Kittens Can Kill: A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir

By: Clea Simon
Illustrated By: Rich Siegle
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: 2015
ISBN: 9781464203589
Reviewed By: Kristi Benedict
Review Date: May 8, 2015

When animal behaviorist Pru Marlowe got a call about a kitten that was given as a gift to a local lawyer she sees this as an opportunity to expand her paycheck as clients were far and few between in the small town of Beauville. However, Pru soon finds that she got much more than she bargained for. When she arrives at the address she finds the door unlocked but no answer to her knocking, so she goes in but finds the owner lying dead on the floor. Pru learns that this man’s name was David Canaday, a long time lawyer in the town of Beauville. Apparently his health was diminishing for a while so a possible heart attack seems to be the likely cause. However, when his three daughters come together for the reading of his will they instantly start pointing fingers at each other, accusing each other for their father's demise.

With the entire family at each other throats, Pru knows that the kitten that she was originally called about is not safe with any of these women so against her better judgment she takes the kitten home. Of course her own cat Wallis is not pleased but she hopes that maybe in time Wallis can get the little kitten to open up about what happened to Mr. Canaday and allow Pru to use her unique skill of talking with animals.

With curiosity getting the better of her, Pru once again finds herself in the middle of a mystery as rumors start to spread about all three of the Canaday girls and how they could somehow be linked to their father’s murder. On top of that the youngest of the three, Jill, has decided that being an animal behaviorist is her calling and she is constantly contacting Pru to learn all of her ways. Pru is not quite sure that Jill is being completely honest with her about what she knows and how much she is involved. The short and scattered thoughts of the Kitten with the name Ernesto are unfortunately not much help at first but piece by piece Pru will work to solve the mystery in front of her.

This is the second book I have read in the Pru Marlowe series and I have immensely enjoyed both of them as Pru is such an interesting character that I can’t help but easily relate to her. One of the aspects I enjoyed most in this book was the way the thoughts of the animals are presented with the way the animals actually see the world instead of the way humans would see it. It's fun to picture how the pets are reacting and then have Pru slowly figure out why and I think that makes for a great story. For any animal lover or mystery lover the book delivers on both counts.

Quill says: Another intriguing mystery that has me looking for the next one in the Pru Marlowe series.