Cat in a Yellow Spotlight: A Midnight Louie Mystery (The Midnight Louie Mysteries Book 26)

From my Goodreads accountCat in a Yellow Spotlight: A Midnight Louie Mysteryby Carole Nelson Douglas(Note: after publishing this review on Goodreads, I received a very nice note from the author addressing some of my dislikes/frustrations. I very much appreciated that personal attention to a fan's concerns)This is the 26th episode in the Midnight Louie mystery series -- the second series that is, as Midnight Louie starred in a 4-issue series prior to this one, so, in reality, Douglas has now penned not 26 Midnight Louie adventures, but 30. In the first four books, classified, I believe, as romances, Louie was the house cat at the Crystal Phoenix, owned by Nicky Fontana, and these books detailed the romance and marriage of Nicky and Van von Rhine, and chronicled the early investigative powers of Midnight Louie.In the current series, Midnight Louie has given up his career as security cat for the Crystal Phoenix and moved in permanently with the Crystal Phoenix's P.R. person, Temple Barr at the Circle Ritz. The Fontanas - Nicky, Van, and Nicky's 9 brothers, remain an integral part of the series character cast, along with the Circle Ritz owner, Electra Lark, the ex-priest, Matt Devine, the Mysterious Max Kinsella, the ever vigilant policewoman, Carmen Molina, Louie's mom, Ma Barker, his purported daughter and business partner, the current Crystal Phoenix house security cat, Midnight Louise, and many more.In this particular adventure, Temple and Matt are planning a wedding, but with Max back in town, the not-so-late Kathleen O'Connor, aka Kitty the Cutter, is also back chasing after Max and his friends with evil gusto. This all puts Temple (and Louie) in the middle of the fray, an ex-lover on one side and a current fiance on the other. At the end of the last adventure, Kathleen had attempted to eliminate the three as they collaborated together at Max's known-to-few abode, the former residence of Garry Gandolph Randolph, and also the former residence of Orsen Welles. She succeeded in doing damage to both the men in Temple's life, but Midnight and his gang of black ninja cats had saved the day, with Midnight dealing Kathleen a blow to the face that will forever remind her of her run in with this black feline.This novel revolves around the reunion of an oldies band, Black & White, who are booked for several performances at the Crystal Phoenix. Temple, as the Crystal Phoenix P.R. person, moves into the Band's luxurious hotel suite at the Crystal Phoenix, in order to keep an eye on this reunited band, which has a very quarrelsome past, and to figure out what the problem is with one of the lead singers, French Vanilla. The singer has been acting as if on some sort of hallucinogenic drug, and Temple must figure out what it is, where it is coming from, who is behind it, and try to keep the reunion from dissolving into a free for all well before the very expensive event at the Phoenix. Readers get to have a reunion with choreographer Danny Dove, too, as he is involved in the elaborate staging of the reunion show. Of course, the side issues of Temple's impending marriage to Matt, the possibility of moving from Vegas to Chicago for Matt's work (especially upsetting to born and raised in Vegas Louie), Max's continued attempts to protect everyone from his stalker, Kathleen, and all the other side issues that remain active and unresolved from the prior 25 books, remain as part and parcel of the storyline, especially to those readers who have followed the series from the beginning.Let's talk about what I liked first.Douglas's characterizations are wonderful. You can suspend reality and really believe that Midnight Louie, Midnight Louise, Ma Barker, Karma and all the other feline and occasional canine characters are able to communicate with each other, plan, and execute complicated endeavors. I know I look forward to Louie's narrative chapters, told from a cat's eye view, as much if not more than those narratives told from a human point of view. While most long time readers will be firmly in either the Team Kinsella or the Team Devine camp (Team Kinsella for me!), no one can dislike either suitor. Douglas smartly makes them very different from each other, giving Temple some distinct and interesting choices. Electra Lark and the Fontana brothers always add a dash of color and pizazz to the tales, and Carmen Molina's dogged pursuit of Max as a suspect for every crime that happens in Vegas never fails to add the right mixture of tension and attraction.The author never fails to pace the story well, keeping one interested and committed to continue not only to the end of one novel, but to anxiously wait for the next installment. The editing is very good, I did find a couple of blips in this novel, one, I believe, stemming from rewrites where either a word was inadvertently left when it should have been removed, and the other being just written in a way that made me have to re-read it several times to make sense of it. Maybe that one isn't wrong, just, to my eye, awkward.So, what didn't I like? There was nothing I didn't like about the writing (well -- I am on Team Kinsella...). I certainly dislike that there are only two more books planned in this series (Cat in a Zebra Zoot Suit and Cat in an Alphabet Endgame). In many series, the books follow one another with approximately the same distance as publication -- or, in simpler terms, if the books come out once a year, the action in the books is spaced about a year apart. In this series, the action picks up just hours, days or weeks from the end of the previous novel, so, even though the last novel in this series will be Louie's 32nd adventure, it doesn't follow that it chronicles 32 years. I've always owned cats, so I know they can live quite a while. But 32 years would be a stretch! I know I'm not ready to give up Louie, even if Douglas is.I also really don't like that she's renamed the first two books of this series, Cat Nap and Pussyfoot, to go along with the "color" theme (Cat Nap became Cat in an Alphabet Soup, while Pussyfoot became Cat in an Aqua Storm). I own both of the novels in the original titles. The titles were part of what attracted me to the books -- it pisses me off that now my collection has seemingly "misnamed" books in it. At this point, I own both the 4-piece first set in hardback, and the entire second set to date, all but two (now three) in hardback. Which leads me to another thing that royally honks my horn -- this book, Cat in a Yellow Spotlight, was published only in paperback and digitally. I opted to get it on my Kindle, as I would not be able the finish out the last 3 books as I would like -- IN HARDBACK! I understand the desire to go to all digital publication, but certainly, with only 3 books to go in the series, the decision could have been foregone for this series. I'm betting I'm not the only reader who is put off by this.I'm not marking down the book (star-wise) for these dislikes, as they have nothing to do with the series storyline. But I am frustrated and will remember that frustration when it comes to purchasing one of the other series or stand alone novels that Douglas pens.

