Panthers Play for Keeps: A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir-Clea Simon

Panthers Play for Keeps: A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir Clea Simon Poisoned Pen, Apr 1 2014, $24.95 ISBN 9781590588727 In Beauville, pet guru Pru Marlowe walks Spot the service dog in training. Spot interrupts their sojourn when the canine finds a battered, severely mauled female corpse. The shape of the body leads to the conclusion that a large most likely feral feline attacked and murdered the young woman. However, no animal that fits the description has been spotted in this section of the Berkshires in many years. Pru’s lover Police Detective Jim Creighton leads the investigation while the animal expert vows to stay out of the inquiry though she uses her uncanny skills to consult with her cat Wallis and Spot. The amateur sleuth turns active when Jim vanishes. The fourth Pru Marlowe Pet Noir (see Parrots Prove Deadly, Dogs Don't Lie and Cats Can't Shoot) is an enjoyable psychic mystery. The engaging investigative storyline is made fresh by the heroine left confused rather than lucid after discussing the case with her detecting partner Wallis and her trainee Spot; forcing her to rely less on her anthropomorphic buddies and use more “normal” human abilities. Harriet Klausner