Chacun à son gout, Charmion:
I can see how the character Melrose Plant is not to every taste.
Probably the reason that I can stand that character
is that I have been in no position to meet anybody, in my life,
who speaks with his posh accent
or his affectations, and so on,
so I don't really fully get what he must sound like --
but Canada is different, you must be acquainted with his type somewhat.

Have you read more recent Richard Jury/Martha Grimes installments?
Somehow I believe that Racer,
the Superintendent stalked by Cyril the cat,
has gone by the wayside over time.
I don't know about the cat, though.
And I believe that Jury has risen in rank
although I don't recall how high.

I found haunting, in recent years, the installment about
the "Kindertransport" during the Second War,
with one of the children drowning
during the Channel crossing
and consequences that still had their effects decades later.

But yes, Cyril is one memorable, if fictional, cat.