Cat in an Indigo Mood

Rating:
Summary: Midnight Louie still going strong
Review:

Hard nosed Las Vegas police lieutenant Carmen Molina just left the club in the early morning hours after enjoying a night of performing as a singer. However, her secret night life becomes jeopardized when she finds the murdered corpse next to her car. Not too long after that, a second victim surfaces, leaving Carmen to wonder if a serial killer stalks her city's streets.

Though it absolutely kills her internal organs, Carmen decides that she needs to enlist the help of that flighty public relations guru, Temple Barr. She turns to hone in on one of Barr's male interests, Matt Devine to intercede. However, unbeknownst to Carmen, she has also enlisted the aid of that brilliant feline sleuth Midnight Louie and his equally ingenious daughter Midnight Louise in an effort to stop a brutal killer from a three-peat.

The tenth Midnight Louie novel retains all the freshness of the previous books as the characters continue to be interesting and entertaining. CAT IN AN INDIGO MOOD has a crisp story line, highlighted with new insights into several of the secondary protagonists, especially Carmen. Temple and her two males come across as warm players (in spite of Louie's opinion). Vegas continues to provide a warm backdrop and the who-done-it is cleverly developed and dispatched. However, as with the previous nine novels, no question that Louie and to a lesser degree Louise remain the stars.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Gripping, couldn't put it down.
Review: I enjoyed the book so much that I am re-reading the series so that I can put together some of the clues that "Louie" has left for us to ponder. What and how is the SYNTH possibly connected with "Kitty-the-cutter," and are both Max and Matt on her list? Will Molina and the Circle Ritz gang settle their differences? Matt is coming into his own with more confidence. Thank goodness for Mr. Domingo's Flamingos! For those of you who have read the previous books, you will enjoy the neat tie-ins that Ms. Douglas and "Louie" tease you with in this book. Enjoy, I certainly did.

Rating:
Summary: my 2¢ worth
Review: I'm a cat lover to begin with, so this might come out sounding more than a touch biased. My first exposure to ML was Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit. I enthusiastically recommend it, it's got the King, it's got Las Vegas, it's a mystery and most of all it's got Midnight Louie! I have since gone on to read Catnap, Pussyfoot, Cat on a Blue Monday and Cat in a Flamingo Fedora, which is notable for the climactic abduction and forced vasectomy of our hero ML. A damn shame that, since in her debut in Cat on a Blue Monday, Louie's long-lost daughter Midnight Louise alias Caviar, revealed her lack of desire for motherhood and breeding. If only the family line could be continued! we all need more such cats as Midnight Louie, to say nothing of Temple Barr's need as well as that of Las Vegas in general. My basic point, do yourself a big favor and start collecting the ML series today!! Talk about being worth every penny. I'd gladly grab up every title myself if I ever hit the Lotto jackpot!

Rating:
Summary: my 2¢ worth
Review: I'm a cat lover to bgin with, so this might come out sounding more than a touch biased. My first exposure to ML was Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit. I enthusiastically reccomend it, it's got the King, it's got Las Vegas, it's a mystery and most of all it's got Midnight Louie! I have since gone on to read Catnap, Pussyfoot, Cat on a Blue Monday and Cat in a Flamingo Fedora, which is notable for the climactic abduction and forced vasectomy of our hero ML. A damn shame that, since in her debut in Cat on a Blue Monday, Louie's long-lost daughter Midnight Louise alias Caviar, revealed her lack of desire for motherhood and breeding. If only the family line could be contiuned! we all need more such cats as Midnight Louie, to say nothing of Temble Barr's need as well as that of Las Vegas in general. My basic point, do yourself a big favor and start collecting the ML series today!! Talk about being worth every penny. I'd gladly grab up every title myself if I ever hit the Lotto jackpot!

