Some Like It Hot

Cat DeLuca Mysteries #3

by K.J. Larsen

When an old friend buys a trenchcoat and opens his own detective agency, PI Cat DeLuca sees a train wreck.  Because everything Billy Bonham knows about being a private dick, he learned from Humphrey Bogart.  And that’s just enough to make him dangerous. 
The bungling detective is way over his head on a case involving murder and a stolen pair of Marilyn Monroe’s dazzling diamond earrings.  His outrageous client, Cristina McTigue, is pursued by men who want her dead.  Five minutes after meeting the woman, Cat would cheerfully kill her too. 
When Billy is gunned down on the street,  it’s up to Cat to save his crazy client and nail a murderer.  She soon finds herself dodging bullets, knee-deep in trouble, and chasing diamonds. Before it’s over, she’ll be helped by her sexy FBI boyfriend, a hunky ex-spy, her outrageous Italian family of Chicago cops, and her interfering Mama who keeps the cannoli coming. 
With a cast of zany characters and a pace that’s unrelenting, this laugh-out-loud mystery is best served hot.  

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Cozy Mystery, Chick Lit, Mystery Thriller, Crime

250 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2013

About the author

Sisters Kari, Julianne, and Kristen write under the pen name, K.J. Larsen.

Writing a novel together was second nature for the three sisters who created their own Nancy Drew mysteries as kids. “We live very different lives,” Kari says. “What brings us together is a voracious love of mystery, a wicked sense of humor, and the thrill of victory.”
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Kari Larsen lives at the foothills of Mt. Rainier and loves hiking, stand-up comedy, and the Blues. She’s written a column for a local paper as well as numerous plays and children’s stories. She’s a mean baker and a bit like Cat’s crazy Mama. Her canolli will drop you to your knees.

Julianne is the youngest of the six Larsen girls and spoiled as God intended. She teaches classes in organic gardening and is a gifted artist and poet. She lives on a farm with her horses, her beagle, and more four legged children than any person with good sense. Like Cat, she prefers jeans and a sweater but she cleans up nice.

Kristen is a gifted writer, weaver and actress and has appeared in plays off off Broadway. Her eyes are green like Cat’s and she’s a shoe-in for the role in the blockbuster movie to come. She lives in the Chicago area and was recently spotted dancing in Bridgeport with Chance Savino. Kristen’s shitzu, Buster, and Cat DeLuca’s beagle, Inga, are rumored to be dating.

Reviews

[Paula Ratcliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading this series and see what people in Bridgeport are up to. Cat gets herself into all sorts of trouble in this one. From a murder of friend of Cat's to Marilyn Monroe's missing earrings. When Cat tries to find out who killed Santa Claus aka Billy Bonham a friend of hers from way back, the first boy she kissed, the one who told her he was going to marry him when they were kids.

One of Billy's cases is protecting a girl named Cristina McTigue who is more trouble than she is worth. With crazy people who want something she has, or they think she has. Cat has alot to deal with Cristina is a crazy chic unto herself. Cat has to rely on using her family of cops to help her alot in this case.

Let alone the release of Devin from his drug treatment who is set on driving Cat insane. How she deals with it at times is a wonder add in Cleo the gun toting crazy gun chick, it's always a laugh to pick up this series and see how everyone is doing and how many times Cat's mom can go to father Timothy over her daughter's crazy lifestyle.

This is an awesome series something I would compare to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Definitely the same level of crazy family members. It is so much fun to read K.J. Larsen's book and the world they have created and I learned abit about the authors as well. Kudos to the Larsen sisters.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Like it Hot is the third Cat Deluca mystery. This book is scheduled for a March 2013 release. This book was published by Poisoned Pen Press.

Cat's old friend, Billy has started his own private detective agency. His first case turns out to be a too much for Billy to handle and he ends up dead. Cat and her trigger happy assistant decide to finish up Billy's cases for him.
Four years ago the robbery of a set of famous earrings worn by Marilyn Monroe in the movie "Some Like it Hot" cost a man his life, and another spent four years in prison. Now the surviving parties are all out to find the earrings. Cat has help from her FBI boyfriend Chance and her large Italian family as they search for the earrings and Billy's killer.
This novel falls into the chick lit/mystery genre. If you like the Stephanie Plum type novels, you will probably like this one.
Cat and Cleo usually catch cheating spouses and boyfriends, so this was a change of pace for them. Cat's family is large and Italian and the setting is in Chicago.
K.J. Larsen is the pen name for three sisters that write this series.
This was fun caper style mystery with lots of humor and quirky characters.
Overall a B+ Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are such quick reads -- and just fun.

