Cat in a Zebra Zoot Suit

JANET EVANOVICH says of this USA Today bestselling series, "Midnight Louie is the funniest, hairiest, hard-boiled PI on the planet." Publishers Weekly finds Temple "fun, frothy and charming".


Surprising dangers and choices balancing on the edge of survival, and maybe even shocking new futures... In the 27th Midnight Louie mystery by New York Times Notable Book of the Year author Carole Nelson Douglas, feline PI Midnight Louie channels the jazz and swing-dance age. 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?


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.


“Just about everything you might want in a mystery: glitzy Las Vegas, real characters, suspense, a tough puzzle, and...on top of it all, a fine sense of humor and some illuminating social commentary.”—The Prime Suspect



(The series' first two non-alphabetic titles, Catnap and Pussyfoot, have been reissued in ebook as Cat in an Alphabet Soup and Cat in an Aqua Storm.) "So in this typically fun-filled, witty and comic Midnight Louie outing, Douglas tackles a multitude of serious and topical issues [including] monogamy, celibacy, sexual responsibility and familial responsibility, theology, stalking, sanity and lack of same, honor and commitment, and the keeping of vows and trusts," said Mostly Murder on Cat in a Flamingo Fedora.


Loveswept editor Carolyn Nichols called the Midnight Louie novels "Sophisticated, mainstream, and upmarket."


“Las Vegas’s feline detective extraordinary returns... Louie is an irresistible combination of Nathan Detroit and Sam Spade. Plenty of interest here for a lengthy, fun-filled series.”—Mostly Murder


“If it's murder, it must be Midnight Louie time! Carole Nelson Douglas's cool dude feline detective pulls off some fancy footwork when he matches wits with a murderer...Written with stylish zest and irresistible panache, this clever tale operates on a multiplicity of levels.”—Melinda Helfer, RT Book Reviews  4½ stars


CAROLE NELSON DOUGLAS is the award-winning author of sixty-two novels who specializes in entertaining, adventurous novels in the mystery/thriller, high and urban fantasy, and romance/women's fiction genres. She penned the New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Good Night, Mr. Holmes, about Irene Adler. She is also noted for the long-running Midnight Louie, feline PI, cozy-noir mystery series (Cat in an Alphabet Soup, Cat in an Aqua Storm, Cat on a Blue Monday, etc.) and the Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, noir urban fantasy series (Dancing with Werewolves, etc.). Midnight Louie prowls the “slightly surreal” Vegas of today, narrating interlarded chapters in his alley-cat noir voice. Delilah walks the mean streets of a paranormally post-apocalyptic Sin City, fighting supernatural mobsters with Louie’s wile, wit and grit.


Douglas was the first author to make a Sherlockian female character, Irene Adler, a series protagonist, with the New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Good Night, Mr. Holmes, and the first woman to write a Holmes spin-off series. Her award nominations run from the Agatha to the Nebula, including Lifetime Achievement Awards from RT Book Reviews for Mystery, Suspense, Versatility, and as a Pioneer of Publishing for her groundbreaking multi-genre work. She has won a clowder of Catwriters’ Association first place Muse awards, and is a four-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America’s Rita award in four different categories.


An award-winning daily newspaper reporter and editor in Minnesota, she moved south to write fiction full-time and was recently inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. She does a mean Marilyn Monroe impersonation, collects vintage clothing and homeless cats,  and enjoys Zumba, but has never danced with werewolves. (That she knows of.)