Beware! According to superstition, if a black cat crosses your path, it is considered bad luck.

Not so, however, for Kay Finch, a 1972 graduate of Northwestern Lehigh.

A black cat named Hitchcock has brought Kay considerable good luck in the form of a published book.

“Black Cat Crossing,” the first of what promises to be a “cat-filled” series, will be released by Berkley Books.

Kay Ellen (Bittner) Finch considers herself to be very lucky.

Her first published book, “Final Decree,” won a contest sponsored by Mystery Writers of America in 2009.

She won first place and the prize was publication and $500.

The same publisher later published a second book, “Final Cut,” about the same character, Corie McKenna, private investigator.

Her stories take place in Texas Hill Country, an area she calls “beautiful with quaint little towns and pretty rivers.”

Although the rest of the Houston area is very flat, the hill country is similar to the Poconos – except much hotter, she says.

Finch lives with her husband, a rescue cat, and two “wild and crazy rescue dogs” in a Houston suburb.

Her work for a criminal defense attorney in Houston has given her numerous plot ideas.

Although Finch says Sabrina Tate, amateur sleuth character in “Black Cat Crossing,” didn’t start out to be autobiographical, there are numerous similarities.

Sabrina is a writer by trade and moves to Lavender, Texas, to write her first novel.

She also helps her Aunt Rowe manage a vacation rental business.

Sabrina hears rumors that a local black cat is a jinx, and experiences that bad luck when the cat leads her directly to the scene of a murder.

Luckily for Sabrina, the bad luck cat, Hitchcock, helps her sniff out clues and stalk the killer before Aunt Rowe winds up the victim.

Finch started writing when she was about 10 years old – secretively in her bedroom.

She loved reading mysteries, so that’s what she wrote.

She was shy and busy on the Germansville farm, but there were lots of cats and she had books to read from the Slatington Library to keep her happy.

She remembers her eighth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Santangelo, giving her encouragement about her writing.

“She gave us lots of writing assignments and instructed us to use a pseudonym on our homework – mine was April Holiday,” she said.

Finch has another local connection hiding on a back shelf.

She is determined to finish a book set at The Mill in Germansville, which was Phillips Feed and Grain when she knew it. Local readers look forward to its completion.

In the meantime, readers will enjoy the black cat mystery.

Ellery Adams, New York Times bestselling author, says “Black Cat Crossing” has intrigue, memorable characters, a small-town setting, and even a few mouth-watering recipes.

He calls it “a purr-fectly cozy read.”

The book was released on Sept. 1 and is available at Amazon as a paperback.