Off The Shelf: Cat in an Alien X-Ray by Carole Nelson Douglas and a Giveaway

The book I’m taking off the shelf to talk to you about today is an intriguing and amusing mystery, CAT IN AN ALIEN X-RAY by Carole Nelson Douglas.

This is the 25th mystery featuring feline P.I. Midnight Louie and his roommate Temple Barr. Thanks to the lovely Angelique at Tor & Forge Books, I have 2 copies of this delightful mystery to giveaway. Please see the end of the post for the details.

In this latest cat caper, PR professional Temple Barr hesitantly takes on a new client, Silas T. Farnum. Claiming his ‘Area 54’ attraction is going to be a hit on the Las Vega Strip, Farnum has some unusual evidence to prove it. However, the discovery of two dead bodies on the building site renders it more a crime scene than a scene of alien eeriness.

Meanwhile, notorious serial killer ‘Kitty the Cutter,’ is being secretly counseled by Temple’s fiancé, Matt Devine. To add to the mix, Temple’s ex-boyfriend, Max Kinsella, is back with an impaired memory and hot on the heels of Kitty.

But not to fear, Temple’s clever cat, Midnight Louie, is on the case. He’s looking to find the ‘purr’-fect solution before any more dead bodies turn up.

A bit more from the jacket cover to entice your reading taste buds:
    Area 51 and Las Vegas go together like love and marriage, and feline gumshoe Midnight Louie has his paws full of both when UFOs are reported hovering over the Strip. Then a dead body is dropped on the construction site of a secret new Sin City enterprise. Is this a Vegas-as-usual Mob hit or the unceremonious return of an alien abductee?
    The body-dump site is the soon-to-be home of an out-of-this-world venue that will have to be seen to be believed. Temple Barr, PR expert and Louie’s more-inquisitive-than-is-good-for-her roommate, puts her amateur detective skills to good use, investigating the mysterious death in the name of protecting her client (and her meal ticket).
    On the earthly front, Temple’s fiancé, radio shrink and ex-priest Matt Devine, is acting oddly, and her ex-significant other, Max Kinsella, is wandering around town with no memory and a new, hot, blond girlfriend. As a result, Temple finds herself second-guessing her life choices, but when an old enemy reappears, ready to settle all scores, she’s got to get the men in her life on the same page.
    Midnight Louie and his stalwart feline helpers, from his daughter, Midnight Louise, to the feral Vegas Cat Pack, are working tooth and nail to ensure that Temple not only solves the murder, but gets her love life straightened out and avoids any close encounters of the fatal kind.

While CAT IN AN ALIEN X-RAY is the 25th installment in the series, it can be read as a stand alone. For a complete list of the books in the series, visit Carole’s website.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
     Carole Nelson Douglas is the author of sixty award-winning novels in contemporary and historical mystery/suspense and romance, high and urban fantasy and science fiction genres.  

    Previous titles in her sassy Midnight Louie mystery series include Cat in a White Tie and Tails, Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta, and Cat in an Ultramarine Scheme. In addition to tales of her favorite feline,

Carole is also the author of a historical suspense series featuring Irene Adler, the only woman ever to have “outwitted” Sherlock Holmes. Delilah Street, PI (Paranormal Investigator), headlines Carole's noir Urban Fantasy series. All the Irene Adler novels are now available in eBook. 

    Carole was a college theater and English literature major who worked as a newspaper reporter and then editor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. During her time there, she discovered a long, expensive classified advertisement offering a black cat named Midnight Louey to the "right" home for one dollar and wrote a feature story on the plucky survival artist, putting it into the cat's point of view. The cat found a country home, but its name was revived for her feline PI mystery series many years later. Some of the Midnight Louie series entries include the dedication "For the real and original Midnight Louie. Nine lives were not enough." 

    Carole is a "literary chameleon" who's had novels published in many genres, and often mixes such genre elements as mystery and suspense, fantasy and science fiction, romance and mainstream. She resides in Fort Worth, Texas.


GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
To enter this giveaway, please send me an e-mail (mcbookshelf@gmail.com) with the subject line, “Win Cat in an Alien X-Ray.” Your message should include your name and mailing address. The contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only and no post office box addresses can be accepted. The deadline to enter this giveaway for a chance to win a copy of CAT IN AN ALIEN X-RAY will be 8 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, Aug. 18.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have you ever envisioned your feline as the protagonist in a story? If so, was it a mystery, romance, adventure, etc.?