Probable Claws: A Theda Krakow Mystery by Clea Simon

From the Publisher

When cats start getting sick, feline-loving freelance writer Theda Krakow suspects an accident is to blame. But her shelter-owning rocker buddy Violet claims the contaminated kibble was poisoned.
When Theda starts looking at shelter politics she finds a number of people who could have happily committed this heinous crime. The city shelter may be backing down from a healthy pet initiative, a series of threatening letters suggests a darker motive, and old-fashioned jealousy may factor in as well. The pressure mounts as Thedaas editor grabs onto the idea of a hot storyaand dangles a prime job as bait.
But how can Theda investigate when feelings run so high?
As the music scene rallies to raise funds to save the cats, Theda finds herself on the outs with both her buddies and her longtime boyfriend Bill.
And when sheas caught at a murder scene, bloody scalpel in hand and only her beloved cat Musetta as a witness to what really happened, Theda must scramble to find the real killer before she, and Musetta, become the next victims.

Publishers Weekly

Music journalist Theda Krakow once again proves a feisty and determined sleuth in Simon's lively fourth cat-themed mystery (after 2007's Cries and Whiskers). Theda alternates between the cat world, dominated by her pet, Musetta, and the Boston area music scene, about which she writes for local magazines and newspapers. When her retired policeman boyfriend, Bill, buys into a successful club that's a cop hangout, Theda can't help feeling a little jealous, though she admits she also has a problem with Bill's attitude-he's too patronizing. Meanwhile, contaminated cat kibble at the animal shelter run by her friend Violet may be the work of a poisoner. When Theda, guided by blood on Musetta's paw, discovers Rachel, a shelter vet, lying on the treatment-room floor with a fatal stab wound, she gets arrested for Rachel's murder. Well-drawn characters, a plot with many strings to unravel and plenty of appealing cats make this another winner for Simon. (Apr.)

Jo Ann Vicarel - Library Journal

Freelance writer Theda Krakow (Cries and Whiskers) gets caught up a case involving the poisoning of cats and the murder of her veterinarian friend. For cozy and feline fans.

Kirkus Reviews

The only eyewitness to a murder is a blood-spattered cat. Theda Krakow is having a bad week. She's on the outs with her boyfriend Bill, who's too busy running his new jazz club to coddle her. Her pals Violet and Caro, who own the Helmhold House for Wayward Cats, have received a donation of poisoned kibble. And her darling Musetta has tuna breath and badly needs her teeth cleaned. Unfortunately, when Theda stops by the city shelter to pick up her kitty after the procedure, Rachel the vet, gouged with a scalpel, barely has time to gasp out an unintelligible word before she expires, leaving the traumatized Musetta covered with blood. Fastidious as any feline, Musetta licks off the blood, leaving no trace of evidence. Theda, pet and scalpel in hand, is deemed the most likely suspect. But getting fired from her freelance job at the Morning Mail leaves her plenty of time to snoop around. Scrutinizing hate mail sent to the city shelter and the cat haven, she begins to suspect a reforming junkie chum, the vet's secret boyfriend, even Violet. Meanwhile, Musetta naps on an afghan, naps on a window ledge, curls up in Theda's lap, plays with a toy and meows for the attention Theda gives her in between contemplating euthanasia proponents, club hangers-on and rival vets. Journalist Simon (Cries and Whiskers, 2007) adores cats. This book is for the similarly inclined.

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