CAT SITTER ON A HOT TIN ROOF

A sleuthing pet sitter’s new friend spells trouble.

Dixie Hemingway has hired retired clown Pete Madeira to housesit and care for Mazie, a service dog whose young charge is going into the hospital for a tricky operation that could cure his seizure disorder. While visiting Mazie, she runs into next-door neighbor Laura Halston, a stunning gal who tells Dixie about her troubles at the hands of an abusive husband. As the two women bond, Dixie, who’s slowly getting over the tragedy of her husband and child’s death, feels that she’s found a good friend. Even her love life seems to be looking up when handsome police Lt. Guidry invites her to a party. Her contentment is shattered when Laura’s Havana Brown cat leads Dixie to her new friend’s body. Guidry, who catches the case, reluctantly reveals that just about everything Laura told Dixie was a lie. Hardly has Dixie caught her breath when Laura’s obnoxious sister shows up with the news that Laura was a lifelong slut who had stolen money from her boss and lover, a Texas banker laundering drug money. Threatened by a weird former nurse who’d been stalking Laura, and saddled with the job of cheering up a severely depressed Mazie, Dixie won’t give up on her friend’s murder.

Dixie’s fourth (Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues, 2008, etc.) provides a showcase for its likable, complex heroine. It will appeal to more than just pet lovers.