Movie Cat

It must be something in the water in Empty Creek Arizona where Penelope Warren makes her home and solves murder mysteries. This volume concocts a fantastic tale in which Hollywood comes to Empty Creek to make a western. Of course the western has to star Penelope's sister Stormy. And, of course, the story starts with a murder -- of the hated director. The denizens of Empty Creek are all there -- most of them hired to act as extras in the movie. Empty Creek is a great place. All the guys are laid back do-nothings or plain stupid. All the girls are smart, good-looking, and sexy as anything. The hormones rage in town where every night the male population is reduced to wimpering by the female portions. In one memorable passage, one of the Hollywood interlopers refers to the locals as virgins since this is their first film. Withouth pausing for a beat, the local chamber of commerce president, the president of the local bank (whose nude portrait adorns the local bar), several business owners, and others (all females) tell the Hollywoodian that that's terrible and try to decide on who should fix the outsider's problem! There is also a food fight, a wet t-shirt contest featuring the local lovelies, and a poolside mass seduction scene. Oh, did I mention that some of the actress wannabees run through the desert dressed only in their high heel shoes? The book is divided into two parts. 15% of the story is about the murder mystery while 85% is about the rioutous activities of the local populace. The writing style is light and breezy with much humor in the rendition. Unfortunately, the named hero (Big Mike) does not do much. Oh, there are several passages that refer to him or his past exploits, but aside from helping avoid some last-second murders, he plays almost no part in what is going on. The story is fantastic - of course, but it is possible to follow it and try to resolve it in your head before the author hands you everything on a spoon. That is, if you can keep your attention on the mystery rather than the hot gatherings, or laughing your head off!

All of Garrison Allen's "Big Mike" mysteries/comedies are some of the best and most entertaining reading I've encountered in some time. What's interesting about 'Movie Cat' and all of the Allen mysteries are that the murder and whodunit are secondary to the witty and crazy characters populating the books. Penelope and all of her cohorts are funny and of course Big Mike is the primo cat in detective fiction. The food fights, the things he does to Tweedledum and Tweedledee are priceless feline encounters. So, where is the latest Garrison Allen installment? I noticed only two reviews for this book---how sad! Come on mystery readers, have a little, no a LOT of fun. Grab up all the Big Mike mysteries and have yourself one heck of a good time!

Garrison Allen's 6th (and hopefully not last) Big Mike book is one of his best. Once again Mikey and Penelope find themselves in the middle of murder and mayhem when very unpopular director C.D. Masterly is found dead, nude and with an angry rattlesnake in the immediate vicinity. All the characters we have come to know in Empty Creek along with some really strange new ones (keep in mind that the people of Empty Creek are NOT the strange ones!) are in this outstanding, funny heartwarming mystery! I promise you, you'll never think of alarm clocks the same way you always have when you see what one does to Mikey! Mikey and Penelope have joined the ranks of Koko and Yum Yum, Midnight Louie and Mrs. Murphy et al in the cat mystery world don't let us lose them. Please let the publishers know that you want more Big Mike mysteries or this one may be the last one!

The residents of Empty Creek, Arizona would feel right at home in Eerie, Indiana. Penelope Warren, owner of Mycroft and Company mystery bookstore, is a typical resident, who feels she is just an ordinary person. However, eccentric seems more accurate as her cat Mycroft loves lima beans, her horse slobbers over peppermint sticks, and a close friend gives her erotic gifts as jokes. Even weirder is that Penelope believes she is a sleuth, who conducts investigations without being paid or asked to for that matter asked. Penelope is currently working as an extra in a western being filmed in town by a Hollywood crew. She learns that everyone despises the director, Clarence Davis. So when someone murders Davis, Penelope begins to make inquiries. However, the suspect list includes a cast of hundreds. Unlike previous novels in the series, the adorable Mycroft takes a back seat to his human counterparts. The secondary characters provide a satirical look at Hollywood on location and Penelope remains an oddball amateur sleuth. The story line includes plenty of cleverly devised misdirections and red herrings so that even a flow chart will not help readers guess the identity of the culprit. In MOVIE CAT, Garrison Allen writes a humorous who-done-it that will receive much acclaim for the subtle and not so subtle ironies.Harriet Klausner