Customer Reviews

Catnap: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries)

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This first of the "Midnight Louie" series introduces the reader to the world of Las Vegas hoopla through the eyes of a never-say-die, young free-lance PR woman, Temple Barr, and "Midnight Louie," the 20 lb. black cat who decides to adopt a new human. Temple demonstrates a talent for stumbling over dead bodies and, instead of being frightened, must investigate *whodunit.* Midnight Louie does have his say, and demonstrates his feline logic and methods of helping her be at the right place at the right time. Carol Nelson Douglas turns a dandy phrase that's fun to read. This non-fiction addict, and spouse, are now hooked onto Midnight Louie.

A fan of the mystery, Catnap allows for the "purr-fect" twists that keeps you guessing. Not only do you get the clues and the chance to figure out the murder, you get a "cat's eye" view of the "purr-dicament." Being a cat lover as well I found that to be an enjoyable touch. "Midnight Louie" has a way of putting his mark on things; the type of mark that doesn't stink up the story line, but instead inhances it. I would recomend this book and any in the series to any avid mystery or cat lover.

Both the adventures if Midnight Louie and my addiction to said cat and his "roommate", the petite but very professional PR specialist, Temple Barr. Little does she (or the new reader) know that when Temple sets off in her trademark high heel shoes after a black cat on the loose at the American Booksellers Association convention in Las Vegas that this is the beginning of not just a mystery and murder but one of the most intriguing partnerships in mystery books.

Not only is Louie - the back cat that Temple pursues - intent on leading her to discover the body of Pennyroyal Press publisher Chester Royal- he also manages to squirm hs way into her heart - especially when he does a Sidney Carton and risks life and limb to help rescue Baker and Taylor - two cats who have been catnapped at that same ill-fated convention.

Temple is a Mighty Mite - small but brave and ferociously curious. Following Louie's lead, and with a bit of martial arts training from her divine new neighbor, Matt Devine - she manages to solve all the crimes. In the process she acquires a roommate and protector - the somewhat oversized but magnificent Midnight Louie.

It is the rollicking beginning to an aphabetical series of Midnight Louie mysteries - what could be looked on as the first chapter of one very long and entertaining mystery saga. While each book in this series stands on its own merits as a good read, it is great fun to start at the beginning and read the books in order. Then the real structure of this series becomes evident and the entertainment value triples.

Louie is not your ordinary cat detective. He plays an active part in solving the mysteries he encounters, whether it is simply calling attention to the most vital clues or by intervening tooth and claw to preserve and protect. He's tough talking, with an amusing way with words - a sort of feline Sam Spade but with a heart of gold - although he'd prefer that you not notice that. And Temple Barr is not your typical small female with a shoe obsession, but an intrepid investigator full of courage and heart.

Along the way we get some intriguing glimpses into the world of publishing as well as the vagaries of human nature. The Midnight Louie series may read like light cozy mysteries on one level, but read carefully. They are also insightful on a number of levels - and that insight keeps growing as the mystery progresses.

Everything I've read by Carole Nelson Douglas has been both kind of sweet and not particularly original -- the kind of book that leaves you thinking, "Well, that was cute." This can either be marginally appealing, as in her Irene Adler series, or downright annoying, as in her attempts at high fantasy. _Catnap_ falls into the first category, as the author jumps on the feline sleuth bandwagon.

For those interested in the combination of cats and crime, I place the maunderings of Midnight Louie solidly between the interminable "Cat Who..." series and the delightful adventures of Mrs. Murphy. Louie plays a marginally more active role in crime solving than the Siamese Pair of the former, but is not quite so involved as the latter. Like Mrs. Murphy, he has a perky female associate to do the actual work of putting together clues and bringing them to the attention of the proper authorities. Unlike Mrs. Murphy, Louie seems a great deal more interested in self-agrandizement than in true crime solving. There is less of an emphasis on the legendary feline curiosity than there is on the equally legendary feline ego.

The setting is interesting as it gives a kind of perspective on Las Vegas as an alien culture. The supporting characters and subplots are derivative, and I thought the grand "revelation of the crime" scene, where the case was presented to all the suspects gathered in one room, was super unrealistic and annoying. Still, _Catnap_ kept me occupied on a grey afternoon when I couldn't think of anything better to do. If you don't go into it with very many expectations, you won't be disappointed.

