Someone is trying to kill leading British Shakespearean actor, husband, father, ladies man, and soon-to-be Knight of the Realm Winstanley Fortescue. The actor, rehearsing his starring role in the forthcoming play *Serpent in the Heather* , is conked on the head backstage. He falls off a ladder and lands on the resident Pest Control Officer, Montmorency D. Mousa (otherwise known as Monty), the company cat. When Fortescue comes to, he finds to his horror that he has been switched into Monty's body, while the cat, installed in the heroic frame of the distinguished thespian, has been carted off to the intensive-care unit reserved for humans. Now this actor, who has played to the crowned heads of Europe, must suffer such indignities as being forced to use a litter box and still must evade his unknown enemy.