[B.C. Deeks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this series is like eating vanilla ice cream; you take a bite, and it's great, but it's not perfect. So you take another bite, savouring it in your mouth this time, trying to figure out why you really like it but still don't love it. It has all the things you enjoy on a hot summer day but it just doesn't quite quench that craving. Then suddenly you have it, and you snap your fingers and say, "but it's not chocolate ice cream." The Cat Deluca Mystery series is a fun read, with a heroine who gets the villain with the help of 2 superhero men who love her, the support of her whacky family, and a lot of dumb luck...yes, this is Stephanie Plum 2.0... but it isn't. Which is actually a shame because K. J. Larsen has really GREAT plots, something which gets lost in the too-close comparison to that other series. The Cat Deluca stories are well written suspenseful mysteries, with snappy dialogue that works, but if you have read the SP series the similarities will knock you out of the story at inopportune times. With just a bit more thought, I truly believe K.J. Larsen could have given the Cat Deluca series a unique spin that might have knocked it out of the ballpark. That said, I'm still going to finish reading the rest of the series because who doesn't enjoy good ice cream?

[Eco · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Starting to get a "Murder,She Wrote" feel. I have to agree with Bob about Cat being a death magnet.
I'll admit I am mentally comparing Savino to Ranger. Not sure who is winning right now!

[Helen O'Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my third Cat DeLuca mystery and I enjoyed it. 😉 Humor and mysteries are always a good combination for me. More Italian food, more Italian family, more about hunky FBI guy Chance and associate Cleo.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable mystery series. reminiscent of Stephanie Plum.

[Mary Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and funny characters. Always an easy read. I enjoyed this. Sometimes you need a good laugh.

[Richella · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are just fun reads.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read!

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! I’m really enjoying this series.

It’s like the perfect blend of Stephanie Plum and Kinsey Millhone, PLUS a colorful cast of supporting characters!!

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the first couple of installments of this series were pretty good, but the author could not sustain my interest in this third one.

[Vicki M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some Like It Hot by K.J Larsen was just released this week, on March 5, 2013. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy for my Kindle. The main character is Cat DeLuca and when her business partner and friend ends up dead, she sets out to solve the last case he was working on and find out who killed him. With an array of gun toting characters, tough guys and intimidating cops, there is never a dull moment in Cat's life. That being said, though, this book left me a bit underwhelmed. To me it is very reminiscent of the Stephanie Plum novels Janet Evanovich, however I very much prefer the Plum novels. l'm not sure if its because Some Like It Hot is actually the third book in the 'Cat DeLuca' series and I read it first. Maybe if I would have started with the first book I would have a better appreciation for the characters and the plot ... It's not an overall BAD book, I just found that I couldn't connect with any of the characters and I wasn't really rooting for anyone (not even the bad guys had my attention). I doubt I will read any of the other books in this series.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

The owner of Pants On Fire Detective Agency, Cat DeLuca, knows a train wreck when she sees one, and seeing her old friend, Billy Bonham, in a Santa suit being chased from a bar she knows she's watching one. When she finds out Billy has taken the correspondence course on how to become a PI and has purchased a trench coat, she reluctantly gets involved. Billy is in way over his head with a case involving murder and a stolen pair of Marilyn Monroe's earrings, not to mention a client who has the potential to get everyone killed. When Billy is gunned down on the street, Cat takes over and finds herself dodging bullets and knee-deep in trouble.

Third in the Cat DeLuca Mystery series does not disappoint. With her sexy FBI boyfriend, ex-spies, her family of Chicago cops, and her mother, it makes for laugh-out-loud reading. I really enjoyed this book and enjoyed the characters. If I ever need a PI, I'd like to hire Cat.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is so much fun! Cat is hilarious and so easy to love! In her adventures the culprit is never who you think it is and it is really fun watching the events unfold. Cat owns Pants on Fire Detective Agency which is known for catching the cheater but Cat has a different view of what she does. She claims to be a private detective even though her mom claims she takes pictures of naked people. Cat does prove to be a very good detective.

When Cat was 8 years old she became engaged to Billy. Of course, that lasted a day but now years later someone kills him and Cat is determined to find out who it was. The police have no idea who could have committed the murder but Cat is there to save the day! She gets a lot of knocks and bruises trying to get to the end of the road but eventually she does.

I would recommend this series if you are looking for light and funny because it has it.

