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A Big Mike Mystery #3
Stable Cat
Chestnut steeds and silver spurs. High riding and good times. That's what folks in Empty Creek, Arizona, expect from the Great Arabian Horse Show. What they get instead are low blows and bad news. First, a magnificent prize stallion disappears. Then his trainer is found outside the empty stall, shot through the heart.
Enter bookshop owner and amateur sleth Penelope Warren. Aided by her cat and confidente, "Big Mike," Penelope unearths a string of puzzling leads: Who was the stranger seen arguing with Jake Loomis moments before he was killed? What were handcuffs doing in Jake's bedroom? And who belongs to the bloody earrings outside his trailer? In pursuit of answers, game detective and sly puss race down a rocky trail of shifting identities and secret scandals, through an obstacle course of cunning schemes and private peccadilloes...and into a deadly photo finish against a vengeful killer who might just call all the shots.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
1 person is currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Garrison Allen
7Ìýbooks11Ìýfollowersaka Gary Amo
Gary Amo is a past-President of the SoCal/MWA and has written several BigMike books under the pseudonym "Garrison Allen." He's also written a fewthrillers under his Amo moniker, including one that was nominated for an Edgar.
Gary Amo is a past-President of the SoCal/MWA and has written several BigMike books under the pseudonym "Garrison Allen." He's also written a fewthrillers under his Amo moniker, including one that was nominated for an Edgar.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 10, 2018
I'm done reading this series. I had hoped that by the 3rd book it would get better, but I was wrong. So many things about how the females act just don't flow well with me, I've felt this before in other books with a female lead written by a male. I own over 3000 books, so onto something better.
August 12, 2021
The previous two books in the series were ok with a plethora of eccentric quirky characters and laugh out loud funny or humorous moments; but this 3rd book was much more campy, slapstick, and ridiculous. The dialogue was witty and the characters somewhat fleshed out. There were, also, too many sexcapades among the various unmarried couples. Fortunately, they weren't described in detail but through innuendoes and sly remarks. Penelope Warren and her Abyssinian cat named Mycroft aka Big Mike and Mikey are the amateur sleuths and both are honorary members of the Empty Creek Police Dept. Penelope also owns Mycroft & Company which is a mystery bookstore. Big Mike is partial to lima beans, has a girlfriend named Murphy Brown, and loves to sleep in the laps of pretty women.
It is the time of year for The Great Empty Creek Arabian Horse Show which is a precursor to the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. The winner in Empty Creek is the odds-on favorite for Scottsdale. Several people are looking for Penelope all over town, but she is having a pre-midlife crisis. She's even thinking of running off to Africa (where she found Big Mike) and rejoining the Peace Corps Volunteers again. It turns out that an Arabian horse named Sir Beauregarde has been horse napped and his trainer, Jack Loomis, has been found shot in the heart outside the empty stall. Some people didn't like his method of training horses. Penelope is thrown out of her mid-life crisis when several people want her to investigate and find the murderer. Samantha Dale, President of the Empty Creek National Bank and Jake Peterson, President of the horse show board of directors are especially interested in finding Beau. There is insurance money involved with the bank liable, and Beau was a potential national champion.
Then things begin to happen: a gold hoop earring is found outside Loomis's trailer house; a real set of handcuffs are found inside his house (?); a couple of insurance investigators for Amalgamated Equine Surety, Inc. show up in town - could the horse have been killed for the insurance money?; Maryanne Melrose, wife of Horace Melrose who is the owner of Beau, is also found dead; Penelope's horse, Chardonnay, goes missing - has he been horse napped too? - ; several people turn out to be someone other than they claim to be; someone was seen arguing with Loomis moments before he was killed; etc. All this provides plenty of suspects.
The police are on friendly terms with Penelope as they help each other out investigating. The Police Chief of the Empty Creek Police Dept. is also Penelope's sister's fiance. Lawrence Burke and Willie Stoner AKA Tweedledee and Tweedledum are Robbery/Homicide detectives who either get in her way a lot or let her do the work so they won't have to. A police officer named Sam Connors is also a former boyfriend of Penelope's. There are so many quirky characters that it is hard to keep track of who is who! A subplot involves Penelope's sister, Stormy (a B movie actress or is it C or D?), who is filming a Super Bra commercial in town and is passing out Super Bras to anyone she thinks would be enhanced by wearing one.
There are all manner of red herrings, twists and turns and puzzling leads. The murderer was a surprise. Luckily, Big Mike is an ordinary cat - no supernatural powers or ways of communicating other than meowing or "chirping". At the front of the book are six pages of characters and who they are. Fun to read but not a priority one.
It is the time of year for The Great Empty Creek Arabian Horse Show which is a precursor to the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. The winner in Empty Creek is the odds-on favorite for Scottsdale. Several people are looking for Penelope all over town, but she is having a pre-midlife crisis. She's even thinking of running off to Africa (where she found Big Mike) and rejoining the Peace Corps Volunteers again. It turns out that an Arabian horse named Sir Beauregarde has been horse napped and his trainer, Jack Loomis, has been found shot in the heart outside the empty stall. Some people didn't like his method of training horses. Penelope is thrown out of her mid-life crisis when several people want her to investigate and find the murderer. Samantha Dale, President of the Empty Creek National Bank and Jake Peterson, President of the horse show board of directors are especially interested in finding Beau. There is insurance money involved with the bank liable, and Beau was a potential national champion.
