Mallory and the Ghost Cat is the third book in the Baby-sitters Club Mystery series.
Back Cover[]
One night when Mallory is baby-sitting for the Craines, she hears a cat crying somewhere in the house. But the Craines don't own a pet. So Mallory and the girls go exploring—and discover a mysterious white cat hiding in the attic. They name him Ghost Cat, and the mystery is solved. They think.
Until Mallory and the girls continue to hear eerie cries coming from the attic. If Ghost Cat is sitting right there with them, who—or what—is upstairs in the attic?
Main Plot[]
Mallory babysits for the Craine family. The three little girls: six-year-old Margaret, four-year-old Sophie, and two-year-old Katie are a lot of fun and the parents are friendly. The girls' regular sister, Aunt Bud is unable to sit due to a broken leg.
One day, when Mallory is sitting for the Craine girls, she hears what she thinks might be a cat, but she can't find one anywhere in the house. Margaret and Mrs. Craine claim that they don't own a cat. On Mal's next sitting job, the girls hear the cat noises as well. They search the attic and find a white cat. The girls put the cat in the laundry room with food and decide to call him "Ghost Cat."
Mr. and Mrs. Craine allow the girls to keep the cat and they're excited to show him off to Mallory when she comes to babysit again, but the cat ends up escaping from the laundry room and hides whenever the door is open. Mallory and the girls go on another cat hunt and end up back into the attic.
Even though they don't find Ghost Cat, they find a bunch letters written by a former owner of the Craines' house named Kennedy Graham, whose only companion was his cat, Tinker, which makes the girls wonder if Ghost Cat is really a ghost. Mallory invites Dawn over to run tests on the cat and even though they prove the cat is real, Mallory still hears noises from the attic even though Ghost Cat is sitting right in front of her.
During Dawn's visit, Mallory gets a call from a man who claims to be Ghost Cat's owner. The man describes Ghost Cat (whose real name is Rasputin) and he arranges to come get him in 2 days. Mallory is there when the man picks up the cat and the man looks exactly like the picture of Kennedy Graham that was found with the letters which makes Mallory wonder if Ghost Cat was really a ghost after all.
Sub Plot[]
Mallory's Uncle Joe comes to visit the Pikes. He acts cranky, does & says weird things, and doesn't interact with the rest of the family. Near the end of his visit, Mr. and Mrs. Pike tells the kids that Uncle Joe is in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease and moves in to Stoneybrook Manor where he can get the help that he needs.
Characters in this book[]
Mallory's Family
- Mallory Pike
- Pike Triplets: Jordan, Adam, and Byron
- Vanessa Pike
- Nicky Pike
- Margo Pike
- Claire Pike
- John Pike
- Dee Pike
- Uncle Joe
BSC Members
- Kristy Thomas
- Claudia Kishi
- Mary Anne Spier
- Stacey McGill
- Dawn Schafer
- Jessi Ramsey
- Logan Bruno
- Shannon Kilbourne
Kids
- Margaret, Sophie, and Katie Craine
- Bill, Melody, and Skylar Korman
- Karen Brewer
- Myriah, Gabbie, and Laura Perkins (mentioned)
Adults
- Mr. and Mrs. Craine
- Mimi Yamamoto (mentioned)
- Lisa Engle
- Mrs. Murphy - the Pikes neighbors
- Jessi's grandmother (mentioned)
- Mrs. Korman (mentioned)
- Staff at Stoneybrook Manor
Places in this book[]
- Pike House
- Kishi House
- Craine House
- Stoneybrook Middle School (mentioned)
- Korman House
- Hardware store (mentioned)
- Stoneybrook Manor
Pop culture and Real Life References[]
- The Simpsons
- Barbie
- Muppet Babies
- He-Man
- Dick Tracey comics
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- G.I. Joe
- Calvin and Hobbes (comic)
- Hot Wheels
- A Wrinkle in Time (book)
- Princess Aurora
- Ghostbusters
Continuity and Inconsistencies[]
Continuity
- Mallory remembers when Mimi dies on page 68.
- The BSC will sometimes have parents come with them to the door if the client is brand new, to be on the safe side. This is also brought up in Stacey and the Mystery Money.
Inconsistencies
Trivia[]
- The wiki admins would like to thank Dhui1996 for contributing the reprint cover images from the BSC Reddit Community.
- Mallory says that she feels like a mother to her siblings sometimes.
- This is the only Mystery book narrated by Mallory.
- Jessi and Mallory pretend to be horses.
- This is the first appearance of the Craine Family and the only one where they are major characters. This is also the first appearance of Uncle Joe.
- Vanessa's poet phase has been going since she was 7.
- Kristy's mom plays tennis with Mrs. Craine.
- Mallory says that English muffin pizzas are one of the foods the family agrees on. The other being spaghetti.
- Kristy says that she's a dog person on page 94.
- The Murphys are the Pikes' neighbors.
- Jessi mentions her grandmother is not very tactful.