The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Agra Deedy (author) and Randall Wright (author) (US edition)

Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, yearns for the comfort (and cheese) of a popular London inn, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. When he hears that the innkeeper is in need of a mouser, he befriends the local mice in a scheme so audacious that it will surely set him up for the rest of his nine lives! Harmony reigns until the combination of a tyrannical cook, a strange visitor hidden in the attic, and an evil tomcat called Pinch causes near cat-astrophe. The ensuing mayhem threatens the peace of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese — and the entire British Empire! Cats and mice are cuddly and nice in this hearty tale of trickery, treachery and unlikely friendship.