Cat in a Neon Nightmare

by Carole Nelson Douglas

  Sometimes, I believe, it is good for humans to not know the answer to every question. Life, and often death, as I tell Louise, is like that.

  She is not impressed.

  Louise is like that too.

  Very best fishes,

  Midnight Louie, Esq.

  For information about getting Midnight Louie’s newsletter and/or

  T-shirt, contact him at Midnight Louie’s Scratching Post-Intelligencer,

  PO Box 331555, Fort Worth, TX 76163, by e-mail at

  cdouglas@catwriter.com. or visit the Web page

  http://www.catwriter.com.

  Carole Nelson Douglas Explains

  In my defense, Louie, even I did not know that Kathleen O’Connor was leaving Las Vegas, and in a fatal state.

  In books, as in life, as you point out, accidents will happen. If you miss her forbidding presence, it’s partly your own fault for putting Max wise to the tiger on his tail.

  In fact, since you are the only individual (I will not say “person”) in Las Vegas who knows what really happened to Vassar and the only one who knows why Kitty the Cutter crashed and died, I should think you’d be pretty pleased with my most recent portrayal of your detecting skills, even if you have to keep them to yourself.

  I am also pretty sure, though, that your new-found maturity won’t outlast the inbred charm of your big bad attitude, anymore than Kitty’s death will end the mayhem, murder, and ongoing angst that Las Vegas is famous for.

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

  CAT IN A NEON NIGHTMARE: A MIDNIGHT LOUIE MYSTERY

  Copyright © 2003 by Carole Nelson Douglas

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

  Edited by Claire Eddy

  A Forge Book

  Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue

  New York, NY 10010

  www.tor.com

  Forge® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Douglas, Carole Nelson.

  Cat in a neon nightmare : a Midnight Louie mystery / Carole Nelson Douglas.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  “A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

  ISBN: 978-0-7653-0680-7

  1. Midnight Louie (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Barr, Temple (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Public relations consultants—Fiction. 4. Women cat owners—Fiction. 5. Las Vegas (Nev.)—Fiction. 6. Magicians—Fiction. 7. Cats—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3554.O8237C2768 2003

  813'.54—dc21

  2002045491