Cat in a Crimson Haze : A Midnight Louie Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Louie is a star!
Review: Petite PR pro Temple Barr is chagrined when she fails to get her annual invite to submit skits for Las Vegas' annual Gridiron show - and not much happier when she gets a grudging request from the sleazy Crawford Buchanan for some help with the finale. But she can't resist - fabulous show stopping skits are her special forte. And she comes up with a winner.

But soon after her script is submitted, strange and threatening things start happening, including a boobytrapped stair rail that sends Temple and her signature high, high heels hurtling down a flight of steps. As the new PR person for the Crystal Phoenix Hotel, in charge of transforming the place into a casino that reflects family values (a tough assignment for Vegas!) this earns her a phalanx of fabulous Fontana brothers as bodyguards, much to her chagrin. There are at least nine Fontanas, all large and given to picking up petite Temple, who is not only sensitive about her tiny stature but accustomed to operating on her own - with a big assist from Louie. But Louie is also an independent operator and rarely interferes with Temple's routine. The Fontanas - who are a united family personified - overhelm. (But entertainingly.)

Meanwhile, neighbor Matt Devine sets off in search of his stepfather, Cliff Effinger - but he gets a late start. Before the PI he hires can give him his first clue, the body of Effinger falls onto a blackjack table from the casino ceiling. Soon Matt is under suspicion by Lieutenant CR Molina - who is also unhappy that Temple and Devine have discovered her alternate identity as the sultry cafe singer, Carmen.

Biggest problem - Matt is asked to identify the body and can't. He hasn't seen Effinger since the guy deserted Matt and his mother many years before - and time and the netural changes that death wreaks have rendered him not quite recognizable.

Matt wanted the satisfaction of getting some kind of revenge on the cruel stepfather - and instead may be in trouble without having the chance to act.

Suspicions of mob activity abound, especially given the content of Temple's skit, which alludes to the former dominance of the Mafia in Vegas history. But the show must go and - and does, despite a giant heist at the casino down the street that draws any police protection away from the show's arena.

But leave it to Midnight Louie - largely absent from Temple's apartment these days since he is avoiding the petite Caviar, who claims that her true name is Midnight Louise and that she is sworn to get revenge on her dear old dad who deserted her at birth. (Shades of Matt Devine - although Louie has wisely kept his name from his alleged offspring so far.)

Louie has been hanging around the periphery of the Crystal Pheonix keeping an eye out for his dear roommate. On a tour of the dressing rooms he finds a mysterious hidden door that leads to a set of tunnels that suddenly make the dangerous doings that have surrounded the show so far quite clear. Louie manages to lure Temple to the tunnels despite the fact that her big skit is due to begin in moments - and a wild chase through the underground begins - culminating in a crowded ride in a UFO and a grand entrance onto the Gridiron stage by several assorted criminals, hoofers, actors, the fabulous Fontanas, Temple herself. Finally, to huge applause and yet more media attention - Midnight Louie, the hero of the hour steps down from the top of the UFO and into the spotlight. (He can't help it - he simple attracts those cameras.)

The plot is fast paced and filled with tension - and enough comic relief to keep things going. But all is not fluff and fur here. Underneath the entire book is the pervasive theme of family values - those that the Crystal Pheonix wants to display, those that Matt Devine was deprived of because of his stepfather's cruelty and those that Midnight Louise feels that Louie failed to show her family.

The Pheonix comes through - and Louie and Louise come to a wary truce. Only Matt Devine is left dissatisfied - except for a new and blossoming relationship with Temple - and the acquisition of Midnight Louise as a roommate of his own.

The most charming thing about these books is not the fact that Louie speaks - but what he has to say. He talks tough - but he speaks sense, and always has a message that goes surprisingly deeper than one would expect from a mystery of this sort.