Kitty Norville Explained

Kitty Norville is the main character of a series of novels by Carrie Vaughn. She is a werewolf who hosts a popular syndicated radio phone-in show based in Denver called "The Midnight Hour". The program focuses on supernatural issues, beings and creatures she encounters.

Kitty and the Midnight Hour

Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Warner Books
Release Date:2005
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:288 pp (first edition, paperback)
Isbn:0-446-61641-9
Isbn Note:(first edition, paperback)
Oclc:62096687

"Kitty" Norville, a late-night radio DJ, accidentally starts a late-night talk show about werewolves, vampires, and other mythical creatures. The catch is she is a werewolf herself, and the secret is supposed to stay silent.

Plot points

Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Goes to Washington
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Little, Brown
Release Date:July 2006
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:260 pp (first edition, paperback)
Isbn:0-446-61642-7
Isbn Note:(first edition, paperback)

Some editions of this novel also includes the short story Kitty Meets the Band.

Plot points

Kitty Takes a Holiday

Kitty Takes a Holiday
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy
Publisher:Little, Brown
Release Date:April 2007
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:336 pp (first edition, paperback)
Isbn:0-446-61874-8
Isbn Note:(first edition, paperback)

After her lycanthropy is captured on film in Washington, Kitty decides to go on vacation. She rents a cabin and decides to write a book of her memoirs. Trouble quickly ensues as slaughtered animals are left outside her door and a visitor from her past arrives with unexpected news.

Plot summary

With the money she got from her lawsuits in Washington, Kitty has decided to take some time off from her radio show. Inspired by Thoreau and his experiences at Walden, she rents a cabin and begins to write a book, although she has a hard time focusing.

During Kitty's vacation, Cormac drives up to her cabin with an injured Ben and tells Kitty that he had called Ben to help with a werewolf hunt. Ben was attacked and infected by one of the werewolves, who Cormac then killed. They mend Ben the best they can while Ben makes it clear that he would rather be dead than a werewolf. Kitty decides that she is going to show Ben that he can live with lycanthropy. She takes him in, then finds that the only way to make him safe is to create a new pack of the two of them, which makes her alpha. She is with him for his first change on the full moon.

While Ben is being tended to, Kitty tells Cormac about the dead animals that have been left on her door step along with small barbed-wire crosses. He thinks that these objects are part of a curse and makes some calls. The objects begin to get worse as a circle of crosses are left surrounding Kitty's cabin and skinned animals are left hanging in the trees. Cormac continues to look into the curse, until he finds Ben and Kitty sleeping in each other's arms. Upset, he gets in his Jeep and leaves.

A few nights later, Tony Rivera shows up at the cabin, called by Cormac. He tells Kitty that he can find out who is attempting to use magic on her. He traces the magic back to Alice and Sheriff Marks, but it backfired and drew dark energy to the region rather than repelling it. The locals agree to break the curse on Kitty. As they are about to lift it, the use of magic draws the attention of the skinwalker that had been involved in the attack on Ben. Kitty tries to fend it off, but it pins her to the ground and attacks. Cormac arrives in time to injure the skinwalker, who shifts back to Miriam Wilson, and then he kills her.

Despite the killing being self-defense, Cormac is arrested. Ben and Kitty work to prove his innocence by driving to New Mexico, where Ben had been attacked, to try to find evidence that Miriam was a skinwalker. Though the local attorney believes in skin-walkers, he is being pressured by Sheriff Marks to press charges, and Cormac has too much of a record of skirting the law to not prosecute. Cormac takes a plea-bargain of four years in prison. Kitty ends her vacation after Cormac's trial, and goes back to her show, "Kitty and the Midnight Hour." She also finishes her book.

Kitty and the Silver Bullet

Kitty and the Silver Bullet
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy
Publisher:Warner Books
Release Date:2008
Media Type:Print (Paperback)

The fourth book in the Kitty Norville series was released in 2008.

