Cat Got Your Cash

February 27, 2017
One sassy Southern girl, two hunky boyfriend possibilities, an impossible-to-please socialite mother, spunky girlfriends, cats, and harebrained schemes galore; Chase studied the cozy writer’s handbook and followed the directions to the letter when she constructed this formulaic second Kitty Couture mystery (after 2016’s Cat Got Your Diamonds). Lacy Marie Crocker, owner of the Furry Godmother Pet Boutique in New Orleans, is thrilled to have an opportunity to show examples of her pet couture to famous designer Annie Lane. But when she shows up for the appointment, she finds Annie dead and two Siamese kittens wandering the house. Fortunately, Det. Jack Oliver has a soft spot for Lacy and allows her to take the kittens home rather than surrender them to a shelter. Once Lacy learns that the kittens will inherit Annie’s substantial estate, Annie’s half-crazed ex-husband, an animal activist, and a stalker in a cat costume provide plenty of suspects for her to investigate. Cat lovers will be satisfied.

February 15, 2017
A New Orleans pet clothing designer has her hands full balancing a murder investigation with the well-being of two Siamese cats who come into her care.Thrilled to learn that renowned designer Annie Lane wants to meet her, Lacy Crocker gathers some of her greatest creations and heads to Annie's home. But she realizes it's too late to sell Annie on her designs when she finds the fashionista lying in a pool of her own blood. Lacy just can't imagine who'd want to kill the designer she's admired so much. The police, who don't share Lacy's lack of imagination, come up with an obvious suspect: Lacy. Even Detective Jack Oliver, who Lacy thought was her friend and maybe more, seems to be on board with the NOPD's theory, though, or because, he's only just finished clearing her of another murder (Cat Got Your Diamonds, 2016). It's up to Lacy to find the murderer once more while she's also caring for the cats Annie's left behind, two high-needs felines who all but refuse to eat even the nonpareil foodstuffs Annie's will has provided them. The closest thing Lacy has to an investigative ally is mischievous Chase Hawthorne, who might serve as the third point in a Lacy-love triangle if only Jack were holding up his corner. At least Lacy's upscale pet clothing shop, Furry Godmother, is faring well, perhaps because so many of the customers are more interested in the spectacle of Lacy as a suspect than in outfits for their furry friends. Chase's loyalty to her damsel in distress-turned-hero pattern makes this sophomore outing more or less indistinguishable from her debut and from many other entries in its subgenre.

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