Scratch the Surface
by Susan Conant
From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Conant's Dog Lover's mysteries (_Bride and Groom_, etc.) will lap up the first installment of a new series, which introduces Felicity Pride, the author of a mystery series about cats. When Felicity returns to her Boston-area home from a book signing, she's a little freaked out to stumble on a very dead corpse, and a very live cat, in her vestibule. Her shock, however, doesn't prevent her from trying to get as much publicity as possible from her discovery. Envisioning her book sales skyrocketing after she catches the killer, Felicity learns that solving a murder in real life is a lot harder than writing a mystery novel. Yes, the setup—a cat mystery about a cat mystery writer who finds a real body—is a trifle meta. But Conant, never precious, takes the opportunity to poke gentle fun at some of the conventions of the cozy genre. Sidesplittingly funny and very clever, this book is just about purr-fect.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From
Author of the popular Dog Lover mysteries, Conant introduces a new series for feline fans. Felicity Pride, a Boston author whose cat mysteries have earned her a modicum of fame, finds a dead man on her doorstep. Next to him is an unperturbed gray Chartreux cat. Although Felicity feels compelled to take in the cat, she has never owned one and has no idea what to do--one of the many ironies in Conant's tongue-in-cheek story. After the dead man is identified, Felicity rescues his other cat, and once she adopts Brigitte and Edith, Felicity realizes that maybe she has a thing or two to learn about the subjects of her series. Despite her pomposity and pathetic attempts to be recognized, Felicity is an endearing series heroine, opening her heart to the two orphaned kitties--even if she doesn't know how to pet them. Conant drops some fun tidbits about the wacky world of mystery writers and gets in a few good-natured jabs at cat-mystery authors--poking fun at herself in the process. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Fans of Conant's Dog Lover's mysteries (_Bride and Groom_, etc.) will lap up the first installment of a new series, which introduces Felicity Pride, the author of a mystery series about cats. When Felicity returns to her Boston-area home from a book signing, she's a little freaked out to stumble on a very dead corpse, and a very live cat, in her vestibule. Her shock, however, doesn't prevent her from trying to get as much publicity as possible from her discovery. Envisioning her book sales skyrocketing after she catches the killer, Felicity learns that solving a murder in real life is a lot harder than writing a mystery novel. Yes, the setup—a cat mystery about a cat mystery writer who finds a real body—is a trifle meta. But Conant, never precious, takes the opportunity to poke gentle fun at some of the conventions of the cozy genre. Sidesplittingly funny and very clever, this book is just about purr-fect.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From
Author of the popular Dog Lover mysteries, Conant introduces a new series for feline fans. Felicity Pride, a Boston author whose cat mysteries have earned her a modicum of fame, finds a dead man on her doorstep. Next to him is an unperturbed gray Chartreux cat. Although Felicity feels compelled to take in the cat, she has never owned one and has no idea what to do--one of the many ironies in Conant's tongue-in-cheek story. After the dead man is identified, Felicity rescues his other cat, and once she adopts Brigitte and Edith, Felicity realizes that maybe she has a thing or two to learn about the subjects of her series. Despite her pomposity and pathetic attempts to be recognized, Felicity is an endearing series heroine, opening her heart to the two orphaned kitties--even if she doesn't know how to pet them. Conant drops some fun tidbits about the wacky world of mystery writers and gets in a few good-natured jabs at cat-mystery authors--poking fun at herself in the process. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved