Throughout 1990s, Deric Longden has shared his life with Aileen Armitage and four cats: Thermal, Tigger, Frink and shabby old Arthur. And the cats have found that sharing a life with Aileen can be a painful business. She hardly trips over them, but they are always in danger of being mistaken for a cardigan, or locked away in the cellar.

«Deric's gentle tales of life in Huddersfield with his wife Aileen and their menagerie of playful cats have won him thousands of loyal fans. And after a few years break Deric returns with the latest, and eagerly awaited, instalment of his memoirs. Deric is getting on a bit now and so are his cats. Life chez-Longden has adjusted to a slower pace, but everyday is still full of opportunities for the sort of mischief, mishaps and adventures that come with sharing your house and life with a troop of small cats with big personalities. «Paws in the Proceedings» has all of Deric's trademark charm, homespun wisdom and gentle wit. His remarkable eye for the humorous detail and the keen observation are very much in evidence, and this is another comic gem that will delight Deric's loyal fans and bring him to a bigger audience than ever before.»

The little cat Deric Longden saw sitting forlornly on an upturned bucket belonged to the neighbours, but somehow when it began to rain it seemed only natural to bring him inside. Once there he slipped so easily into Deric and Aileen's lives that there was an unspoken agreement that he had found his real home. Little did he know that he had entered the Longden world, in which the unexpected (almost) always happens... Aileen being Aileen, it was probably inevitable that sooner or later the kitten would be trapped in the refrigerator. And Deric being Deric, the obvious way to thaw him back to life was to make a little coat for him out of a shrunken thermal vest. Thus the cat who came in from the cold got his name — Thermal — and joined the wonderful cast of characters in the ongoing Longden saga.

Further episodes in the life of Deric Longden and the Longden household. At least two new characters join the feline cast led by the ever-popular Thermal. The thread running through the book is the interesting experience of watching Lost for Words turn into a television drama, but attached to the thread are the usual wonderful collection of Longden observations of life at home and (not too far) abroad. As usual work suffers constant interruptions from Thermal and Co, but somehow the research gets done. Did you know that Huddersfield has the country's biggest per capita consumption of crinkle-cut chips? And why does two-thirds of all the Benedictine produced get drunk in Bradford?