — is going to be on the lighter side, Abernathy said.
Though the covers may suggest otherwise, these are not children's books.
"A lot of people look at the covers and think that they are children's books and people hear 'cat detective' and think that they're children's books, but they're not. The audience is generally going to be older. Most of the audience is at least 45 years old, or older and mostly women," Abernathy said.
Asked how he came up with the idea of a cat detective, Abernathy said he's always loved mysteries and always loved cats. He grew up with cats but currently has a dog — Gracie — that would not get along well with the feline sort.
"We can't have any in our house so I've kind of invented my own cat that Gracie can't mess with," Abernathy said with a laugh.
Abernathy also has a connection to law enforcement outside of the novels, he said. He hosted a local TV show "Calhoun County's Most Wanted" for about 15 years.
The stories are told through Whiskers' non-human perspective and are narrated through the eyes of the cat. Abernathy said he likes that he is able to do this because it allows the readers to "look at ourselves a little differently."
There are several of these novels. As the stories begin, Whiskers is there in the small coastal town with his human, Sheila, and without his mentor, Sheila's husband, Fred.
Fred is a human detective, who would come home at the end of the day, bring his work down to the basement for about an hour after dinner so he and Whiskers could go over the case. Sheila always thought it was a joke, however, the cat was really helping him solve the mysteries.
These stories don't go too far into the realm of the impossible as Whiskers can't talk to humans but rather communicates in over ways. For example, he might put a paw on that picture if he sees someone he thinks he knows who did it.
These books are family friendly, and though they aren't written for children, it could be read by children without it being inappropriate — i.e. no swearing and no sex.
About Abernathy
Abernathy, whose DJ identity at WVOK-FM was "Chris Wright," now lives in Spanish Fort, just outside of Mobile.
His local claim to eternal fame came during the blizzard that smacked Calhoun County and points north in March 1993. With the power out and deep snow blocking roads to ordinary vehicular travel, Abernathy's tireless voice helped hold the web of community together.
He said that morning he was on the air telling everyone that the storm was about to be a significant weather event, and not to stray too far from home. Afterwards, he went to Jacksonville for a party but at some point he left as he didn't want to get snowed in. He didn't make it all the way home, but instead made it to the radio station.
Though most were still without power, the radio station was able to go back on the air around 5 a.m. Abernathy was stuck on the job for three days straight — and the only voice from outside many people could hear.
Unable to make it home, Abernathy said the only thing he and his companion had to eat for the first 24 hours were Girl Scout cookies.
"As people started getting out and people started listening to us, people started bringing us food. So by the time it was over we had more food than any restaurant in town," Abernathy said.
Asked how he went from radio station host to writer, Abernathy said he had wanted to be a writer from a young age. After leaving the radio station, he began narrating audio books — he's up to 250 so far — and working as a voice actor.
He said this was what refueled his passion for writing and literature. It also acted as a re-entry into publishing, working with authors and publishers, and helped him understand how all of that worked.
Abernathy wrote a couple of books at the start of 2020 that were loosely inspired by a radio morning show. He said the books weren't written to a specific market; he was just writing to write.
Though the book didn't sell very well, it allowed him to know himself as a writer and understand what his writing style was and a genre that he could write in that people would want to buy.
Asked if he would turn them into audio books, Abernathy said he hasn't yet but he is toying with the idea of a full cast production style audiobook, to which he would play the voice of Detective Whiskers.
Be sure to check the books out, available on Amazon.
Staff Writer Ashley Morrison: 256-236-1551. On Twitter: @AshMorrison1105.