Space opera with large cat and discussion about infinite dimensions

Question

I'm trying to remember a novel I read in the late 80s or early 90s. I don't remember too many details. This is what I do remember:

• It involved a voyage through hyperspace.
• As part of this voyage they were transporting a large blue-ish cat-like creature, which may have been intelligent or telepathic.
• There was a murder which required investigation. The cat may have been involved, possibly falsely accused.
• One of the characters explains the necessity of infinite dimensions: each dimension needs a higher dimension to be nested in. Eg, planes are required in order for lines to exist, planes can't exist without 3-space, 3-space can't exist without the fourth dimension of time, etc. By induction, the universe has infinite dimensions, QED.
• The cover of the book was probably fairly colourful, eg bright primary colours, possibly featuring the large cat.

Most of these details are up for grabs since it wouldn't surprise me if I'm misremembering parts. I read a lot of scifi when I was a kid and some of it has blurred together.

However, I'm 99% certain about the voyage through hyperspace involving a discussion of infinite dimensions. It stuck with me because I found the concept so mind-blowing, and I was disappointed a few year later when I found out there is no substance to it.

Answer 1

Is it possible this is The Legacy of Lehr (1986) by Katherine Kurtz? I don't remember the infinite dimensions bit, but the plot involves transporting 4 large blue psychic cats, and a series of murders that occur. The summary from Google books:

The interstellar cruiser Valkyrie has been ordered to take an unexpected detour from its normal route to pick up a strange and valuable cargo. Capt. George Lutobo cannot disobey the commands of his emperor, but the idea of bringing four huge, blue-furred lionlike creatures onboard a luxury vessel makes the captain uneasy. Nor does he trust the big cats’ escorts, husband and wife scientists Mather Seton and Wallis Hamilton. Though these magnificent felines possess remarkable psychic abilities and are worshipped as deities on their home planet—and, for that reason, are essential components of the diplomatic negotiations between worlds—they are nevertheless frighteningly dangerous beasts, powerfully built, with razor-sharp claws and teeth.

Soon after the creatures’ arrival, the discovery of a dead passenger, ripped to pieces and clutching a clump of blue fur, seems to justify Captain Lutobo’s fears. The killings continue, each as savage as the last, though Seton and Hamilton insist that the great felines could never have escaped from their cages. But the dark mystery only deepens when one of the imprisoned cats is murdered—the manner of its death impossible to fathom—and one terrible truth becomes frighteningly clear: No one and no thing is safe any longer aboard the Valkyrie.