Description:

Midnight Louie, alley-cat extraordinaire and Las Vegas's hairiest, hard-boiled PI, finds himself literally walking a tightrope when a fabulous museum opening at one of Sin City's swankiest casinos is marred by a little thing like death. Louie's loyal roommate, feisty PR freelancer Temple Barr, has snagged the commission of her career: repping the opening exhibition of the Russian Czars' priceless treasures at the New Millennium Hotel, the apex of which is the Czar Alexander Scepter, a priceless jewel-encrusted artifact. Trouble is, the hotel has booked an aerial magic act right above the exhibition. Temple works at a breakneck pace to coordinate this logistical nightmare. Tragedy ensues when a performer dies right above where the collection will be displayed and the police threaten to shut everything down. But the word "no" isn't one heard often in Las Vegas when money is involved and the show (or shows) must go on. Just as things seem to be working perfectly, another performer dies…and the scepter vanishes. The culprits could be international art thieves, Russian mafioso, or Chechen rebels out to embarrass the current Russian government. Or it could be someone else, perhaps someone Temple knows all too well . . . . Temple and Louie both have enemies in the magic act--evil magician Shangri-La and her curare-nailed performing Siamese cat, Hyacinth--and on the ground--ever-suspicious homicide lieutenant Carmen Molina, who's itching to pin the heist and murders on Temple's significant other, ex-magician and sometimes ex-spy Max Kinsella, now oddly AWOL. Worse, as Temple and Louie's separate investigations bring them both close to the truth, it's clear that someone has decided to hang them out to die too. Can fancy footwork and detection save our intrepid duo? Find out in Carole Nelson Douglas's Cat in a Quicksilver Caper. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. **

From Publishers Weekly

Midnight Louie, hard-boiled feline PI, and his human pal, Temple Barr ("Miss Nancy Drew on killer spikes"), whose Vegas PR jobs invariably land her in shark-infested hot water, team up for their 18th cat-astrophically cool crime caper (after 2005's Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit ). Once a flaming natural redhead and now a bottle blonde, Temple is still dithering between two lovers, Mystifying Max Kinsella, a former magician, and Matt Devine, an ex-priest and radio shrink. Her current PR job is helping the New Millennium Hotel prepare for the White Russian art exhibition and aerial magic show featuring the Cloaked Conjuror and a scary Asian diva. A mysterious death before the opening, a fatal "accident" at the opening plus the theft of the exhibition's crown jewel, Czar Alexander's scepter, spell big trouble. Meanwhile, LVPD's Carmen Molina believes she's being stalked by Max, Matt proposes marriage to Temple, and the Synth (a cabal of evil magicians) plots more chicanery leading to a shocking cliffhanger. (July)
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Review

"Those readers who follow Lillian Jackson Braun's Cat Who series will love Midnight Louie!"-- VOYA

"Carole Nelson Douglas has taken anthropomorphism to elegant heights." -- Publishers Weekly

"The indefatigable Midnight Louie series never seems to run out of steam."-- Booklist on Cat In A Hot Pink Pursuit

"Douglas just keeps getting better at juggling mystery, humor, and romance."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Cat In a Midnight Choir

"...an outstanding puzzler chock-full of scintillating wit and clever sleuthing."-- Romantic Times BookClub on Cat In a Golden Garland