Rating:
Summary: Cute, and confusing.
Review: If you read mystery stories, as I do, to provide logic in an often illogical world, Cat in an Indigo Mood isn't going to meet that demand. Douglas' books are clever and quirky, fun and fantastic--but never filled with logic and deduction in the traditional 'mystery novel' sense. The characters themselves are an odd mixture of strange traits and exotic behaviors. Many of them don't really fit into the plot line, and have no reason for being in the novel, other than being delightfully flamboyant and unusual. The reader must accept this and admire them for what they are in and of themselves. But don't expect these creatures to further the plot, or even reappear again in this novel. And expect some of the characters to be dogs and cats who are smarter and more believable than their human counterparts. When I am in Las Vegas, I am always aware that the city I see is a total amusement, built for that reason only. There are gondolas through shopping malls and volcanos atop buildings, garnished with neon and feather exotica. The Midnight Louie mystery series is a lot like that: a lot of enjoyable fuss and floss, an amusement that defies reality.

Rating:
Summary: It takes cats & humans to ferret out possible serial killer.
Review: In this latest Midnight Louie outing, Carole Nelson Douglas has the felines doing the leg work while their human counterparts keep their wits about them. Three nasty murders are committed and it looks like Lieutenant Carmen Molina just might have a serial killer on her hands. The clues are so baffling that she reluctantly enlists the help of Temple Barr and her two suitors: newly-appointed radio "agony uncle" Matt Devine, and even the possibly-criminal Max Kinsella to solve the case. All three are linked to the murders: crime-scene evidence is found implicating Temple, a religous angle draws in Matt, and Max's connection with his former (and deceased) magician friend links him to one of the victims. Molina's attempt to use Max backfires disastroucly and threatens his life as well. While the humans sort out an array of circumstantial evidence, Midnight Louie, his unacknowledged offspring Midnight Louise, and a former government narcotics canine, Nose E. are hot on the scent of the real killer. After pooling their highly indivdualized talents they find that their most difficult task just might be getting the humans to follow their lead. Carole Nelson Douglas is at the top of her form in this latest installment of the series and her characters are deepening their relationships with each other in a most tantalizing manner. Readers will want to know what new developments are on the horizon for the denizens of the Circle Ritz.

Rating:
Summary: Tenth book juggles complicated plot expertly!
Review: Louie and Company are up to their hairballs-I mean necks-in another murder(or two!!!). The latest installment in the Midnight Louie series points a paw(or finger) at all major characters as possible murderers-Carmen Molina, Temple, Matt and Max. The victims and their cirumstances draw in EVERYBODY'S pasts whether they are ex-magicians or ex-priests. And it introduces a new 'character' to the Midnight Louie scene. I hope the new 'character' will be featured in future books. 'Cat In An Indigo Mood' doesn't disappoint; it leaves this reader clamering for the next book!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, Fascinating, Mysterious and Dog Friendly!!
Review: Louie and Company are up to their hairballs-I mean necks-in another murder(or two!!!). The latest installment in the Midnight Louie series points a paw(or finger) at all major characters as possible murderers-Carmen Molina, Temple, Matt and Max. The victims and their cirumstances draw in EVERYBODY'S pasts whether they are ex-magicians or ex-priests. And it introduces a new 'character' to the Midnight Louie scene. I hope the new 'character' will be featured in future books. 'Cat In An Indigo Mood' doesn't disappoint; it leaves this reader clamering for the next book!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Tenth book juggles complicated plot expertly!
Review: Three murders with 3 different, yet interconnected victims, a more humanizing look at Det. Molina, an exciting and fresh detour for Matt, and a new beguiling addition to the cast help this latest Midnite Louie outing succeed where the preceding book felt off-kilter. The mystery itself is engrossing and kept me guessing as to whodunit. I'm tempted to recommend it to the beginner in the series because it is such a well-rounded story, but one should probably still stick with starting at the beginning to understand character backgrounds, etc. Good to see Temple and Matt working together as friends to solve the mystery, and Molina soliciting Max's help (on the romantic side, one wonders exactly who is going to end up with whom?) One element I *really* appreciated was that, by this 10th book, Molina 'gets' and even appreciates the feline detecting connection!