After visiting Cormac in jail, Kitty has a miscarriage. Kitty and Ben are visited by Rick, who tells them he needs to take over as head vampire of Denver and asks them if they will help. Kitty declines and Rick leaves. Later, Kitty is told that her mother may have cancer. Kitty rushes to Denver to see her mother taking Ben with her, and Kitty introduces Ben to her family. Kitty meets a new vampire: Mercedes Cook, an actress. Kitty then meets Carl and Meg again and they add to the problems with Rick and the head vampire problem, Ben becomes worried for Kitty's safety and teaches her how to use a gun. At the end Kitty shoots Meg and Carl is killed by his pack and Kitty and Ben become the Alpha pair of the pack. Ben also proposes to Kitty.

Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Warner Books
Release Date:Feb 2009
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:320
Isbn:0-446-19953-2

Already the alpha pair of Denver's werewolf pack, Kitty and Ben now plan to tie the knot human-style by eloping to Vegas. Kitty is looking forward to sipping fru-fru drinks by the pool and doing her popular radio show on live TV, but her hotel is stocked with werewolf-hating bounty hunters. Elsewhere on the Strip an old-school magician might be wielding the real thing; the vampire community is harboring a dark secret; and the irresistible star of a suspicious animal act is determined to seduce Kitty.

Kitty Raises Hell

Kitty Raises Hell
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Warner Books
Release Date:Apr 2009
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:336
Isbn:0-446-19954-0

Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas.

Kitty and Ben flee The City That Never Sleeps, thinking they were finished with the dangers there, but the sadistic cult of lycanthropes and their vampire priestess have laid a curse on Kitty in revenge for her disrupting their rituals. Starting at the next full moon, danger and destruction the form of fire strikes Kitty and the pack of werewolves she's sworn to protect.

She enlists the help of a group of TV paranormal investigators - one of whom has real psychic abilities - to help her get to the bottom of the curse that's been laid on her. Rick, the Master vampire of Denver, believes a deeper plot lies behind the curse, and he and Kitty argue about whether or not to accept the help of a professional demon hunter - and vampire - named Roman, who arrives a little too conveniently in the nick of time.

Unable to rely on Rick, and unwilling to accept Roman's offer of help for a price, Kitty and her band of allies, including Vegas magician Odysseus Grant and Kitty's own radio audience, mount a trap for the supernatural being behind the curse, a destructive force summoned by the vengeful cult, a supernatural being that none of them ever thought to face.

Kitty's House of Horrors

Kitty's House of Horrors
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Warner Books
Release Date:Jan 2010
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:304
Isbn:0-446-19955-9

Kitty has agreed to appear on TV's first all-supernatural reality show. She's expecting cheesy competitions and manufactured drama starring shapeshifters, vampires, and psychics. But what begins as a publicity stunt turn into a fight for her life.

The cast members, including Kitty, arrive at the remote mountain lodge where the show is set. As soon as filming starts, violence erupts and Kitty suspects that the show is a cover for a nefarious plot. Then the cameras stop rolling, cast members start dying, and Kitty realizes she and her monster housemates are ironically the ultimate prize in a very different game. Stranded with no power, no phones, and no way to know who can be trusted, she must find a way to defeat the evil closing in before it kills them all.

Kitty Goes to War

Kitty Goes to War
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:Jun 2010
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:352
Isbn:0-7653-6561-8

Kitty is contacted by a friend at the NIH's Center for the Study of Paranatural Biology. Three Army soldiers recently returned from the war in Afghanistan are being held at Ft. Carson in Colorado Springs. They're killer werewolves—and post traumatic stress has left them unable to control their shape-shifting and unable to interact with people. Kitty agrees to see them, hoping to help by bringing them into her pack.

Meanwhile, Kitty gets sued for libel by CEO Harold Franklin after featuring Speedy Mart—his nationwide chain of 24-hour convenience stores with a reputation for attracting supernatural unpleasantness—on her show.

Very bad weather is on the horizon.

Kitty's Big Trouble

Kitty's Big Trouble
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:Jun 2011
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Isbn:0-7653-6565-0

Kitty's recent run-in with werewolves traumatized by the horrors of war has made her start wondering how long the US government might have been covertly using werewolves in combat. Have any famous names in our own history might have actually been supernatural? She's got suspicions about William Tecumseh Sherman. Then an interview with the right vampire puts her on the trail of Wyatt Earp, vampire hunter.

