D.B. Borton

Author

Book Clubs

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Cat Caliban Series

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One Deadly Take

  1. In what ways does Cat challenge stereotypes about older women in general and older women detectives in particular? What other older women detectives can you compare her with? Do you find her a believable character? Is her relationship with her kids believable?
  2. How surprised were you to learn about Betty Bags’s history? Do you think it’s true that we make inaccurate assumptions about the past lives of homeless people?
  3. Lucille’s story was fairly typical of what Black female actors experienced during much of Hollywood’s history. How much do you think has changed?
  4. The ending doesn’t offer any guarantee that the murderer will be convicted and punished. Does this bother you? It may be true that the guilty aren’t always punished in real life, but should they always be punished in mystery novels?
  5. One reviewer has complained that Cat doesn’t change much over the course of the book. Do you find that to be true and would you prefer to see the character evolve during the novel?
  6. Animal characters play an important role in the Cat Caliban novels, and one reviewer has commented that the cats play too big a role in One for the Money. What do you think?

Two Points For Murder

  1. There is something especially tragic about the death of a young person as genuinely good as Juky Kay. Do you think that spoils your enjoyment of the book? Do you wish that Juky appeared in the early part of the book so that you could get to know him before he’s killed? More generally, are you bothered by the combination of tragedy and humor in the book?
  2. Do you find the portrait of the young basketball players authentic?
  3. The incidence of steroid use by young athletes is perhaps more widely known now than it was in the early 90s when the book was written. Did you guess that these were the drugs responsible for Juky’s death?
  4. What did you think of the ending?

Three For The Kill

  1. The homeless characters from One for the Money reappear in this book. Homelessness rose significantly in the U.S. after the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 resulted in the closing of many publicly funded mental institutions and the release of their residents into the community. Other economic factors exacerbated the situation. Do you think that Borton’s portrayal of homelessness is sufficiently realistic to call attention to the problem?
  2. How familiar were you with the extent of government surveillance of antiwar groups during the late sixties and early seventies? Is this a history that is widely known?
  3. In this case, the killer turns out to be a fairly sympathetic character. Did that bother you? Would you have preferred a different ending?
  4. How believable was the portrayal of Cat’s relationship with her youngest daughter?

Four Fatal Elements 

  1. Much of this book takes place in a different location from that of the previous three books. Were you disappointed in the change of venue?
  2. Cat’s cousin is a throwback to the earlier days of the Digital Age. Of course, there are no cell phones in the Cat Caliban novels, but do Delbert and his idiom bother you or entertain you?
  3. This book could be described as a humorous romp through the subject of toxic waste disposal. Are some subjects so serious that they shouldn’t be presented with humor?
  4. Again in this book, a relatively creative way is found to punish the guilty, but does it fit the crime? Would you find a different ending more satisfying? How would you end the book? 

Five Degrees of Murder

  1. Nellie Justice was a woman from a poor background who made her way in the world by becoming a prostitute, then a madam, while passing for white. She flourished during a time when prostitution was legal within the confines of a designated district, then lost her source of livelihood when the political tide changed and the district was closed down. What, in your view, should the public policy be with regard to prostitution?
  2. Maria Longworth Nichols was a white woman from a privileged background who founded a pottery company that became world renowned. Do you see any similarity in the lives of these two women?
  3. According to a 2014 Science article by Lizzie Wade, an analysis of genetic results from 23andMe found that at least 3.5% of Americans who identify as white carry genetic traces of African ancestry, with higher percentages in certain areas of the country. This sample was limited to people sufficiently interested in their genetic makeup to use the website and then willing to be included in research, so the actual percentage could be higher or lower. What are the implications for our notions of race?
  4. Once again, a murderer goes free at the end of this book. Did this ending disappoint you? Did you find it realistic? Was the alternative punishment satisfying to you?

Six Feet Under

  1. As Cat learns in this book, many of the women in prison in the U.S. have been convicted of so-called victimless crimes — that is, they were in possession of illegal drugs they were using or holding for boyfriends rather than selling themselves. Do you think sentencing these women to prison is the best policy? Of course, this question requires you to consider what you believe an effective drug policy should have as its ultimate goal.
  2. Do you have any other thoughts on how the effects of separation can be mitigated for incarcerated women and their children? 
  3. Child characters appear often in the Cat Caliban books. They provide opportunities for comedy as well as pathos. Do you find them realistic and Borton’s use of them effective?
  4. Did you feel that Rocky could have, and should have, found a different way to insure that her stepfather would not gain custody of her children?
  5. At last, it appears that a murderer will likely be convicted for his crime. Do you find this ending more satisfying than those of other Cat Caliban books, even though there is a note of sadness at the end? Does the likelihood of Rocky’s conviction color your opinion?

Seven Deadly Sins

  1. How soon did you guess the nature of the cloud hanging over Peter Baer’s seemingly perfect life? What made you suspect?
  2. This book is set in the mid-eighties, and yet experts including the CDC are sounding the alarm today about teens’ mental health. What do you think has changed since 1987 and what hasn’t?
  3. Did you think Cat was wrong to send her cousin Delbert Sweet undercover at the New Life teen ministries? Do you think she underestimates the danger?
  4. Perhaps the most charming character in the book is Evie, and if the soul of Christianity is forgiveness, she is also arguably the most Christian character. What do you think Evie contributed to the book that couldn’t have been achieved without her? 
  5. How do you feel about the ultimate uncertainty regarding Peter’s death? Do you resent the ambiguity?