The book was in really good condition. Very satisfied with the purchase. Considering this version of the book was about 9 years old, it was quite reasonably priced.

I have just finished reading the latest Midnight Louie Mystery, Cat in a Yellow Spotlight, and I have to say that Carole Nelson Douglas has done it again! She has created yet another fresh adventure for Louie, Temple, and the other members of their world, and that’s not easy to do after 25 previous books! At the same time, she has kept all of those characters familiar and the overall story believable and a really fun read.The main cast of characters has remained, and their relationships have sharpened, just enough to keep things interesting. She has also managed to keep the many threads of the series in tact and moving along at the right pace to keep all her, and the series, fans coming back for more.I strongly recommend this long series (over 26 books and counting) to everyone who enjoys extremely well written, humorous, and really fun reads. Start at book 1, Cat in an Alphabet Soup and read the entire series. You’ll find characters who care about each other and whose personality remains the same throughout the entire series, yet develop as their situation changes (and yes, cats have personalities too). You’ll find multiple, long-lasting threads that continue from book 1 all the way through to book 26 (so far). You’ll find mystery, intrigue, sex, and love, and, most of all, you’ll find lovable characters that you would instantly make your friends, were you to meet them in real life. And, you’ll find beautiful passages like this one that will bring you close to tears: "And then the performer suddenly stilled, and clasped his mike like a sinner would a cross, and sang a sweet, aching version of "Love Me Tender" that had the hysterics in silent tears."Finally, you’ll realize you have found a series that you really, really look forward to getting your hands on the next book.

Ok usually I give all these books a 5 but there are some glaring errors here and I just can't imagine how they were made.1 the scent of bitter almonds comes from ....wait for it....Cyanide! Not from Strychnine!( also..most people can not smell it)2) Datura, is a Tropical not a desert plant, though it will grow almost anywhere, it's seeds must be damp for about 3 weeks to sprout.... it is Not even close to being Deadly Nightshade, which is a vine with small purple star shaped flowers in clusters and has blueberry like fruit......it does not smell good....the only resemblance is that both are quite poisonous..it is also Not a Moonflower, tho often called one..Moonflower is a vine in the morning glory family with very large, fragrant white flowers that open in the evening..flat like an open morning glory or a moon..Datura, is trumpet shaped.Sorry I'm a bit fussy about plant lore, especially poison ones..the wrong identification can be very dangerous.Those problems stated the rest of the book was as usual spectacular.....I have been reading Midnight Louie books since Catnap, and have all of them...I will hate it if the series does not continue... tho we do have 2 books yet in this series...Louie can find a different little doll if necessary, he found Temple when Van went all domestic on him after all ( I also have all of THE CAT AND THE ...King, Queen, Jack card suit books...which really started it all, though I had to hunt to find them) or maybe he could room with one or more of the single Fontana brothers for a while.Anything, just, more Louie please

Love all the Midnight Louie series. I wish more of the earlier ones were available in kindle format as I have difficulty reading ordinary typescript these days!

Midnight Louie is the cat's whiskers!

Brand new book. Thankyou

When ever I read these books I feel like I have come home. I read it from cover to cover. I enjoyed the plot twists which always throw me for a loop. I still read it to my Cat Bella. Think she has a cruse on Midnight Louie! I will be sad when this series is done, but will read them again and again. I'm always finding out something new I missed the first time I read the book.

i love it