HAPPY RELEASE DAY....MIDNIGHT LOUIE (AND CAROLE NELSON DOUGLAS)

 

Meow! I’m here today to talk about one of my idols – MIDNIGHT LOUIE

For those of you who are not familiar with him, let me say that Midnight Louie is my kind of detective.

In his own words, he’s short, dark and unobtrusive. He talks like a detective out of a forties pulp novel. Plus, he’s remarkably light on his feet and he can shimmy into places Columbo would never dare to tread.

And why not?  Louie is a cat.

Yessir, he’s a twenty pound, jet black tomcat with all of his—um—assets intact (well, for the most part). He has had a vasectomy – yeah, you heard me right. Louie is the first furpurrson of mystery, or as he puts it, the star of his own multivolume mystery series. And make no mistake about it, Louie is THE star, even though at times he finds himself sharing center stage with some very interesting humans: Crime-solving Temple Barr, PR woman and burgeoning sleuth, is Louie’s roommate. (No one “owns” Louie.) He’s Temple’s protector and “muscle.” Hard-boiled female homicide lieutenant C.R. Molina has to put up with the pair of them. Max Kinsella is Temple’s ex, a magician and counter-terrorist operative on the run. Matt Devine is an ex-priest radio advice counselor who’s become Temple’s fiancée.

And this is not to mention the feline characters, which include his alleged daughter, Midnight Louise (who loves ragging on dear old pops), Ma Barker, his mom who still oftentimes refers to him by his given  name, Grasshopper, a bomb and drug sniffing Maltese, Nose E., assorted cats, big and little…oh! And let’s not forget those glamour pusses, cats of the female persuasion that set Louie’s tail to thumping: Shaded silver and gold Persians Yvette and Solange, between whose affections Louie bounces like a furry black ball; the deadly Hyacinth, a seal-point Siamese whose claws are dipped nightly (supposedly) in Curare; and Satin, a comely black chick with a fluffy tail, one of Louie’s first amours and the maybe-momma of Midnight Louise.

Louie’s creator,the fabulously talented Carole Nelson Douglas, writes the series like a daytime soap,  interweaving plot points and characters throughout.  Louie’s latest adventure, CAT IN A ZEBRA ZOOT SUIT, which debuts today, continues the series.

 

In the 27th Midnight Louie mystery he channels the jazz and swing-dance age. In Cat in a Zebra Zoot suit, Circle Ritz residents petite PR powerhouse Temple Barr and her faithful roommate, Midnight Louie, must defend their beloved elderly landlady from a bizarre murder charge that echoes a long-past atrocity. Meanwhile Temple's fiancé, Matt Devine, turns detective on a secret mission and her ex, a magician with a counter-terrorist past, tangles with vengeful IRA members and a psycho stalker in Ireland. And what makes a defunct fifties nightclub building in Las Vegas the pit of all evil and greed?

All involved will face surprising dangers and choices and will balancing on the edge of survival . . . and maybe even shocking new futures. Deadly encounters and unexpected reunions force all the main characters into unforeseen loss and disclosure, the suspense leavened by Douglas's characteristic wit and heart.

And if that’s not enough enticement for you, you can read my review over at Night Owl Digital Magazine: https://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Reviews/Rocco-Lotempio-reviews-Cat-In-A-Zebra-Zoot-Suit-by-Carole-Nelson-Douglas

It certainly makes me salivate over the next volume in the series, CAT IN AN ALPHABET ENDGAME. Which man will Temple end up with? Will Louie have to move out of Las Vegas?  Will he finally end up with his true  love Yvette?

Author Carole Nelson Douglas promises us many more adventures from Louie! Thank goodness! 

As Louie says, he lives in “the city that never sleeps” – and with a crew like that, who could?

More importantly, who would want to?

 

 The Midnight Louie series:

• Catnap (1992) I
• Pussyfoot (1993),
• Cat on a Blue Monday (1994),
• Cat in a Crimson Haze (1995),
• Cat in a Diamond Dazzle (1996),
• Cat with an Emerald Eye (1996),
• Cat in a Flamingo Fedora (1997),
• Cat in a Golden Garland (1997),
• Cat on a Hyacinth Hunt (1998),
• Cat in an Indigo Mood (1999),
• Cat in a Jeweled Jumpsuit (1999),
• Cat in a Kiwi Con (2000),
• Cat in a Leopard Spot (2001),
• Cat in a Midnight Choir (2002),
• Cat in a Neon Nightmare (2003),
• Cat in an Orange Twist (2004),
• Cat in a Hot Pink Pursuit (2005),
• Cat in a Quicksilver Caper (2006),
• Cat in a Red Hot Rage (2008),
• Cat in a Sapphire Slipper (2008),
• Cat in a Topaz Tango (2009),
• Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme (2010)
• Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta (2011)
• Cat in a White Tie and Tails (2012)
• Cat in an Alien X-Ray (2013)
• Cat in a Yellow Spotlight (2014)
• Cat in a Zebra Zoot Suit (2015)
• Cat in an alphabet endgame (2016)
• ???????? (2017 – beyond)