Gray as Ashes (Biscuit McKee Mysteries, #7)

Martinsville, Georgia has always been a sleepy little town, where nothing much ever happens, except a few murders...
There's a firebug in Martinsville. Town librarian Biscuit McKee isn't too worried when a garbage bin at the grocery store is set on fire. But when it's her beloved garden shed that goes up in flames, the fur begins to fly.
Biscuit's feline companion Marmalade comments frequently, ...
Yes, I do.
... (even though her humans think she's only purring ...
Mouse droppings!
... or sneezing). She's as baffled by all this as her humans.
We could have some tuna. That would solve a lot.
Distracted by a visit from Peachie, an old college friend, Biscuit pays only scant attention to a third fire, but it's hard to ignore the dead body found in the charred remains of Connie Cartwright's studio, where glass-blowing may have turned into homicide.

Fran Stewart lives and writes quietly in her house beside a creek on the other side of Hog Mountain, northeast of Atlanta.

She shares her home with various rescued cats, one of whom served as the inspiration for Marmalade, Biscuit McKee's feline friend and sidekick.

Stewart is the author of two mystery series, the 11-book Biscuit McKee Mysteries and the 3-book ScotShop mysteries; a non-fiction writer's workbook, From the Tip of My Pen; poetry Resolution; Tan naranja como Mermelada/As Orange as Marmalade, a children's bilingual book; and a standalone mystery A Slaying Song Tonight. She teaches classes on how to write memoirs, and has published her own memoirs in the 6-volume BeesKnees series. All six volumes, beginning with BeesKnees #1: A Beekeeping Memoir, are available as e-books and in print.