Fear on Four Paws by Clea Simon

Reviewed by Jeanne

I always look forward to a new entry in the Pru Marlowe Pet Noir series. For the uninitiated, Pru works as a dog walker, animal behaviorist, trainer, and—more often than her on again, off again police officer lover Creighton would like—detective.  Pru has a bit of an advantage in some cases: she can communicate with animals psychically, an ability whose sudden and confusing onset caused her to check herself into a mental hospital.  It’s fear of being considered mentally unstable that causes Pru to keep her talent to herself, though Creighton has begun to suspect.

And while she can understand animal thoughts, the communication tend to be somewhat chaotic, to say the least, except from Wallis, Pru’s sardonic feline companion. 

This time around, Pru has been searching for Albert, the local animal control officer, who is not the most diligent public servant (to put it mildly).  She finds him passed out cold and an illegally trapped bear near by.   She doesn’t figure Albert has the gumption to be the brains behind such an operation, but a new complication swiftly arises in the form of a dead human in the same vicinity.  Albert’s pet ferret, Frank, is a probable witness but Frank isn’t talking.

Angered by the thoughts of what was probably in store for the bruin, Pru starts to investigate but she soon has more than one complication on her hands: pets are disappearing from an upscale neighborhood, and Greg the local game warden is interested in offering her a job—and maybe something more.

As usual, the animals take center stage.  I always enjoy Wallis, whose observations on human life in general and Pru’s in particular, give the books some zest.  Pru is a complex character who is suspicious of most of the human race and especially wary of emotional entanglements.  She is more attuned and compassionate toward animals, who suffer not only physical hurt from humans but indignities: Growler, a bichon she walks on a regular basis, is called Bitsy by his human and treated more like a stuffed toy than a living creature. Despite being confined most of the day, Growler knows most of what goes on in the neighborhood and is a good source of information for Pru though he, like Wallis, is disdainful of Pru’s lack of awareness of all the things that go on around her.

However, I have to say that Bunbury Bandersnatch stole the show this time.

This series is often called a cozy, though that’s not the label I would give it.  It’s a bit darker and grittier, not to mention that Pru is no chaste virgin maid.  I think of it more as a straightforward mystery with a light dose of social commentary and a dollop of supernatural.  It’s an excellent series and comes highly recommended.

While I think any of the books in this series could be read as a stand alone, I am one of those people who likes to start at the first and read in order.  The other books are:

Dogs Don't Lie (2011)

 Cats Can't Shoot (2012)

Parrots Prove Deadly (2013)

Panthers Play for Keeps (2014)

Kittens Can Kill (2015)

When Bunnies Go Bad (2016)

Fear on Four Paws (2018)

All are available from the library.

Full disclosure: I am acquainted with the author, but that did not influence my review.

 

I think Tessa was Wallis in a previous life.

When Bunnies Go Bad by Clea Simon

Reviewed by Jeanne

Bunnies abound in this new entry in the Pru Marlowe Pet Noir series.  There’s the wild bunny being kept illegally by an elderly woman who calls on Pru because she’s heard of Pru’s skill as an animal behaviorist; there’s the bunny in the painting stolen in a recent art heist; and then there’s that fixture of the resort slopes, the ski bunny. 

The latter is Cheryl, the arm-candy girlfriend of an obnoxious businessman type named Teddy Rhinecrest.  Pru encounters the couple while out with her sometime boyfriend and full time police detective Jim Creighton.  What should have been a nice dinner is spoiled when Rhinecrest picks a fight with his girlfriend Cheryl, the aforementioned ski bunny.  Creighton steps in to calm things down, but it won’t come as any surprise to readers when Teddy turns up dead.

For once, Pru doesn’t have a personal stake in the investigation.  She really doesn’t want to be involved, but then Cheryl calls Pru for help with her King Charles Spaniel.  Pru goes to help the dog and finds things are more complicated than she expected. . . not to mention the appearance of an old acquaintance who brings both old world charm and menace.

I’ve enjoyed this series from the start. For the uninitiated, Pru is more than a behaviorist.  She’s an animal psychic, able to pick up bits of information from a variety of animals.  The communication is disjointed, bits and pieces of things that Pru struggles to understand.  It can also be very distracting because she can’t turn it off.

One of the things I like the most about the series is the way that the characters continue to evolve.  At the beginning, Pru was all but shattered by this sudden gift of inter-species communication.  She was so convinced that she was mad that she checked herself into a mental health clinic.  She lives in fear that someone else will find out about her ability.  Add this to her history of unhappy and unfortunate personal relationships and Pru is one defensive and prickly lady, given to consuming large amounts of alcohol to deaden the pain and fear.  Her one confidant is Wallis, her opinionated tabby cat who functions as advisor and commentator, whether Pru wants to hear it or not. (No pun intended.)

