Coming in January, 2008, from Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Press …
Dixie’s sleuthing reveals a complicated tale of stolen secrets. Once more she puts her life on the line to save a pet and solve a crime… An enjoyable tale full of pet-care tips.
-Kirkus Reviews
In the third Dixie Hemingway mystery (after 2007’s Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund), Clement blends elements of cozy and thriller to produce an unusual and enjoyable hybrid. Pet-sitter Dixie, a former sheriff’s deputy on leave after the death of her husband and daughter, finds a corpse in the gatehouse of a mansion, but leaves the body for someone else to find. Traumatized by having killed someone recently, Dixie wants nothing to do with homicide, but fate decrees otherwise. Her new client, a mysterious scientist wracked by pain, owns the mansion, and Dixie ends up caring for him and his pet iguana as she tries to solve the murder and juggle her conflicting feelings for heartthrob Lieutenant Guidry and seductive attorney Ethan Crane. Clement’s deft hand with plot and characters is sure to delight readers. (Jan.)
– Publisher’s Weekly
Warning: If you have things you need to do, wait to start reading this Dixie Hemingway mystery….The plot is thick and continues to thicken, characters are real enough to make you care, and the setting so lovely and well-described that I’m tempted to pack my bags and join the southward emigration…This was a non-stop, page-turning adventure filled with wisdom, the perfect antidote to anyone’s blues.
- Mary Garrett (Stories Make the World Go Around)
Previous titles in the Dixie Hemingway series…
Buy it on Amazon.com
“An entertaining debut. Dixie is a complex, well-conceived character and the plot fast-moving and believable.”
– Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2005
“Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter is a knock-out read. In her debut mystery, Clement offers vivid characters, a super plot, and a sense of place so real you can almost feel the sand between your toes. For anyone who loves mysteries, animals, or just plain great writing, this is a book to savor.”
–Laurien Berenson, author of the RAINING CATS AND DOGS
“Blaize Clement’s Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter is at once a cozy mystery for animal lovers and a jarringly earthy hard-boiled whodunit about human corruption. Clement’s sleuth, Florida pet sitter Dixie Hemingway, is an engaging combination of vulnerability and toughness, but the real heroine of the story is a gritty Abyssinian cat. A good read!”
–Susan Conant, author of BRIDE AND GROOM and the Holly Winter dog lover’s mysteries
“Kick off your flip-flops, find a hammock, and settle in for a fun read. Clement’s Floridian heroine, Dixie Hemingway, spouts laugh-out-loud one-liners and words of wisdom in this intriguing whodunit filled with twists, turns, and some pretty captivating critters!”
–Cynthia Baxter, author of the DEAD CANARIES DON’T SING
“Funny, engaging, and true to life.”
–Lee Charles Kelley, author of TO COLLAR A KILLER
“Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter has it all: a fiesty heroine, lovable animals, and a solid whodunnit. What more could you ask for? I read Blaize Clement’s debut novel in two sittings.”
–Barbara Seranella, creator of the Munch Mancini Crime Novels
…a fantastic who-done-it…fans of fast-paced clever mysteries will appreciate Dixie’s efforts to uncover the culprit before she either goes to jail or dies.
-Harriet Klausner
…an intelligent new cozy mystery series that’s both believable and surprisingly funny.
- Jay MacDonald, The News-Press
… Dixie, a former Sheriff’s Deputy, is a great voice, sardonic, never sappy with the pets, and wonderfully on their wave length.
- Poisoned Pen Review
… an outstanding debut. This is not a cutesy cat mystery, and no animals are injured in the course of the book. The book marks the debut of a character with a great deal of depth, and a strong supporting cast. Dixie Hemingway is a character to watch.
-Lesa Holstine, Bookbitch.com
Great characters and a smart plot make for a top-notch story. The surprise end makes for a great mystery. Highly recommended read.
- Rocky River Public Library (OH)
Highly recommended for any mystery lover.
- The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Dixie Hemmingway (Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter, 2006), Sarasota deputy sheriff turned pet sitter, is back with a new case. As she walks an elderly dachshund named Mame, she sees a car speed past; after Mame breaks away and finds a dead body, Dixie realizes that the killer had been driving the speeding car. Dixie joins Lieutenant Guidry in the investigation and learns that the victim was from an old circus family. Clement uses the circus lore—and the animals in Dixie’s care—to enrich her plot, creating in the process an entertaining cozy, one of the few set in South Florida, land of noir. —Barbara Bibel, BOOKLIST
Clement’s fast-paced sophomore effort (after 2006’s Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter) … builds suspense and delivers startling revelations.
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
The second in what is destined to be a very popular series adds a hint of future romance.
KIRKUS REVIEWS
I look forward to more in this super series. – Hilary Williamson, BOOKLOONS
I’ll be waiting for more of Dixie, her animal friends, and her mysteries. – Lesa’s Book Critiques blogspot
Clement digs deeper into Dixie’s personality in this book, and it’s worth reading to see the changes in her. Lesa Holstine, BOOK BITCH
Frequently, when the first of a new series is particularly good, the second will be noticably weaker. I didn’t find this one to be…Ms Clement’s use of humor and good pacing helped make the book an overall enjoyable read. GOOD DOG KENNEL CLUB
A keeper! Talented author Blaize Clement takes the reader to Siesta Key off the coast of Florida into a slower way of life, except when it comes to murder. I’m pleased to recommend this book as one any mystery fan will enjoy. You can step into the setting of this tale and feel the ocean breeze with its salt tang and humidity. Your clothes will cling and you’ll long for a dip in the cooler water of the sea. A tourists’ playground in summer, the pace on the Key slows to a relaxing speed when they leave and you’ll have time to meet the residents of the key and wish you might stay past the last page of the book. Enjoy. I sure did. Anne K. Edwards, NEW MYSTERY READER
…even better than Dixie’s 2005 debut in “Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter.”
Dixie soon finds herself entangled in a web of greed, money laundering and psychopathic cruelty. But there’s more to this fast-paced novel than an intriguing plot. Clement also infuses this entertaining story with a thoughtful meditation on death, survival and moving on. It’s a lesson the animals in our lives already know. Jay Strafford, RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH
Although Dixie’s career choice, the book’s alliterative title and dust-jacket art featuring a cute dachshund may scream “cozy,” Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund isn’t. I don’t believe cozy readers will be disappointed – even though the language is a tad salty. But readers who eschew cozies may give Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund a pass based solely on those externals. That would be unfortunate because it’s a terrific read. Highly recommended. Mystery News, BLACK RAVEN PRESS
Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues (248 pages, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Minotaur, $23.95) is Blaize Clement’s third entry in the series featuring Dixie. This time out, Dixie takes a strange phone call asking her to look in on an iguana. Discovering that the green fellow lives on the estate where the gatekeeper has been shot to death is shock enough, but seeing the iguana’s owner, research scientist Ken Kurtz, is a real stunner: He’s ill, and his skin is turning blue.
Before Dixie figures everything out, she’s bonked on the head, considered a suspect and torn between two potential lovers. An emotionally wounded but brave woman, Dixie’s an engaging heroine, and Clement continues her growth. This taut and topical mystery, filled with local color from Florida’s Sun Coast, is no cute cat caper. But it’s filled with the wisdom of an author who obviously loves animals and sees them as fellow creatures on the Earth. JAY STRAFFORD
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
