Cat in a Neon Nightmare: A Midnight Louie Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Carole Nelson Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2004 | Series: Midnight Louie Mystery

Cat in a Neon Nightmare is the fifteenth Midnight Louie mystery, and this tough-talking tomcat is as feisty as ever, raising hell (sometimes literally) in Las Vegas, America's Sin Capital.

The lavish hotels and the sham of wholesome fun may soothe the tourists, but sex and greed still fuel this town, and bad guys still abound. And Midnight Louie, the feline Sam Spade has his paws full keeping those he loves safe
.
This time Midnight Louie treads the lurid side of mystery's mean streets when a call girl named Vassar is found lying dead on the neon ceiling above a Las Vegas casino. Suicide or homicide? If straight-arrow radio shrink Matt Devine, the man most likely to have been Vassar's unlikely last client, is charged for Vassar's murder, everyone Louie knows is an accessory to the crime . . . except for his ever-loving roommate, PR whiz Temple Barr, who has been kept in the dark by both friends and enemies.

To save Matt's future, Temple will have to crack the cover-up with the unsuspected help of Midnight Inc. Investigations, now including a junior partner: Louie's maybe-daughter, Midnight Louise. Meanwhile, a hot new club in town, Neon Nightmare, has links to the mysterious Synth, a sinister association of magicians that may lie behind the string of unsolved deaths that have haunted Louie Company for months.

And with the psychotic stalker, Kitty the Cutter, still prowling, death is definitely in the cards for someone Temple knows very well, and not even Louie may be able to stop it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the 15th entry (after 2002's Cat in a Midnight Choir) in Douglas's sprawling serial that always leaves another murder unsolved until the next installment, that cocky cool cat and "ace feline PI" Midnight Louie and his "erstwhile daughter," Miss Midnight Louise, add their own heroics to a potent brew of who-offed-who and who-loves-who. Last time out, a Stripper Killer was caught by the Circle Ritz gang, but Kitty "the Cutter" O'Connor escaped to keep stalking the object of her affection, "Mr. Midnight" Matt Devine, an ex- but still celibate priest/radio-talk-show counselor. Here, Vassar, the high-class call girl whom Devine picked to lose his virginity to before Kitty could do the deed, ends up dead after their tryst-on a Las Vegas hotel's casino area's "clear Lexan ceiling above the neon." Crack police lieutenant C.R. Molina suspects magician/counterterrorist "Mystifying Max" Kinsella, while Temple Barr, PR whiz and friend to both Devine and Kinsella, suspects Kitty-an over-the-top evildoer also connected to Kinsella's IRA past and perhaps even to the sinister Synth, an ancient magician's association that may have been responsible for the "death" of Kinsella's old mentor, Gandolph the Great. Subsequent volumes should tie up all the loose ends Douglas leaves in this light hybrid cocktail that's shaken, not stirred-and not for those who prefer their mysteries, well, straight up and feline-free.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Sleuth and supercat Midnight Louie has anthropomorphized his way through murder at romance writers' conventions, cat shows, and various other venues designed to display Las Vegas at its most outrageous. Over the top? Louie parted company with the "top" years ago. This time Louie and his human associates, Temple Barr and Max Kinsella, tangle with the Synth, a gang of outlaw magicians up to no good. Tracking down the elusive renegades takes Louie to a private magic club called Nightmare--imagine the bar in Star Wars but not quite as friendly. You'd think a talking cat would fit right in at a joint designed to blur the line between reality and fantasy, but it doesn't work quite like that. Midnight Louie defies critical comment. To some cat lovers, he is as tasty as a fresh bowl of Fancy Feast; to those who prefer the line between feline and human to remain fairly rigid, he is about as appealing as a box of used kitty litter. This adventure won't change minds in either camp. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765345927
• ISBN-13: 978-0765345929
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

With her home office a Twilight Zone landscape of mannequins in vintage dress, no wonder award-winning ex-journalist and novelist Carole Nelson Douglas's 55 novels range from historical and contemporary mystery and romance to science fiction thrillers to high and urban fantasy. They include two Las Vegas-set series: the Midnight Louie, feline PI, mysteries partially narrated by a "Sam Spade with hairballs" and the Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, noir urban fantasies of werewolf mobsters and Silver Screen zombies in a paranormal Vegas.

