Cat in a Red Hot Rage

Carole Nelson Douglas

The Red Hat Sisterhood is having their convention in Las Vegas at the Crystal Phoenix and Goliath hotels. This is the largest convention the Crystal Phoenix has hosted, so the owners pull in Temple Barr to help with their public relations. Temple is a PR freelancer who does a lot of work for the Crystal Phoenix. When one of the conventioneers is murdered before the start of the convention, Temple's other unofficial job kicks in. Once again she and her cat Midnight Louie get to be detectives.

Temple's love life has blossomed into a life long commitment with...(if you haven't read Quicksilver yet, I don't want to tell). Unfortunately, she can't get the other suitor to talk with her so she can tell him her decision. So the convention with the Red Hatters and the protesters, the men in Black Hats, keep her from dwelling on her personal life. Besides, her landlady and friend, Electra Lark, is suspected of the murder - the victim stole a husband from Electra many years ago. When that ex-husband arrives at the Crystal Phoenix and collapses, the Electra is under closer scrutiny for possibly attempting to poison him.

Sound confusing? If you've been following the Midnight Louie series, you'll know that this is business as usual. Now, if you have been following this series, let's face it - we're not reading the series for the murder mystery in each book any more. We're reading the books for the overall mystery that started way back in the first couple books. We want to know what's going to happen to Temple, Electra, Lieutenant Carmen Molina, Mystifying Max, the divine Matt, and, of course, Midnight Louie. Theirs is now the read story and the murder mystery is now the background. Unfortunately, that story line still has 8 books to go to finish the alphabet on the alpha cat.

The mystery is so-so, and I was bit confused when the murderer was revealed. Supposedly Temple has never seen the person before, but I thought Temple had seen the murderer a couple times during the convention. I still ripped through the book, identifying with the main characters. I want to know what's going to happen. Eight years is a long time to wait for this fun, fluff mystery series to give us a happy ending.

If you haven't read any books in this series before, Midnight Louie gives the reader a good synopsis of the overall story arc at the beginning. It's better, though, if you've followed the characters yourself.

Midnight Louie Series:

Catnap
Pussyfoot
Cat on a Blue Monday
Cat in a Crimson Haze
Cat in a Diamond Dazzle
Cat with an Emerald Eye
Cat in a Flamingo Fedora
Cat in a Golden Garland
Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt
Cat in an Indigo Mood
Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit
Cat in a Kiwi Con
Cat in a Leopard Spot
Cat in a Midnight Choir
Cat in a Neon Nightmare
Cat in an Orange Twist
Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit
Cat in a Quicksilver Caper
Cat in a Red Hot Rage
Cat in a Sapphire Slipper
Cat in a Topaz Tango
Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme
Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta
Cat in a White Tie and Tails

Cat Raise the Dead by Shirley Rousseau Murphy