Cat in a Sapphire Slipper: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Carole Nelson Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Series: Midnight Louie Mysteries | Publication Date: June 30, 2009

Cat in a Sapphire Slipper is the twentieth title in Carole Nelson Douglas’s sassy Midnight Louie mystery series. The tough-talking, twenty-pound, tomcat PI is as feisty as ever as he and his gang try to keep his favorite roommate from losing her man.

 

PR honcho Temple Barr’s romance novelist aunt Kit has wound up in a romantic plot of her own. She’s snagged one of the most eligible bachelors on the Strip, one of the elder Fontana brothers, a silver-tongued reputed ex-mobster with a heart of gold.

 

There is to be a wedding…and where there is a wedding there is usually a bachelor party. Things go disastrously wrong when the entire party is hijacked and taken to a remote ranch out in the Nevada desert, a place where the women are wild and the sex is legal. And among the group?  None other than Temple’s own Matt, an ex-priest.

 

Truly a fish out of water, he soon comes upon a beautiful young woman who is quite naked and most thoroughly dead. Given the remoteness of the location with very few suspects on hand (plus the Fontanas' shady reputation) this could be a very bad thing indeed. 

 

And Louie?  Well, he managed to go along for the ride and once again it’s up to that big old tomcat to bail out his humans and save the day.

 

Cat in a Sapphire Slipper is a fast-paced, racy mystery with a loveable cast of characters and one terrific tough dude to keep them all in line.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fur-flying 20th entry in Douglas's cat whodunit series (Cat in a Red Hot Rage, etc.) reveals that magician Mystifying Max Kinsella, Temple Barr's former sweetie, has been secretly whisked away to a European hospital, where he suffers from amnesia and is attracted to his sexy doctor. Meanwhile, Temple, who believes Max is dead, has become engaged to Matt Devine, former priest turned radio self-help guru, Mr. Midnight. Temple is also helping her romance novelist aunt, Kit Carlson, prepare to wed, but when a bachelor party prank goes awry, Matt and various members of the groom's family wind up at the Sapphire Slipper, the finest and classiest little licensed brothel in Nye County, Nev., where Matt stumbles on a murdered prostitute. Midnight Louie, feline sleuth, offers his considerable expertise in solving crimes of passion. Douglas explores the campy, lighter side of chickenranches at the same time she exposes their seamier aspects. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Las Vegas’ number-one hard-boiled feline PI, Midnight Louie, is back in another crazy crime- and cat-filled romp. Louie sneaks a ride in the Fontana brothers limo to oldest brother Aldo’s bachelor party, hoping to keep an eye on Matt, new beau of Louie’s human partner, Temple. When Louie and the men find themselves not only at a Nevada chicken ranch (legalized brothel) but kidnapped by their jealous and vengeful girlfriends, with a dead body upstairs, it is up to Louie to keep Matt out of trouble and find the murderer. Louie only has 24 hours before the new clients arrive, but this time he has help, a lot of help and all female, including his long-lost love, Satin, likely mother of his purported daughter, Midnight Louise. With a fast-moving plot and lively narration passed back and forth between Temple, Matt, Louie, and Temple’s mysteriously missing ex, Max, the story hurtles its way forward. Sure to be a big hit with Midnight Louie’s large and dedicated audience. --Jessica Moyer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765358298
• ISBN-13: 978-0765358295
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #606,127 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

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put the book down, but couldn't quite give it five stars. Warning: plot spoilers, October 18, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Cat in a Sapphire Slipper: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Perhaps I should have given it five, because as usual, I was immersed in Louie-land from start to finish. I couldn't put the book down. One thing I missed was the sense of a real relationship between Temple and Matt, though. There has to be something between sexual tension and lack of it. For him, Temple is the first woman he's fallen in love with, and maybe his one and only. It seems to me that should be a powerful thing, and something he's still getting used to. For her, maybe the lack of feeling is more understandable, though disappointing. She was touched to be at the top of his cell phone numbers, after all. There's also still the issue of having feelings for more than one man, and her fears for Max.

There are a lot of things to like about this one, though. The action had me hooked and the team Louie and Louise put together was hilarious. There's a certain four tail point that made me laugh out loud. I've always been one to love the cat side of these stories, though.

As for the human side of the story, I enjoyed Temple and Matt and their adventure, but I was most intrigued by the glimpses of Max and Molina. In a way, they're in parallel circumstances. He's recovering in some distant (Swiss?) hospital and she's recovering from her stab wound at home. He doesn't know who he can trust, and neither does she, really. He has something to hide and so does she. I'm also grateful Max is still alive. He was too good a character to lose, though I wouldn't be surprised if he does find that heroic death at some point. As for the lady psychiatrist, she was an interesting addition. Interesting too that she disappeared after he proved he was still capable of thinking quickly and surviving. On the Molina side, it was nice to see her coming to some terms with Rafi--and that he isn't quite the bad guy we were once led to imagine. I can't help wondering how Mariah will take the news, if and when it comes out. As always with these books, I'm left wondering what will happen and looking forward to reading the next.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fresh, funny and fun feline frolic, September 3, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cat in a Sapphire Slipper: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Las Vegas based public relations guru Temple Barr assumes her former lover magician Max Kinsella is dead. Though grieving for him, Temple is engaged to former priest Matt Devine, better known as the radio self help jockey Mr. Midnight.

However, Temple is unaware that Max is alive given the name Mr. Randolph by the hospital staff as he suffers from amnesia while healing near the Alps after taking a severe fall in Nepal. Temple's romance novelist Aunt Kit Carlson is getting married, but the bachelor party is going to be for the men including Matt at the renowned legal brothel Sapphire Slipper chicken ranch in Nye County, Nevada. To his chagrin, Matt ends up with a dead hooker. Midnight Louie believes the murder was one of passion so must decide who loved the prostitute enough to kill her.

The amazing thing about this Midnight Louie cat crime caper is that the feline is on his third life of books, but the writing magician Carole Nelson Douglas shows her skills by keeping the frolic fresh, funny and fun. The amusing look at the Nevada chicken farm industry enhances a strong whodunit while Max struggles in Europe to figure out his name. Fans of the series will appreciate this engaging lighthearted romp as Louie visits the Sapphire Slipper.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Midnight Louie is Back!, September 18, 2008

By 

Isabelle Jolly (El Segundo, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Cat in a Sapphire Slipper: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This book has a helpful prologue introducing the characters just in case the series is new to the reader. The book will stand alone for the reader unfamiliar with the series. It goes on with some very unusual twists, but Louie and friends manage to help their humans clear up the murder and to get things put back together. There is a second story interwoven too, which helps clear up what happened to one of the characters in the last book. The book leaves you waiting for the next one to find out what is going to happen!