Douglas was the first author of a Sherlockian series with a female protagonist, diva-detective Irene Alder, the only woman to outwit Holmes, debuting with the New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Good Night, Mr. Holmes. Rachel McAdams plays Irene in the Dec. 25 film with Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock. Douglas says if she has a literary muse, it's definitely feline: mysterious, wise, playful, and packing sharp shivs in velvet gloves.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST YET! AWESOME, June 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Cat in a Neon Nightmare: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Hardcover)

I just discovered this series a couple books back, but I went back and read all the previous books (tip: there's an interior alphabet in the titles after the first two books). What a trip! This is unlike any mysteries series I've read, more like a long-running TV series where the characterization just gets richer along with the plot complications.

Of course there's the addictive voice of Midnight Louie, the hard-boiled cat PI, coming and going between the adventures of the four main human characters. Louie is "just a cat" to the human characters, so it's only the reader who knows what he's really up to and how he helps them solve crimes. He's all cat and yet also a very funny send-up of PI cliches. The Las Vegas background provides even more larger-than-life opportunities for poking fun at human (and feline) follies.

The four humans include two professional crimefighters and two amateur, so the action can be satirical and amusing . . . or darker and thought-provoking. While there are traditional murders to solve in the books, the sequence is as messy as in real life, with some crimes going unsolved as an underlying conspiracy is slowly revealed. I found in reading the series in one go that the earlier books had little clues sprinkled throughout that became significant later, so I really recommend starting with Catnap and Pussyfoot. The books even get thicker as the story gets richer and more intricate, and rereadings reveal even more of the fine points. I love series that create a universe you can get lost in, that always feels bigger than the book you're reading right now.

This book surprised me though, with sudden plot twists that totally turned my expectations (and some of the characters') upside down. The edgy relationship of the humans (two men and two women, all interesting. . . and they DON'T all have abuse issues) really drives this series. Romance is a factor, but so is rivalry.

This series is unique for being wildly amusing, suspenseful, and thought-provoking all at the same time. I can't wait for the next installment, and hope the author invents a way to extend the alphabet!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed it..., June 6, 2003

By 

Verdana (Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat in a Neon Nightmare: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Hardcover)

I just read Cat In a Neon Nightmare, and overall found it an enjoyable book in the series. I've been reading the Midnight Louie series since the early 90's, and have often recommended the books to friends.

And, though there is some truth to the complaint that the stories have become a bit too PC and preachy, I have to admit these stories still leave me with that feeling of immediately wanting to read the next one, wondering what will happen. And there were some interesting plot twists in this one. I also find them very re-readable. I would also recommend CND's Irene Adler series.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous characters and humor! Can't wait for the next!, March 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Cat in a Neon Nightmare: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Hardcover)

I've just finished this one, and each book in the Midnight
Louie series becomes more exciting! I love the Big Cats and the addition of Louie's mother. I see the love interests of the main characters becoming more confused, complex and even more interesting. I enjoy the characters immensely and feel that I know Temple, Matt, Max and even Molina. I can't wait for the next book to come out in paperback to find out what happens to all of them next.

I've loved this series from the beginning because of the continuing character growth as well as the humor. And the zany Las Vegas background has evolved along with the main characters.

The author spoke recently at my local library, so I asked how come books I love, like this one, sometimes get such negative reviews online. She said sometimes a book's content will hit too close to home and really push a reader's buttons; at least that's what she's found with completely negative reactions. When I showed her a review on this book that was so opposite my reaction, she also said that people's opinions are just that, and they can't be argued with.

But she also was pretty puzzled that someone complained she'd labeled the character of Max as a "lone wolf" so many times it was to the point of nausea. So she did a word search for the phrase after she flew back home and emailed me the results: Max is called a lone wolf in only one of the 16 books: this last one, Cat in a Neon Nightmare. She only found that the phrase lone wolf used twice in earlier books, once by the cat detective, Midnight Louie, contrasting feline and canine behavior, and once as a metaphor for a motorcycle that plays a role in the series.

Amazing, some people aren't really seeing what's in the books, they're reacting to what they think they see. In fact, their comments can be downright wrong in terms of fact as well as opinion.

So my advice is to read these books for yourself and make up your own minds. And write your own review if you don't agree with with what's posted!