I promise, I’m not going to flood anyone’s lists with this or bring it up too often in conversation. I’m just posting this here and at Crimespace because, damn it, you write a book alone, you sit around for months wondering about it, and it’s just nice to get something like this.


From Oct. 1 Booklist:


Cries and Whiskers
Simon, Clea (author)
Dec. 2007, 260 pp. Poisoned Pen, hardcover, $24.95. (9781590584644)


Freelance journalist Theda Krakow is back with a cat story that is anything but cozy. When an animal-rights activist who cared more about wild creatures than people is killed by a hit-and-run driver, Theda is not particularly upset. She is busy covering the Cambridge, Massachusetts, club scene and investigating a new designer drug that is endangering both musicians and patrons. Her boyfriend, Bill, a homicide detective, is recuperating from a broken leg, and her cat, Musetta, resents the time that she spends with him. When Theda learns that the accident victim was rescuing feral cats during a winter storm, she decides to help her friend Violet, a punk rocker who owns an animal shelter, investigate. As she learns more about the tensions within the animal-rights group and the origins of the dangerous drug, Theda finds that she may have the biggest story of her career. It may also be her last. Simon has written a fast-moving story full of lively characters, both two- and four-legged. This series is highly recommended for mystery fans who love cats but who prefer to leave the crime-solving to humans.
Barbara Bibel
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