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover says "Fans of Janet Evanovich will enjoy meeting Cat DeLuca." Well, I can say, for sure, that fans of Janet will recognize that the sisters Larsen stole most of the Stephanie Plum format. The heroine is a 30 something single female, who has the law enforcement boyfriend (like Joe Morelli) and the hot law enforcement type on the side (like Ranger.) She has a dysfunctional Italian family, including a mother, who feeds her and tries to get her to get married, like Stephanie's mama does. She has a pet (like Stephanie's hamster) and a female side kick, who is wacky and carries too much armament (like Lulu.) The big differences are that Cat is a detective, not a bounty hunter, and there's no Grandma Mazur. Also, the book is not funny, like a Stephanie novel.

Other than resenting the above, on Janet's behalf, I enjoyed the book, well enough.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner by K. J. Larsen (actually 3 sisters collaborating). I'm originally from the Chicago area and get a kid out of reading about the neighborhoods too.
This time Cat is out for revenge for the death of her childhood friend Billy Bonham. Of course, in order to attain said revenge, she enlists the help of all of her friends and family, and there are plenty of both. Doesn't hurt at all to have brothers who are Chicago cops and a steady who is FBI. Even with all the help, she still manages to put herself in situations that could easily result in her death, but at least she'll go down fighting!
All I can say is K.J., please keep Cat in one piece for many, many more adventures.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat DeLuca doesn't chase murderers; she chases cheaters, like her lying ex-husband. But when her high school buddy Billy Bonham is gunned down while walking his mother's dog, she decides to make an exception. After all, she knows who the murderer must be--the dude that Billy, who thinks he's a private eye like Bogart, is trying to investigate for a client. Cat takes over the client, only to learn that she lied to Billy and she's lying to Cat. Cat's allies include her family of policemen, her kooky assistant, and her FBI-man boyfriend; her enemies are numerous, too.

[Robert Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

+Probably would deserve a higher rating, except although I enjoy reading these novels, surely no one could possibly get into so many self made scrapes or deal with such a widespread, willing to join in cast of supporting oddball characters. If you like Evanovich's Stephanie Plum or Lisa Lutz's Isabel Spellman, you will love Cat DeLuca. This one involves stolen diamond earrings once worn by Marilyn Monroe and an old boyfriend.+

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome back to Cat DeLuca and her Pants on Fire Detective Agency!

I love this series!

This is another great laugh-out-loud story! I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Janet Evanovich. Larsen's stories might be a tad better for some people, only because "she" does not use as many bad words.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, i listened to this book. The main character was 30 and the woman reading the book sounded like she was a 60s something smoker. Having not read any other book prior i didnt have any background and i feel like i missed something. There wasn't a lot of character development, even of the main character. I couldn't wait for it to be over.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat DeLuca, owner of the "Pants on Fire" detective agency and member of a large mostly dysfunctional family, is investigating the murder of her childhood friend who had turned into a bumbling detective of sorts. She becomes involved with some of his clients and chaos ensues. Just a light hearted murder-mystery.

[Kimberly Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the quick wit of Kat and her family constantly interference in her life. I love her brother Rocco. Keeping writing this character and write faster. I would love to see a book about Rocco and her uncle Frankie. Uncle Frankie up to his old trick and Rocco keeping him and Kat from getting themselves kill.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cat DeLuca has a detective agency focused on catching cheating spouses. In the books she often gets side tracked in to bigger cases of murder. Her "cop" family, some shadier than others, of Chicago help her out. As well as her former special forces pals and current FBI boyfriend.

These books have more guts than the Evanovich, Stephanie Plum, series. Both are equally fun to read.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and can't wait to find out what happens with this female private eye, Cat DeLuca. Hilariously written, I was laughing the entire way through but on the edge of my seat waiting to find out what would happen next. A home run!!

[Bren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was OK. I thought the plot was a bit disorganized and there were too many characters without purpose. I would have liked for Cat to be more sassy. Also, stop already with the Italian mother that is solely focused on grandchildren.

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pretty Dumb! A poorer version of Janet Evanovich novels. In fact almost a copy cat, but not nearly as good. Although the Evanovich novels are now repeats and repeats again. Not even funny in places. My advice is Skip!!

[Jennifer Meador · Rating 5 out of 5]

Watch out Stephanie Plum...I may try to hook you up with Cat DeLuca - ya'll would have great fun with your adventures, er work projects!

[Renee]

Stopped reading this title. Just could not get into it.

[Kimber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 rating.