Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (Dixie Hemingway Mysteries, No. 1) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Blaize Clement (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2006

Dixie Hemingway knows first-hand that many things in life are worse than a dirty litter box. Once happy as a Florida sheriff's deputy, she lost everything when senseless tragedy shattered her world. Now Dixie laces up her sneakers, grabs some kitty treats, and copes with one day at a time as a pet-sitter. Her investigations deal strictly with "crimes" such as who peed on the bed . . . until she finds a dead man face down in an Abyssinian's water bowl. With the local cops stymied--including a handsome detective who catches her eye--she decides to clip a leash on a lead or two and go sleuthing herself. Dixie soon finds out that the Abyssinian's pretty owner has vanished and left behind a shocking past, a lonely cat, and a chilling reason for Dixie to start running when she's out walking the dogs.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clement's assured cozy debut introduces an appealing heroine, 32-year-old Dixie Hemingway, who's given up her stressful job as a sheriff's deputy in Sarasota, Fla., to become a professional pet sitter. When Dixie calls early one morning on her latest client, a silver-blue Abyssinian named Ghost, she finds a dead man face down in the cat bowl. The contact person (a requirement when you leave an animal with a sitting service) has no clue where Ghost's owner, gorgeous Marilee Doerring, could have gone or why her locks were changed before she left. Unfortunately, when Dixie locates Marilee, she, too, is dead. And that makes Dixie suspect number one. With sensitivity and insight, Clement develops a plot line involving a bigoted, Bible-thumping radio psychologist, Carl Winnick; his repressed wife, Olga; and their gay teenage son, Phillip, who's a talented pianist. The difficulties and humor inherent to the pet-sitting business, a local law-enforcement hunk with romantic potential and crisp writing all bode well for future entries in the series. (Jan.)
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

Despite the title, which suggests yet another cute kitty cozy, this first-rate debut is more dark than light. Set on Siesta Key, near Sarasota, Florida, the story features Dixie Hemingway, whose family tragedy drove her from the police force and into the bars. Still healing, Dixie is clean and working again, only this time as a pet sitter. When a dead man is found inside one of her client's homes, Dixie must get involved with police work again, this time as an outsider. Clement weaves interesting subplots into the story, such as the story of a young gay man who can't come out to his militant parents and Dixie's own struggles with the loss of her husband and daughter in a senseless accident. When Dixie finds another body--this time that of her client--she becomes of more than passing interest to the police. Despite the grim subject matter, Clement lifts the mood with descriptions of the cute pets Dixie tends each day. A nice mix of lite and dark. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 439 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (April 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786284021
• ISBN-13: 978-0786284023
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,834,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Blaize Clement is the author of Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund, Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof, Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs, and Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons, all published by St. Martin's Press/Minotaur. She has been a stay at home Mom, a caterer, and a psychologist, some of them all at the same time. She has never been a pet sitter, but has shared her life with several pets. She lives in Sarasota, Florida. Visit her Web site at www.blaizeclement.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent first in a series, darker and more serious than expected, January 31, 2007

By 

R. Kelly Wagner "[e-mail]" (MD, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (Dixie Hemingway Mysteries, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Some of the hardcover dust-jacket blurbs compared this book to such things as Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who" series, which worried me a bit, since the farce and the lightweight writing in the Cat-Who books wore thin on me a while back. However, I picked the book up anyway - and was pleasantly surprised. This is NOT a comedy mystery featuring talking or psychic animals. The book has occasional touches of humor, but humor isn't the main point of the book.

Our protagonist is a former sheriff's deputy, now turned pet-sitter. The tragedy that led her to change careers is exposed in bits and pieces as the book goes on; it remains a strong motivator in Dixie's life. The private lives of several of the other characters also contain dark moments and some skeletons in the closet. In fact, while the book falls somewhat into the "cozy" family, it's quite dark for a cozy. There are police procedural elements here too. I was pleased that our heroine cooperates with the police, and does her best, most of the time, to instantly convey any new information she has to the police detectives. There are a few cozy series where it seems as if the amateur detective is usually willfully trying to keep the police in the dark and/or maintain an adversarial relationship, or is always proving that she (it's usually a she) is smarter and faster than the bumbling police, and that's another conceit that's wearing thin over the years; I am glad this book isn't one of them.

It's also well-written and well-plotted, with twists and turns, legitimate red herrings in the mystery tradition, and a few surprises. The setting is in a spot I'm not familiar with, in the Florida Keys, so I can't really tell whether one gets an accurate sense of place and of the neighborhood(s) Dixie is in. (I enjoy reading series set in places I am familiar with, and if you are familiar with south Florida, this book would probably give you that same pleasurable sense of recognition.)

Family reading alert: part of the plot hinges on finding some pornographic photos. While there's no major sexual content in the book, those of you keeping an eye on the family reading may want to check those parts out to see whether they're safe for your family. There are several gay couples, the coming-out of a gay teen, and scenes in a gay bar, which shouldn't bother anyone - if you don't like hearing anything about the gay lifestyle, you probably wouldn't want to be reading murder mysteries or books set in the south Florida area in the first place.

One small thing: the cat-sitter is not the person who gets killed; the title is just a tad misleading there.

I look forward to picking up the next in the series; given the back-story we acquired in this book on our protagonist, I will be eager to see how her pet-sitting career vs. the possibility of returning to the sheriff's department plays out.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book, Hope there will be many more, February 16, 2006

By 

wolverine librarian (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (Dixie Hemingway Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

Former Sheriff's Deputy Dixie Hemingway is now a pet sitter in Florida after her Husband and child are tragically killed by an old man who shouldn't have been driving. One of her clients and lover is tragically killed and Dixie gets drawn further and further into the mystery. The book is excellently plotted and deals with modern issues including those particular to Florida such as the elderly who shouldn't be driving but still do with tragic consequences. If you're wondering about the title. It's a direct reference to a newspaper headline that Dixie thinks up. Very good book has a lot of substance and interesting characters to keep the series going for a long time.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut!, May 28, 2006

By 

L Smith "acozylover" (Macomb, MI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (Dixie Hemingway Mysteries, No. 1) (Hardcover)

In the 1st book in what promises to be the Dixie Hemingway Mystery series, we meet Dixie, a pet-sitter with a past. Dixie is a former police officer who leaves the force after the tragic, accidental death of her husband and daughter. After their death, she feels that she cannot deal with people anymore (a skill she feels she has always lacked), and decides instead to provide care to animals. One morning, in the home of a wealthy client, Marilee, she discovers a man who has seemingly drowned to death in her cat's water dish. When she is unable to locate the client, Dixie wonders if Marilee was responsible for the death. She quickly becomes involved with a complicated plot of deception, blackmail, and bigotry. And in trying to solve the case, Dixie ends up with a whole lot more than she ever bargained for.

I love to find new mysteries to read, and I can happily say that I was unable to put this book down! Dixie is a great character. I found her to be vulnerable and tough at that same time. The descriptions of how she felt after the death of her family tore at me, and I kept hoping that she would find a romantic interest. However, unlike many other cozies, she doesn't immediately fall for the detective in charge, although that may happen in future installments. The plot was interesting, the mystery had enough twists and turns to keep me interested, and I was surprised at the ending. It did leave some unanswered questions, and I am eagerly anticipating the next installment. I am hopeful this is a long running series for years to come!

As I was reading the book, I kept thinking of the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton. The books are definitely different in many ways, but the style of writing is very similar. If you like the "Alphabet" series by Sue Grafton, you might want to give this new book a try.

Enjoy!