But her investigations lead her to a clue about enigmatic vampire Roman and the mysterious Long Game played by vampires through the millennia.

Kitty's Greatest Hits

Kitty's Greatest Hits
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:Aug 2011
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:320
Isbn:0-7653-2957-3

Compilation of Kitty Norville short fiction including 2 new stories.

Includes:[1]

Kitty Steals the Show

Kitty Steals the Show
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:Aug 2012
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:352
Isbn:978-0765365668

Kitty is set to attend The First International Conference on Paranatural Studies in London with Ben and Cormac/Amelia. While there she meets Ned, head vampire of London, and Caleb, alpha werewolf of London. Kitty learns more about the Long Game while running into old friends and enemies (Joseph Tyler, Luis, Dr. Flemming, Merecedes Cook) along with new allies and enemies.

Kitty Rocks the House

Kitty Rocks the House
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy
Publisher:Tor Books
Media Type:Print (Paperback)

On the heels of Kitty's return from London, a new werewolf shows up in Denver, one who threatens to split the pack by challenging Kitty's authority at every turn. The timing could not be worse; Kitty needs all the allies she can muster to go against the ancient vampire, Roman, if she's to have any hope of defeating his Long Game. But there's more to this intruder than there seems, and Kitty must uncover the truth, fast. Meanwhile, Cormac pursues an unknown entity wreaking havoc across Denver; and a vampire from the Order of St. Lazarus tempts Rick with the means to transform his life forever.

Kitty in the Underworld

Kitty in the Underworld
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:June 2013
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:320
Isbn:978-0765368683

As Denver adjusts to a new master vampire, Kitty gets word of an intruder in the Denver werewolf pack’s territory, and she investigates the challenge to her authority. She follows the scent of the lycanthrope through the mountains where she is lured into a trap, tranquilized, and captured. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a defunct silver mine: the perfect cage for a werewolf. Her captors are a mysterious cult seeking to induct Kitty into their ranks in a ritual they hope will put an end to Dux Bellorum. Though skeptical of their power, even Kitty finds herself struggling to resist joining their cause. Whatever she decides, they expect Kitty to join them in their plot, willingly or otherwise.

Low Midnight

Low Midnight
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville (spinoff)
Genre:Fantasy novel
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:December 2014
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:320
Isbn:978-0-7653-6869-0

Unlike the other novels in the series, this book follows Cormac, although Kitty appears repeatedly to assist him. Cormac tries to decode the journal given to Kitty by the sorceress in the previous novel. The path leads to western Colorado and the sorceress' aunt, a low-level witch who had introduced her to magic. As a price for helping to decode the journal, the aunt asks Cormac to solve a local hundred-year-old murder, leading him into trouble with his former militia acquaintances.

Kitty Saves the World

Kitty Saves the World
Author:Carrie Vaughn
Cover Artist:Craig White http://www.craigwhiteillustration.com/
Country:United States
Language:English
Series:Kitty Norville
Genre:Fantasy
Publisher:Tor Books
Release Date:August 2015
Media Type:Print (Paperback)
Pages:336
Isbn:978-0765368706

Following the discoveries made by Cormac in Low Midnight, Kitty and her allies are ready to strike. But, when their assassination attempt on the evil vampire Dux Bellorum fails, Kitty finds herself running out of time. The elusive vampire lord has begun his apocalyptic end game, and Kitty still doesn't know where he will strike.

Meanwhile, pressure mounts in Denver as Kitty and her pack begin to experience the true reach of Dux Bellorum's cult. Outnumbered and outgunned at every turn, the stakes have never been higher for Kitty. She will have to call on allies both old and new in order to save not just her family and friends, but the rest of the world as well.

The Immortal Conquistador

A collection of short stories published in March 2020.

A Spanish conquistador arrives in the new world, becomes a vampire, and spends the next 500 years defending his friends and territory, eventually meeting Kitty, and then joining the Order of Saint Lazarus of the Shadows.

Kitty's Mix-tape

Short story collection published in October 2020.

Contains:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ISFDB publication listing: Kitty's Greatest Hits. 30 April 2012.