“Cat in a White Tie and Tails: A Midnight Louie Mystery” by Carole Nelson Douglas / Monday, October 15, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Today’s featured book is Cat in a White Tie and Tails: A Midnight Louie Mystery by Carole Nelson Douglas.

Sometimes it takes a cat to sniff out the bad guys.

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

I picked up Carole Nelson Douglas’s “Cat in a White Tie and Tails” and we immediately set off on a new feline adventure. With the first line, I thought I was reading something from Michael Connelly or Dashiell Hammett, but – in this case – the protagonist is a cat! Call it a hard-boiled kitty cozy. Fans of the series will love this continued adventure. It is a back-and-forth between the action of the people in the story and the points-of-view of the cats with many twists and turns. Throughout, the cats are privy to continued capers of the humans. In this 24th adventure in the series, Midnight Louie, the central reoccurring ex-stray cat character, accompanies owner and PR agent Temple Barr and her fiancé, upcoming media star Matt Devine, to Chicago to meet Devine’s family. What Barr finds is a to-be-mother-in-law with ties to the past best left uninvestigated because – wouldn’t you know it – with twists and turns, there is a catnapping and the perp trail leads back to a series of unsolved cold-case murders connected to Barr’s previous relationship Max Kinsella who – interestingly enough – is dead (or at least Barr thinks so) and has been commissioned by homicide lieutenant C. R. Molina to investigate one of the murders Molina suspects amnesia stricken Kinsella committed a couple of years before. The whole thing is rather convoluted, but then told partly from the perspective of a bunch of cats, what would one expect? Realism aside, the plot is tight. All the characters are fettered together in some fashion and everyone is tied into the plot in some important way. The plot threads are ongoing with much from previous books and loose ends left in this one (presumably to be resolved in future books), but if you haven’t read the previous books, there is still enough backstory included in this novel that you won’t be alienated. The cats do a good job of summing things up. With all the dangers going on, it is a good thing that some of the characters have nine lives. If you’re in the mood for a cozy cat-told mystery, I can think of none better.

From Amazon:

“In Carole Nelson Douglas’ “Cat in a White Tie and Tails,” Midnight Louie goes along as chaperone when PR whiz Temple Barr and her fiance, rising media star Matt Devine, head to Chicago so she can meet his family. Matt’s mother has a tragic past primed to rise and bite anybody in reach, even the ex-alley cat sleuth. When Louie is snatched, the catnapping’s surprising motive loops back to Vegas and a string of unsolved murders connected to magic…and ex-magician Max Kinsella, Temple’s former significant other.

Skeptical homicide lieutenant C. R. Molina has commissioned Max to investigate the cold case murder she suspects he committed two years earlier. With traumatic amnesia from a recent attempt on his life, the once infallible Max is more sitting duck than predator. It will take an alliance of frenemies to solve the serial deaths before one of them joins the fatality list.”

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Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!

– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville