Karen Kijewski: Kat's Cradle (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
She's a hard-boiled Sacramento P.I. with a soft spot for the unlucky, the unloved, and one special cop named Hank. Her name is Kat Colorado and in her line of business curiosity can be more than an occupational hazard -- it can be murder.

76% OF AMERICANS HAVE EATEN APPLE PIE. 34% HAVE EATEN ARTICHOKES. 82% HAVE EATEN FRIED CHICKEN. WHAT PERCENT HAVE CONSIDERED MURDER?

She said her name was Paige Morrell and she came to Kat Colorado hoping to untangle the twisted mystery of her past. She was a twenty-one-year-old "orphan," a poor little rich girl on the verge of inheriting a wealthy old river estate -- and some very nasty surprises. But when Kat set out to solve the case, she found herself following a thread of lies, greed, and deceit that led straight to the corpse of a key source to Paige's past. Now the Sacramento private eye was about to learn that in the California Delta some family secrets were better left buried... because uncovering them could be murder.

"Outstanding among today's female detectives, Pl Kat Colorado exhibits conscience and compassion, muscle and wisecracking savvy in an appealing and believable combination... In taut, confident prose. [Kijewski]... delivers an intricate plot to complete reader satisfaction." -- Publishers Weekly

Karen Kijewski: Kat's Cradle. A Kat Colorado Mystery. Bantam Books, ISBN: 0553293915 (December, 1992), 295 p., $4.99.

Karen Kijewski: Kat's Cradle (USA 1992)

From the Publisher:
76% of Americans have eaten apple pie. 34% have eaten artichokes. 82% have eaten fried chicken. What percent have considered murder? So begins this exciting new novel from three-time award-winner Karen Kijewski, starring sassy and street-smart private eye Kat Colorado in her third sizzling adventure.

Things get very messy indeed after a young girl named Paige Morrell hires Kat to look into the mysteries of her birth and heritage, and the Sacramento-based sleuth finds that some family secrets are better left buried. When a key source to Paige's past is found dead, Kat sets out to solve the case -- in which nothing and no one are what they seem. Her investigation leads her into a tangled web of lies, greed, and deceit that ultimately threatens her own life.

Filled with a cast of memorable characters -- from Kat's best friend, lovelorn advice columnist Charity Collins, who can't seem to practice what she preaches, to the adding machine repairman who works in Kat's building and spends his time collecting the bizarre and macabre statistics that open each chapter -- Kat's Cradle is entertaining suspense at its finest.

Karen Kijewski: Kat's Cradle. A Kat Colorado Mystery. Doubleday - A Perfect Crime Book, ISBN: 0385420951 (February, 1992), 244 p., $18.50.