"Of all sad words" and "Murder among the OWLS."  Both by  Bill Crider. 

Series mysteries.  Detective: Sheriff Dan Rhodes.

My friends and I often joked that our gravestones would read "It seemed like a good idea at the time."  Texas Sheriff Dan Rhodes considers that the saddest phrase in the English language - and he's wondering if he should apply it to the Citizen's Academy he set up.  Have the graduates of that program, who learned about the law and police procedure, become vigilantes?  Are they responsible for the murder of a local bootlegger?   "Of All Sad Words" is  a procedural-lite crossed with a cozy.  Recommended.

"Murder Among the OWLS" opens with the arrival of a black cat on Sheriff Rhodes' doorstep.  It signifies bad luck for its owner, a neighbor who seems to have died in a fall.  It's also unlucky for the allergic-to-cats Rhodes; the animal takes up residence in front of his refrigerator.  The Sheriff now has two jobs: tracking down a murderer, and finding a home for his unwanted guest.  Recommended.