As a series, the Midnight Louie books are standard for the genre and many are much more interesting and original than the first volume. The ongoing supporting cast is appealing, and the series-spanning subplots hooked me into reading past the first two books. Though the crimes and motives are fairly stock, some of the settings are quite original -- I especially liked the book set at a strippers' convention (_Pussyfoot_) and the one set at a Romance Novel convention (_Cat in a Diamond Dazzle). The series could use help from a continuity editor, however. In one book, a major event is stated to have happened both in 1969 and 1959; in others it seems that the author can't remember where one early crime happened, but sets it in this Vegas hotel or that as the whim takes her. Also, there are long sections dealing with the characters' "personal growth" that seem more like something from a psychology or self-help text than real conversations between people. And the characters have an annoying incapacity to use common contractions like "don't" or "won't," which makes much of the dialog seem stilted and unreal.

If you like gimick mysteries with a lot of fluff and not much suspense, you could do worse than the Midnight Louie books. Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers they're not, but they're still amusing.

This is the first volume of the Midnight Louie series that features that a crime solving tom cat who talks like he is the reincarnation of Sam Spade and the 'doll' who helps him, Temple Barr a petite public relations free lancer. The pair prowl the mean streets of Las Vegas as the puzzle out answers to crimes that stump the local police.

CATNAP introduces the pair both to the readers and to each other as Louie tries to get Temple to discover the murdered body of a rather shady book publisher who had the bad taste to die in the midst of one of Temple's biggest projects. Disaster seems to be looming for Temple's fledgling PR career when shortly after the dead human is discovered the catnapping of a pair of famous 'spokescats' is also found. Louie is soon hot on the trail of the culprits, a trail that leads him all too close to using up his ninth life.

As is common with the introductory volume of a series much time is spent supplying background material, even at the expense of the mystery aspect. CATNAP follows this pattern, as the author devotes most of her attention to setting the scene for subsequent novels. Temple Barr and her human companions are all introduced and supplied with interesting backstories. Louie is described at length, many of his cohorts and even his previous humans are also introduced. This does not leave lots of time for the mystery aspect of the story, but in true cozy fashion it is not really the point anyway. This series will appeal to those who are fans of series cozy mysteries, particularly those involving cats - such as the CAT WHO series.

Midnight Louie does his usual great job of "solving" this murder mystery set in a Bookseller's Convention. Actually, he finds the body and of course he is responsible for his human, Temple Barr learning who did the dastardly deed and proving it. Miss Barr gets into a lot of trouble along the way and, of course, Midnight Louie "rescues" her from it. Midnight Louie is the ultimate in purrivate eyes with his tough, hardboiled outlook, just like the human detectives.

`Midnight Louie' is an 18 lb black tom cat who lives in Las Vegas. While roaming the American Booksellers Association convention, he discovers a hidden corpse, and leads PR woman Temple Barr to it. Soon they both find themselves trying to solve the murder mystery-and a possibly associated catnapping- in their own ways. Both end up with attempts made on their lives before the murder is solved.

The story is told in alternate sections: Temple in the third person and Louie in the first. Louie sounds like Sam Spade, going on about dolls and his own prowess- mental, physical and sexual. Temple's sections are interesting, although they dwell on her shoes an awful lot.

The book is the first of a series, and truly reads like a first novel. I was surprised to find that Douglas was an established author of other types of books. `Catnap' could have used some editing- although given that the murder victim in the story is an editor, that might have been rather daunting! I assume the author settled into the characters in later books and things became smoother and more mature, and so I will give another book in the series a try.

Ok - granted I originally bought my copy of this book way back when it came out. Loved it then. Came across it awhile back going through boxes in the basement, figured it was worth looking at again. I had totally forgotten how much I loved it. I'll grant you I'm a cat-person, a mystery buff (and yes, a clutter bug) BUT... I don't really enjoy books full of blood, guts, sex, and violence just for the sake of taking up pages.

The Midnight Louie books will give you an enjoyable mystery, a murder or two (without a whole lot of bloody details) some rather interesting characters who come along, some who stay, some don't, romance and oh be still my heart - Nicky Fontana and his brothers...

Don't make the mistake of comparing Midnight Louie to KoKo, it's a whole apple and oranges thing there.

The author just has one liners all the way through the book. Hard to follow the story with all her adjectives and adverbs. Nothing like The Cat Who.