Cat in a Kiwi Con

Midnight Louie isn’t your typical P.I. He’s sleek, black and walks on all fours. Louie is a cat. He shares an apartment with Temple Barr, a PR whiz, in Sin City, aka Las Vegas.

The TitaniCon is on this weekend. The convention of all thing science fiction: from books, to TV, to movies, to games. Actors, writers and sci-fi fanatics come from all over, dressed in costumes of their favourite characters.

When a Louie discovers a body on the catwalk about the convention and makes it noticeable for the humans to find, there isn’t much excitement. When the Khatlord, the leading character in a major TV show, is killed by falling into a neon stage set-up, the police take notice. The problem is that everyone is in costume so it is hard to know show more who is who and who the murder may be.

Add to this sergeant detective Carmen Molina’s asking Matt Devine to escort her daughter to TitaniCon and things get a little more sticky. Temple Barr winds up being a second escort for Mariah Molina, and takes up investigating the murder on her own, while keeping an eye on the kid. Meanwhile, Louie makes friends with some kiwis (as in birds) and picks up a few clues to help solve the case.

There is a third murder being investigated, but this is by Max Kinsella, Temple’s other on-again-off-again half. A professor who studies magicians has been stabbed and the scene is arranged to look like some sort of ceremony was involved. A knife is the tie in to the murders at TitaniCon. A bit confusing, but interesting.

This series is a fun read. Louie narrating in a noir style from the feline point of view: Max being his mysterious self, along with the bit of romance between him and Temple. There are other characters to fill out the plot and humour in the mix. The storyline moves at a good pace. I will definitely be reading a few more of this series. show less