However, over the course of the series Pru has begun to open up just a little.  She is learning to question some of her own assumptions and to figure out that maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t have to face everything alone.  She’s also getting better at trying to decipher the messages she gets from the various creatures.

That’s not to say that this is a series that has to be read in order.  Each is a standalone, though some characters carry over for several books.  

The murder actually takes a bit of a back seat to some of the other mysteries in the book; while there is a resolution, it happens off camera so to speak.  Thinking it over, I still found it a satisfying read as I was more interested in some of the other things that were going on.  I admit I often read more for character than for plot, and this one was particularly well done in that respect. This isn’t to say that the mysteries got short shrift, just that as a long time reader I was more attuned to the character development.

This series just keeps getting better and better.

Full Disclosure:  I was sent an ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy) of the book.  I was under no obligation to review the book and receiving the ARC did  not affect my review.

Kittens Can Kill by Clea Simon

Reviewed by Jeanne

When animal behaviorist Pru Marlowe makes a house call, she expects to take a new kitten for a wellness check and perhaps dole out advice on litter boxes and scratching posts.  She does not expect to find a man dead from undetermined causes.  David Canaday, the deceased, was not a known animal lover, so it strikes Pru as a bit odd that his middle daughter decided to fly in from California to gift him with a kitty. The three Canaday sisters aren’t exactly a warm and loving family, and suspicion heats up when it comes out that their lawyer father may have been planning to change his will. Still, a lawyer makes many enemies so it could be someone else had it in for dear ol’ dad.  Pru is willing to let them fight it out until the eldest daughter demands the kitten be put down. Then her interest becomes personal.

Pru has a few advantages when it comes to an investigation.  Even though Jim her cop boyfriend (of sorts) isn’t exactly forthcoming about the case, she has some of her own sources:  Pru is an animal psychic who hears what every bird and beast has to say.  Interpreting what they say is another matter entirely.  Animals have their own interests and preoccupations, and generally aren’t interested in the doings of humans if it doesn’t impact them directly.  The other part is that Pru generally tries to understand their answers from a human point of view, which can lead to misunderstandings.

The other problem is turning conversations off, which Pru can’t do.  She hears courting sparrows and disgruntled dogs, hungry predators and frightened prey.  Doctor Doolittle, it ain’t.  That’s part of the reason that Pru tends to hit the bottle a bit more than she should, and is more than a little reluctant to let her boyfriend get too close.  She’s terrified of others discovering her secret; after all, the first time she realized she was hearing animals talk, she checked herself into a mental hospital.

The result is an interesting mix of hardboiled noir mystery and supernatural cozy.  It’s definitely grittier than your average cozy.  Pru’s life was difficult enough before; this odd ability only complicates things further.  She still has a self-destructive streak and a prickly personality.  She drinks too much, she tries to push away those who, like Jim, care about her—except for Wallis, her opinionated tabby cat who never pulls her punches and who never sugarcoats anything. Wallis and Pru communicate on a much higher level, though there are still things neither understands about the other.  On the other hand, Simon doesn’t wallow in explicit details of death, sex, or gastrointestinal disorders as some darker mysteries feel compelled to do.  I was heartened to see in this installment that Pru is starting to come to terms with some of her problems; it’s a first step, a crack in the character’s hard exterior.  

As with the earlier entries in the series, some of the most interesting characters are non-human.  Wallis the tabby is as imperious as her namesake the Duchess of Windsor and has very definite views on things.  She’s also not amused when Pru brings the upset kitten home with her; Ernesto is very much a toddler still, obsessed with play and looking for Mama.  Bitsy the Bichon who prefers to be known as Growler is another who has very firm views but who is kept in check by an owner to whom the little dog is just another possession. This time readers are introduced to a sheltie who is seeking her purpose in life now that her person is gone.  Biscuit, like most working breeds, needs something to do with her time, but her present owners are oblivious. However, I want to point out that the mysteries are solved via non-psychic means:  no animals name the murderer or give Pru clues.  What they do is remind Pru that most crimes come from the most primal of impulses, from competition for a mate, defense of territory or from a perceived threat, desire for resources, or the like. We are all animals after all.

As with most of the best books, Simon gives the reader more than just a mystery.  It’s an exploration of the relationships between people and animals, both domestic and wild, and how one can impact the other in unexpected ways and sometimes unhappy ways.  Food for thought! 

Kittens Can Kill can be read as a standalone book, but if you enjoy character development you’ll want to start with an earlier book in the series.  The titles are:

1. Dogs Don't Lie
2. Cats Can't Shoot
3. Parrots Prove Deadly
4. Panthers Play for Keeps
5.  Kittens Can Kill

Full disclosure:  I was sent a copy of the book by the author but that did not influence my review. It did, however, give me an idea for a photo op with blue eyed Bonnie who was not in a cooperative mood.