Eight Miles to Death

  1. This book, which is set in 1986, invites us to consider the long shadows cast by actions in the distant past. Do you think that the advent of the Internet and social media makes it less possible to cover up events of the past? If so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
  2. The case of the WASP also invites us to contemplate the ways in which prejudice generates a failure of imagination. Prejudice dictated that women couldn’t fly and that they certainly couldn’t fly heavy bombers like the B-17 and the B-29, yet women flew both planes. Often WASP had to invent their own modifications, building a nest of pillows in the cockpit that would allow them to reach the controls. Do you think that an increased emphasis on inclusivity in contemporary society has generated significant progress in combating prejudice and encouraging accommodation? 
  3. Did you find the opening chapter, which takes place in a plane on fire, effective? Did you find the strategy of interspersing returns to this present with flashbacks effective or confusing? 
  4. In the end, Cat and her team of WASP take a fairly unconventional approach to exposing a killer, although, once again, the killer escapes prosecution. Were you satisfied with this ending?

Nine Burned Lives

  1. At what point did you first suspect Freddy Armitage’s true identity?
  2. Whereas in earlier books, such as Eight Miles High, Borton provides a great deal of historical background, in this book, she made a choice to omit most of the historical background and even a discussion of Freddy’s motives for her actions. Was this the right decision, in your opinion?
  3. One writer who reviewed this book suggested that it should not be held to a high standard of credibility but enjoyed for its entertainment value. To what standards of credibility or realism do you hold the mysteries you read?
  4. This book continues the pattern of ambiguous endings.  Do you believe that mystery writers have an obligation to provide their readers with certainty?

Ten Clues to Murder

  1. The victim in this novel, Billie Ransom, is extremely unlikable. Does this affect your engagement in the mystery of who killed her? Of course, unlikable victims aren’t uncommon; they tend to generate a long list of suspects. But do you ever find yourself hoping that Cat won’t find the guilty party?
  2. A related question: where do your sympathies lie at the end? Can you excuse any of the crimes committed, either in the present or the past?
  3. The book portrays a state of high racial tensions at a time when a particular neighborhood is transitioning from a predominantly white neighborhood to a mixed-race neighborhood. That portrayal is based on research. But if you are old enough to remember that time, does the depiction strike you as accurate?
  4. If you have read other books in the series, do you believe that Cat is evolving? How has her new life and new career changed her?

Eleven Hours to Murder

  1. If you lived through the Sixties, how do you remember them? Does the novel portray them accurately?
  2. How did you expect the search for Leila Perle to end? Of the various potential scenarios proposed by various characters, which one did you find the most compelling?
  3. Moses scolds Cat for her tendency to demonize the doctor who performed Leila’s abortion, pointing out that he was performing a service to desperate women and charging a fair price for that service. Cat herself is forced to acknowledge that surgeons performing legal procedures were not giving their services away or offering discounts to the indigent. Do you agree with him?
  4. Abortion is now once again illegal in many parts of the United States, so this book was written and set in a brief time period when the procedure was legal. Abortion has been decriminalized in the UK, in some parts as recently as 2025. Deaths as a result of illegal abortion, or attempts to self-abort, were not uncommon in the U.S. before Roe v. Wade made the procedure legal. Based on your own experience, how have these shifts in abortion law affected the lives — and deaths — of women?

Death by the Dozen

  1. The book opens with a spirited debate over how the city of Cincinnati’s Bicentennial should be celebrated. At issue is the city’s history as a prominent meatpacking center, source of one of its former nicknames, “Porkopolis,” and the design for a gateway installation along the riverfront that would feature, among its many elements, statues of four winged pigs. The debate pits artistic freedom advocates and those who believe that all elements of the city’s history should be commemorated against vegetarians and those who find this design an undignified target for ridicule. These are serious issues to the combatants, but the debate turns even more serious with an objection that the design ignores both the positive contributions of the city’s Black community and the city’s shameful collusion in slavery. If this were your city, where would you stand in this debate? Is a bicentennial an occasion to celebrate a city’s achievements only, or should it be an occasion for reflection on a city’s mixed legacy of pride and shame?

(FYI I can report that the winged pigs do grace the city’s gateway installation at Bicentennial Park and have been embraced by the city as one of its most popular symbols.)

  1. A smaller issue touched on, but not explored, in the book involves some of the same issues. Crucial clues to a killer’s identity are provided by a graffiti artist and his work. “Writers have to write,” one character says, acknowledging the graffiti artist’s compulsion to decorate the urban landscape with their name. Some contemporary graffiti artists have been embraced by the artistic establishment, but most are often regarded as criminal defacers of property, both public and private. What restrictions, if any, would you put on freedom of artistic expression? Should every city have a Graffiti Alley, as Cincinnati does, where artists can write without fear of arrest? How effective is this solution in addressing the problem? Can you think of a more creative one?
  1. This is a book in large part about a battle over the historical record. The issue of who gets to write history is especially relevant today (2026), when an American president is overseeing the wholesale purging of certain kinds of material from museums and parks. Defenders of the historical record risk unemployment. Librarians, archivists, and museum directors find themselves put in the unlikely position of being heroes for opposing this purge. How important do you think it is that history — good, bad, controversial, unverifiable, messy — be preserved and presented to the public?
  1. Mystery readers typically appreciate the challenge of trying to guess the solution before it’s revealed, and most of us have had the experience of believing at the end that our solution was better than the one offered. Did you have that experience with this book? What did you think was going to happen at the end?
  1. A corollary would be disappointments you experience at the end of the book. For example, you may have been disappointed that you didn’t get to meet Ada Templeton Green after reading a book about her. Or you may have been disappointed that although you got to see the killer arrested for their crime, you didn’t get to hear the ultimate outcome. Were they convicted? What was their sentence? What about others who may not have committed a “prosecutable offense” but were guilty of lies and coverups to protect their reputations? Were you disappointed that these others weren’t punished?