Fear on Four Paws

May 7, 2018
At the outset of Simon’s sprightly seventh Pru Marlowe Pet Noir (after 2016’s When Bunnies Go Bad), Pru, a freelancer for the animal control department in Beauville, Mass., who has an uncanny ability to understand what animals are thinking, discovers a bear trapped in rope netting in the woods. Passed out on the ground nearby is Pru’s boss, good-natured drunk Albert. When the police find a body locked in a shed near where the bear was trapped, the evidence points to Albert as the culprit. Pru is moved to investigate, not so much for the sake of Albert as for his ferret companion, Frank, whom Pru considers “one of the more intelligent and discerning males in Beauville.” Frank, who’s also a good ally in a fight, and Wallis, Pru’s imperious cat, who’s as blasé as many people believe cats to be, assist Pru in her efforts to apprehend a band of bear poachers and determine who’s responsible for the disappearance of some pampered domestic pets. The animals outshine the human characters in this irresistible outing. Agent: Colleen Mohyde, Doe Coover Agency.

May 1, 2018
Animal empath Pru Marlowe (Parrots Prove Deadly, 2017, etc.) uses her gifts in service of every amateur sleuth's time-honored quest: clearing a pal suspected of murder.Even bucolic Beauville has its share of layabouts. Paul Lanouette and fellow miscreants Albert and Ronnie spend their evenings drinking at a dive bar and their days drinking--well, wherever. After their latest private party, game warden Greg Mishka finds Albert snoozing in the woods alongside a young male black bear. The bear is trapped in a rope snare, but Albert is loose--at least until Detective Jim Creighton locks him up. Seems that Paul's body was inside the shed Albert and his ursine companion were sleeping outside. Pru Marlowe, Beauville's animal control officer, takes charge of Albert's feisty ferret, Frank, who communicates not only his fear that Albert is in danger, but that something shiny is involved in Paul's murder. Pru, who supplements her meager earnings with a bunch of dog-walking and cat-finding assignments, checks with her four-legged clients, but Marmalade (aka Reina), Bitsy (aka Growler), and Spot (aka Bunbury Bandersnatch) can tell her nothing more about either the bear or the boozer. So it's up to Frank and his frantic, fractured ferretese to help Pru find out who killed Paul and get Albert released.It's hard to get noir when most of your cast is warm and furry. Simon's latest is more likely to appeal to cozy fans than the hard-boiled crowd.

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June 1, 2018
Readers who love bossy cats, don't mind ferrets, and can accept an animal psychic as a protagonist will enjoy this seventh entry in the Pru Marlowe Pet Noir series. When animal whisperer Pru's boss at Beauville Animal Control is suspected of murder and of trapping a wild bear, Pru takes custody of his ferret, Frank, and his caseload. She's also dodging questions from her cat, Wallis, about her on-again, off-again relationship with police officer Jim Creighton. Pru uses the information she gets from her four-legged client to piece together what must have happened the night her boss was arrested. Series fans, who have no problem with the fact that Pru talks mostly to animals, will lap it up.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)