Then things begin to happen: a gold hoop earring is found outside Loomis's trailer house; a real set of handcuffs are found inside his house (?); a couple of insurance investigators for Amalgamated Equine Surety, Inc. show up in town - could the horse have been killed for the insurance money?; Maryanne Melrose, wife of Horace Melrose who is the owner of Beau, is also found dead; Penelope's horse, Chardonnay, goes missing - has he been horse napped too? - ; several people turn out to be someone other than they claim to be; someone was seen arguing with Loomis moments before he was killed; etc. All this provides plenty of suspects.
The police are on friendly terms with Penelope as they help each other out investigating. The Police Chief of the Empty Creek Police Dept. is also Penelope's sister's fiance. Lawrence Burke and Willie Stoner AKA Tweedledee and Tweedledum are Robbery/Homicide detectives who either get in her way a lot or let her do the work so they won't have to. A police officer named Sam Connors is also a former boyfriend of Penelope's. There are so many quirky characters that it is hard to keep track of who is who! A subplot involves Penelope's sister, Stormy (a B movie actress or is it C or D?), who is filming a Super Bra commercial in town and is passing out Super Bras to anyone she thinks would be enhanced by wearing one.
There are all manner of red herrings, twists and turns and puzzling leads. The murderer was a surprise. Luckily, Big Mike is an ordinary cat - no supernatural powers or ways of communicating other than meowing or "chirping". At the front of the book are six pages of characters and who they are. Fun to read but not a priority one.
April 5, 2022
You know those stereotypes on Facebook about men can't write because all they write about is boobs? This is one of those stories. It tries to pass itself off as chick-lit cosy mystery but it's all about boobs and a really immature obsession with people having sex all the time (with a surprising foray into slut-shaming in the middle of the book followed by more sex). There are too many characters, gazillions of them, the women talk a lot but I am not sure it even passes the Bechdel test because they talk about men a lot. Everyone pairs up into the obligatory heterosexual couple pretty much as soon as they hit the page and then there's a lot of gratuitous sexual references of the we-are-still-in-high-school-giggle-giggle variety. I know this was written in 1996 but really!
In between artists paint boobs, photographers photograph boobs, the women all try on superbras which make their boobs look better (as if they needed to) and the poet writes about his favourite lady's...you guessed it "alabaster mounds of pleasure" (p78).
And I thought I was going to read about a horse getting stolen and a cat helping solve it. The (human) detective is pretty stupid and is lucky that the author was set upon the mystery getting solved, she uses stupid methods (I guess they are meant to be Douglas Adams style humour but they fell flat for me) like thinking of the most unlikely answer and then speculating for far too long about UFOs and stuff. Then every time there's any danger of having any plot, the characters decide to have sex wrapped in foil or something for a change. I hope it was more fun for them than it is for the reader.
I won't be touching any more of these with a barge-pole.
In between artists paint boobs, photographers photograph boobs, the women all try on superbras which make their boobs look better (as if they needed to) and the poet writes about his favourite lady's...you guessed it "alabaster mounds of pleasure" (p78).
And I thought I was going to read about a horse getting stolen and a cat helping solve it. The (human) detective is pretty stupid and is lucky that the author was set upon the mystery getting solved, she uses stupid methods (I guess they are meant to be Douglas Adams style humour but they fell flat for me) like thinking of the most unlikely answer and then speculating for far too long about UFOs and stuff. Then every time there's any danger of having any plot, the characters decide to have sex wrapped in foil or something for a change. I hope it was more fun for them than it is for the reader.
I won't be touching any more of these with a barge-pole.
May 12, 2020
When I started reading in 2002, I was interested in cat mystery. Since I no longer have a cat I have moved on to more Thriller mysteries. It was a cozy cat mystery, but many parts got fairly SMH silly. Although I don't mind a good love scene, it was really overdone in this book. Many more love scene than Big Mike scenes, which is why I got the book in the first place. Penelope, bookstore owner, practically hinders the police with her sleuthing rather than working with them.
February 10, 2018
1.75 stars. Read 110 pages out of 292. A single woman, owner of a small town bookstore, tries to solve the murder of a local horse trainer and the disappearance of a potential Arabian horse champion. Lots of stupid sexual innuendoes. Humorous but corny.
April 27, 2020
Another mystery set in the quirky town of Empty Creek, Arizona. As always, this series makes me miss the Arizona desert (although today it is already up to 98 and it's only April so I don't miss it enough to return).
November 10, 2008
The third book I read, this one is fun too. We see more of the oddball residents of Empty "By God" Creek, Arizona while Penelope tries to find out who swiped the champion horse and got hers too!
December 22, 2012
most of these characters were dysfunctional loons. I did not even like the cat.
November 4, 2016
Way too many characters in this story.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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