βA knockout read. For anyone who loves mysteries, animals, or just plain great writing, this is a book to savor.ββLaurien Berenson, author of Doggie Day Care Murder on Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter
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In this fifth installment of the wildly popular Dixie Hemingway mystery series, a mysterious young girl is missing. Lieutenant Guidry, the hunky homicide detective with whom Dixie has an on-again, off-again relationship, is trying to find the girl because she may be a material witness to a murder. Finally Dixie must go it alone to confront criminals who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Clement's sprightly fifth Dixie Hemingway mystery (after 2009's Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof), the Siesta Key, Fla., pet sitter and former cop takes an instant liking to Jaz, a mixed-race pubescent girl she first meets at the vet, where Jaz has brought an injured wild rabbit. A nervous man claiming to be Jaz's stepfather (he looked like a junior high school principal who had learned too late that he hated kids) admits he accidentally hit the rabbit in his car. Later, three young thugs looking for Jaz confront Dixie at the home of one of Dixie's clients. Dixie's homicide detective love interest, Lt. Jean-Pierre Guidry, suspects the three are connected to the knifing murder of a local elderly man, and the chase is on to find the thugs before they get to Jaz. Smooth prose, a lush background, and engaging animalsβin particular, Big Bubba, a talkative African gray parrot who loves to watch police shows on TVβmake for a fine-feathered read. (Jan.)
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From Booklist
The latest Dixie Hemingway mystery finds the Florida pet sitter caring for a chatty parrot and giving medication to a cranky cat. Meanwhile, Dixie canβt get a mysterious, animal-loving teenage girl named Jaz out of her mind. Turns out Jaz is the only witness to a West Coast gang shooting, and she is being sequestered on Siesta Key until the trial. Certainly, the location should be safe enough, except for the unfortunate fact that a meeting of top-level drug dealers from around the country just happens to be taking place at a nearby hotel. Dixie canβt leave the mystery of Jaz alone, especially after the teen disappears (despite her new career as a pet sitter, Dixie has never really lost the instincts she honed as a Sarasota cop). This continues to be a solid cozy series with a well-realized Florida setting and plenty of animal elements to satisfy pet-loving mystery readers. --Jessica Moyer