Cat in an Orange Twist
Carole Nelson Douglas
Forge, August 2004, $24.95, 398 pp.
ISBN 076530681

Life has been quiet for public relation specialist Temple Barr for the last few weeks. She has not been involved in any homicide investigations, nobody she knows has been involved in a crime, and Max Kinsella disappeared from her life again. She is unaware that the former magician is working with his former mentor Gary Gandalf in order to infiltrate the Synth, a cabal of magicians with a secret agenda that threatens world peace.

Temple is the PA maven for Maylords Furniture opening and she is coordinating feng shui mover Amelia Wong's appearance at the grand opening. The event is ruined when someone starts shooting and the lights go out. Nobody has a clue who the intended victim was but a couple of days later, Simon, one of the decorators, is killed. His lover is Temple's friend so she is determined to bring the killer to justice. Not long after that homicide, the manager from hell is killed and Temple cannot figure out how the two murders connect until her fabulous homicide solving feline Midnight Louie gets involved.

Carole Nelson Douglas takes the Midnight Louie series to a new dimension. Matt declares his feelings for Temple and even acts on them; Max is keeping his distance from Temple so he does put her in danger and Temple teams up With Rafi Nader, Molina's ex-lover and the father of her child, to bring the guilty to justice. The heroine discovers that Rafi is not as dark as Lieutenant Molina paints him and she is thinking as much about Matt as she is about Max. CAT IN AN ORANGE TWIST is another wild, wacky Midnight Louie roller coaster ride.

Harriet Klausner