Desperate to find a director for their annual production, the Fox Hollow Players have a stroke of luck when Shell McMillan’s actress mother lands a prominent theater director for the job. He’s more gruff and demanding than the small-town cast and crew are used to, but his soft side for animals quickly endears him to pet shop owner Shell. Persuading her to let him use a shed on her property where he can work in peace, Shell is horrified when she finds his dead body there. And with obvious signs of foul play, she can’t help but investigate the murder.
As she digs into the man’s past, it becomes apparent that at one point or another he was romantically entangled with just about every woman involved in the play. And just when Shell discovers he may have been blackmailing one of them, other clues surface that suggest a more sinister motive. With her hands already full with a beautiful stray cat she found and christened Princess Fuzzypants, Shell will have to fill two roles, caring for the Maine coon and trying to track down the killer before it’s her turn for a fatal curtain call . . .
A chat with....PURRDAY THE CAT
Hello there! My name is Purrday, and I’m one of the main characters in T.C. LoTempio’s Urban Tails Pet Shop Mystery series! (Actually, I think I’m the main character, but Shell and Gary think otherwise).
A bit about my backstory: I was a stray who was adopted by Shell’s Aunt Tillie, and now Shell is my human. I’m a fighter and a survivor, as you can tell by the fact I only have one eye! (You should see the other cat lol) I’m also a pretty good sleuth, as I’ve proven in our first two adventures, THE TIME FOR MURDER IS MEOW and KILLERS OF A FEATHER. OH, and I don’t want to leave out my sister, Kahlua, a beautiful Siamese. I have to admit, though, Kahlua isn’t too much for the detective end of things. She’d much rather take a nap in the sun or yowl at her empty foodbowl! But she is pretty!
Getting back to sleuthing....I have to admit, I sort of take a backseat to the newest member of the Urban Tails family: a beautiful red Maine Coon cat by the name of Princess Fuzzypants in our newest adventure, DEATH STEALS THE SPOTLIGHT.
I take full responsibility for the Princess entering into our fold. I found her, injured, in the backyard of the pet shop and I immediately got Shell to rescue her. It didn’t take long for myself and the Princess to form a bond. She’s so beautiful, with all that long, red hair......and those luminous eyes! A cat could get lost in them. Do I sound a bit lovestruck? Well, I must admit I do have quite a crush on the Princess, and date I say it? I think it’s reciprocated! (Hey, a cat can dream, right? And I’ve been told I’m quite the cat-ch myself!)
The Princess is turning out to be a creditable sleuth herself, as you will see in this adventure and our next. I’ve hinted at more facetime for us but I’m not quite sure I was taken seriously. Which leads me to think...maybe the Princess and I should ditch the humans and start our own series? What do you think? I believe I’ll have a chat with the human who chronicles our adventures, T.C. LoTempio. She just might be receptive to that idea!
But if not, rest assured, the Princess and I plan on helping out Shell and Gary with their detecting in the future. I have inside information that both the Princess and I figure prominently in the detecting in adventure number four.....Let’s face it....just where would these humans be without their four footed helpers, right?
Ah...I see Shell is putting out the eats. Time to go before Kahlua eats my share! Hope you’ve enjoyed our little chat as much as I have...we’ll have to do it again! (Maybe after book four?)
PURRDAY
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While Toni Lotempio does not commit – or solve – murders in real life, she has no trouble doing it on paper. Her lifelong love of mysteries began early on when she was introduced to her first Nancy Drew mystery at age 10 – The Secret in the Old Attic. She and her cat pen the Nick and Nora mystery series originally from Berkley Prime Crime and now with Beyond the Page Publishing. They also write the Cat Rescue series from Crooked Lane and the Pet Shop series, originally published by Midnight Ink and rebranded last year as “Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries.” Number three in this series debuted June 27, DEATH STEALS THE SPOTLIGHT. Recent other releases include Book six in the Nick and Nora mysteries, A PURR BEFORE DYING, and book one in the new Tiffany Austin Food blogger series, EAT, DRINK AND DROP DEAD.
You can cat-ch up with them at ROCCO’s blog, www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com or her website, www.tclotempio.net
Author Links:
ROCCO’s blog: www.catsbooksmorecats.blogspot.com
Website: www.tclotempio.net
Twitter: @RoccoBlogger
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toni.lotempio.5
10 comments:
Mudpie, for thankful Thursday or thankful that you put a book review out today. I guess it was a good thing to do while it's been pouring down rain up your way. We've had rain here but nothing like that thank goodness. Make sure you have a boat ready and lots of cat food to put in it.
Thanks for hosting us, Melissa and Mudpie! T.C. Shell Gary, Purrday and Princess Fuzzypants!
I love that red kitty. He resembles my Lacocoon Dante so much. I heard from Brian that there was a storm disaster in your State. We are glad that you haven't been affected so far and that it continues that way. Lotsa hugs.
That looks like a great book.
That does sound like a good one and the book cover is super cool too!
This sounds like a fun book! Love the cover art.
Ah...all sounds good!
Wow, we thought that was a news report at first, MOL! But it sounds like quite a mystery...
That does sound like a good mystery!
Thanks for this review! I'm on book 2 of the series, already have the Nick and Nora series and am enjoying the books. I'm looking forward to reading more!
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