Pussyfoot: A Midnight Louie Mystery [Hardcover]

Carole Nelson Douglas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

When a contestant in a Las Vegas stripping competition is found murdered, public relations freelancer Temple Barr--and feline master sleuth Midnight Louie--attempts to solve the crime, while her relationship with handsome Matt Devine heats up.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Following their debut in Catnap, feline sleuth Midnight Louis and his "doting roommate and a freelance public relations specialist," Miss Temple Barr, return for another breezy collaboration. After the publicist for a Las Vegas stripper competition has a heart attack while being questioned about the murder of a contestant--found hung by a G-string in a dressing room--Barr reluctantly takes over the PR chores. He snoops as well, much to the displeasure of female Homicide Lt. C. R. Molina, who believes the investigation should be left to the professionals. Louis finds himself at the murder scene during his pursuit of silver-furred Divine Yvette, who is owned by one of the judges. When three more strippers are killed, including the gilded-all-over Gold Dust Twins, the contest falls into chaos. As Barr learns more about the strippers, many of whom are abused women seeking control over men, she is assaulted by thugs hunting her former lover and finds herself on the verge of a new relationship. Douglas, author of the Irene Adler mysteries, draws a reasonably modern and liberated female in Barr, while the Runyonesque Midnight Louis remains an unregenerate macho tomcat.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Principled p.r. freelancer Temple Barr (Catnap, 1992) gets backed into arranging publicity for the Goliath Hotel's stripper competition- -thanks to the heart-attack that sleazy columnist Crawford Buchanan suffered when he discovered the body of one of the contestants hanging by her own G-string. Instead of sticking to her job, as she's warned to do by mean-mama Las Vegas Lt. C. R. Molina, Temple and her cat and alternate narrator, Midnight Louie, nose around the businesslike stripper scene, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ike Wetzel, the blackmailing owner of a topless club; the Gold Dust Twins, abused Gypsy and denying June; and a pair of protestors from the feminist left and the religious right. At one point Temple gets roughed up by two men looking for her old magician-lover, both of whom seem to have wandered in from their own book. After their departure, more murders ensue, following a nursery-rhyme pattern; unfortunately, Louie's isn't one of them. Dog lovers, and lovers of well-made plots and prose, need not apply. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312852185
• ISBN-13: 978-0312852184
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,130,056 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

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Midnight Louie's foray in the world of striptease., April 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pussyfoot: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Hardcover)

*Pussyfoot* draws the reader deeper into Midnight Louie's and Temple's slice of Las Vegas. You get to meet Crawford Buchanan, a rival PR man, and sleazy 50s throwback who completely missed the Women's Liberation movement. After suffering a heart attack, Crawford talks Temple into covering a stripper convention, the climax of which is a competition. Unfortunately, strippers start to show up dead, strangled with items from their costumes. Temple also encounters a striptease protestor who joins in the adventure, and learns some of the dancers' stories. As a special added attraction, the reader meets the Divine Yvette, Midnight Louie's petite, silver coated lady love. Temple's natural nosiness puts her face-to-face with the killer. Carole Nelson Douglas always includes some little device to explain the title...where will it be this time?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pussycat antics, October 8, 2005

By 

Joan H. Colombe (Surfside Beach, SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pussyfoot: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Midnight Louie, the suave, sophisticated cat sleuth, has done it again! He and his family and friends come to life in a very unique way. As he "pussyfoots" through the pages, he becomes a part of "the family." As a devoted fan of animal detective mysteries, it is easy to see why this one rates high on the list. And the way the human and animal stories proceed together is excellently done. Keep 'em coming!

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this 19 pound black tomcat!!!, June 17, 2010

By 

Miss Tippy Toes (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pussyfoot: A Midnight Louie Mystery (Midnight Louie Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I first read this in 1995 after a black male cat I had that weighed 19 pounds lost the fight to Feline Leukemia. The way Ms Douglas described Midnight Louie and all his antics reminded me of my cat that was always getting into mischief. This book is a great mystery for cat lovers and mystery lovers. Since reading this book I have bought the whole collection of Midnight Louie and have thoroughly enjoyed every book.