Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs

From the Publisher

PRAISE FOR BLAIZE CLEMENT AND

CAT SITTER ON A HOT TIN ROOF

  “Ingenious…captivating. A series that even people who dislike pet mysteries can enjoy.”—Reviewing the Evidence

“Thoughtful and compelling.”—Publishers Weekly

“A feel-good [series]…Recommend this one for readers who liked the southern setting and animal characters in Joyce and Jim Lavene’s The Telltale Turtle (2008).” —Booklist

 EVEN CAT SITTERS GET THE BLUES  

“Gutsy, sexy…Dixie is Siesta Key’s favorite pet sitter.”—Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“Blends elements of cozy and thriller to produce an unusual and enjoyable hybrid . . . sure to delight readers.”—Publishers Weekly

“For fans of Susan Conant and Clea Simon.”—Library Journal

“Ingenious…captivating. Here is a series that even people who dislike pet mysteries can enjoy.”—Reviewing the Evidence

 “Will have readers begging for more treats.”—Lansing State Journal

 DUPLICITY DOGGED THE DACHSHUND

“Fast paced…the canine caper crowd will enjoy Florida’s leading pet-sitter.”—Midwest Book Review

“Clement’s fast-paced sophomore effort…builds suspense and delivers startling revelations.”—Publishers Weekly

“A fast-paced novel, an intriguing plot. Clement also infuses this entertaining story with a thoughtful meditation on death, survival, and moving on. It’s a lesson the animals in our lives already know.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Don’t let the cutesy title fool you. This isn’t one of those lightweight, frothy ‘fun with animals’ stories... It’s tough, gritty, and edgy. One of the strongest points of Clement’s work is her knack for building suspense slowly but steadily, to the point where you have no idea what peril might be lurking just around the bend.”— Sarasota Herald-Tribune

“Clement uses the animals in Dixie’s care…to enrich her plot, creating in the process an entertaining cozy, one of the few set in South Florida, land of noir.”—Booklist

 

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Clement’s sprightly fifth Dixie Hemingway mystery (after 2009’s Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof), the Siesta Key, Fla., pet sitter and former cop takes an instant liking to Jaz, a mixed-race pubescent girl she first meets at the vet, where Jaz has brought an injured wild rabbit. A nervous man claiming to be Jaz’s stepfather (“he looked like a junior high school principal who had learned too late that he hated kids”) admits he accidentally hit the rabbit in his car. Later, three young thugs looking for Jaz confront Dixie at the home of one of Dixie’s clients. Dixie’s homicide detective love interest, Lt. Jean-Pierre Guidry, suspects the three are connected to the knifing murder of a local elderly man, and the chase is on to find the thugs before they get to Jaz. Smooth prose, a lush background, and engaging animals—in particular, Big Bubba, a talkative African gray parrot who loves to watch police shows on TV—make for a fine-feathered read. (Jan.)

Kirkus Reviews

Dixie Hemingway is a loyal friend and a bad enemy-two traits that spell trouble for her and Siesta Key, Fla. While picking up a recovering parrot from the vet's office, pet sitter Dixie meets Jaz, a young teen sobbing over the death of a wild rabbit hit by a car. Former law officer Dixie can't help noticing that the driver, Jaz's stepfather, is wearing a shoulder holster. When Dixie introduces Jaz to her friend Hetty, who raises puppies as future guide dogs, the two hit it off. But trouble looms when three teens follow Dixie to her client's house looking for Jaz. She convinces them she knows nothing but warns Hetty that Jaz could be big trouble. Although concerned about Jaz, she's more worried about her brother's significant other, Paco, who's been gone longer than usual on one of his undercover assignments, and her old high-school friend Maureen, who shows up in the middle of the night claiming that her husband's been kidnapped. Against her better judgment, Dixie agrees to drop off the million-dollar ransom. Once Maureen's husband is found underwater tied to an anchor, Dixie begins to have suspicions about Maureen's high-school sweetheart. Long after he's been dumped for her wealthy husband, his heart still belongs to Maureen. Will Dixie's love interest, sexy cop Lt. Guidry, save her from the dangerous doings that beckon?Another enjoyably breezy tale featuring multidimensional Dixie and her cadre of friends, human and animal.