MURDER HAS NINE LIVES

A writer thinks she’s found a ticket to fame and fortune when her cat gets tapped for a TV ad shoot.

Not that Jaine Austen minds turning out copy for Toiletmasters Plumbers’ new line of self-flushing commodes. Her boss, Phil Angelides, is a nice guy, and his golden-haired, blue-eyed nephew, Jim, offers more than a little promise as a potential beau. But when Deedee Walker, Agent to the Animal Stars, offers Jaine’s cat, Prozac, a shot at a spot in a Skinny Kitty commercial, visions of dollar signs dance in her head. She envisions enough money for a trip to Maui with her parents. Enough for a second pair of Manolo Blahniks. Enough to send her rushing over to down-at-the-heels Kleinman Productions, where director Ian Kendrick is about to start shooting from writer Zeke’s script. When Dean Oliver, the brains behind Skinny Kitty, reveals that Jaine’s pet is slated to play the overweight “before” cat, Prozac promptly goes postal. Her feline tantrum, though, is nothing compared to the chaos that erupts when Dean keels over after scarfing a mouthful of his own product. Everyone’s a suspect, including Dean’s wife, Linda, his mistress, Camille “The Pink Panther” Townsend, food stylist Nikki Banks, Deedee, Ian, Zeke, and of course Jaine. Can she solve a murder and clear her name before the killer makes an encore appearance?

Jaine’s flair for the well-turned phrase puts her in the top tier of do-it-yourself detectives.