Walking the Cat: An International Fashion Spy Thriller

by Lorraine Evanoff

Murder is the new black.

2025 IPPY AWARDS – GOLD MEDAL – BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER EBOOK
2025 BOOK EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNER – BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER
2025 READERS’ FAVORITE SILVER MEDAL – THRILLER ESPIONAGE

Get ready for a heart-pumping journey through the worlds of fashion and espionage in WALKING THE AN INTERNATIONAL FASHION SPY THRILLER. As former CIA operative Louise Moscow attends Paris Fashion Week, she never expects to be caught up in a murder investigation. But when a beautiful American photographer is killed, Louise must use her spy skills to clear her friend's name. With twists and turns at every corner, this well-researched novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.

Are you ready for a wild ride through the streets of Paris and into the glamorous world of haute couture? Look no further than "Walking the Cat" by Lorraine Evanoff. As a former fashion model turned Hollywood finance executive, Evanoff seamlessly blends her knowledge of both industries to create a gripping tale filled with powerful emotions and unexpected plot twists.

Follow our fearless main character as she navigates the cutthroat world of high fashion and uncovers secrets that threaten to unravel everything she's worked for. If you enjoyed "The Devil Wears Prada," then you won't be able to put down "Walking the Cat."

Buy now before the price changes!

PRAISE FOR LORRAINE EVANOFF AND WALKING THE

★★★★★ "Lorraine Evanoff presents a different ilk of retired spy character in Walking the Cat. Louise Moscow is single, post menopause, and still able to fight her way out of a dangerous situation. She’s also the daughter of a disgraced Russian sleeper operative, but has successfully reinvented herself beneath the guise of a pen name and a renowned mystery writing career. The novel takes place within the vibrancy and color of Paris Fashion Week, when a sudden death threatens to derail the main events. Now outed as a retired member of the CIA, Louise is seconded to the investigation by the gruff and unyielding Paris Police Inspector and tasked with finding the murderer before they kill again."
~ K T Bowes for Readers’ Favorite

★★★★★ "I literally couldn't put it down. I loved how it pulled me into the center of Paris Fashion Week (which I knew nothing about) and modern Parisian culture and life. It all felt so real and vivid."
~ David K. Wilson, Best-Selling Mystery Author

Genres: Mystery, Amazon, Ebooks

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 30, 2024

About the author

Award-winning author Lorraine Evanoff’s highly addictive, suspenseful thrillers are perfect for fans of Erik Larson, Jack Slater and Kathy Reichs.

Former Hollywood finance exec Lorraine Evanoff uses classic mystery storytelling to spin complex tales of international finance with a sexy female heroine. Lorraine’s best-selling Louise Moscow Novels, FOLIAGE, PINOT NOIR, and the newly released DEVIL'S LEDGER are high concept noir thrillers inspired by real-life banking scandals.

Originally from Chicago, Lorraine received a degree in French from DePaul then studied and worked for seven years in Paris and is currently living in Los Angeles with her husband. Lorraine held CFO positions in high tech companies during the dot-com era, and more recently in the film industry, notably as CFO of National Lampoon. She already has multiple IMDB credits to her name and now has a screenplay in development.

Be sure to follow Lorraine on BookBub for the latest on sales https://www.bookbub.com/profile/lorra...!

Reviews

[Jack Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I assure you, I cannot improve on the descriptions of Walking the Cat that other reviewers here have provided, and I encourage you to read them. I can tell you that I've read and thoroughly enjoyed all four of Ms. Evanoff's Louise Moscow novels. While the intrigues, adventures, plights, mysteries, character development, and successes of Lulu Moscow and her many associates are captivating, thrilling, and thoroughly entertaining, I find particularly riveting the decisions and explorations chosen by Ms. Evanoff over the course of the four novels. While aspects of Moscow's life and evolving history are variously revisited or referenced through the series, there is nothing formulaic about Ms. Evanoff's writing. Each of Moscow's adventures is distinct in nature. In Foliage, Moscow's new employment with BCCI is the canvas on which Ms. Evanoff paints a picture of the real-life catastrophic downfall of that bank-to-international-criminals. Pinot Noir immerses Moscow in a case involving horrible exploitation. Devil's Ledger tasks Moscow with uncovering rot in the world's oldest bank. In Walking the Cat, murder threatens the success of Paris' 1st Fashion Week as the world emerges from the social restrictions of the covid pandemic. The nature of the mystery Moscow must solve is diverse from one novel to the next. The consequence of the span between each story is that Moscow experiences life at increasing ages, with the impacts on mind, body, and soul that we experience as we grow. I am fascinated and pleased by the ways in which Ms. Evanoff explores and subtly varies technique and focus in her story-telling. I promise you, this is an author to follow.

[Patrick McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fashion and mystery come together as spectacular companions in the breezy fourth novel of the Lorraine Evanoff-created sleuthing hero Louise Moscow. Set a few years after her last case in DEVIL’S LEDGER, Louise finds herself in Paris during Fashion Week, reveling in all the glamour associated with the “catwalk” and the surrounding events in the City of Light. When a glam American photographer is murdered, it’s up to Louise and her evolved curiosity to assist the “La Police” of Paris. This is Evanoff’s second novel set in Paris (after FOLIAGE), and that past association provides a thrilling atmosphere that the author forges as in-depth expression. Setting the action among the fashionistas is a departure for Moscow’s previous role as a forensic finance expert but this fresh and in-vogue adventure is a page turning delight that has surprises around every exotic corner. Lorraine Evanoff’s unique and compelling literary style is the foundation for the spiritual power of Louise Moscow, a detecting soul whose presence excitedly uplifts all the characters and whose sleuthing is absorbing and inventive within the suspenseful piece-by-piece assembly of the case puzzle … WALKING THE CAT is a fantastic and fun-to-read novel for mystery fans and beyond.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was utterly intriguing but almost too complicated. Retired CIA operative Louise Moscow is in Paris for Fashion Week, invited by her friend Milena the Hollywood designer. Louise has been living in Burgundy, raising lavender and Pinot grapes, but has also been writing best selling spy thrillers under a nom de plume. At the first of five literary-themed fashion shows, a photographer is murdered and louise is drawn in to the investigation. There is no shortage of suspects: a party planner, an actor boyfriend, a fireman, a magician...new possibilities just keep cropping up. To add to the confusion, Louise's own father was a sleeper Russian agent who duped everyone for fifty years, including Louise and her mother. His connection to the murder is where things get absurdly complicated. All the Fashion Week detail is absorbing, as is the spycraft. Definitely a fun read.

[David Kempf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fashion industry has much more to hide than charging shamelessly for the world's most expensive Nano Bag. With this intriguing murder mystery Louise Moscow resembles Sherlock Holmes more than James Bond in a thriller that takes a new form from the first three novels. There is also a great twist ending and a repeating reference to one of the most famous French authors of all time. So you are invited to an exclusive Paris fashion show, but remember to come dressed to kill.

[Patrick Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's good about Walking the Cat, the fourth book in Lorraine Evanoff’s Louise Moscow series?

So many things. I'll only mention a few:

The author’s general erudition and use of language is refreshing. It’s great to read a crime novel that IS NOT written at a tenth-grade reading level. For example, Ms. Evanoff slips in the word “ablution” and the word “ouroboros” perfectly and in context.

The French literary references (also used smoothly and within the context of the story) were music to this reader’s ears.

Through the eyes of her protagonist, the inimitable retired spook Louise Moscow, the author skillfully guides us through the world of international haute couture, even as Louise sets out to solve a most intriguing murder mystery.

I highly recommend this book. Five (5) Stars!

[David Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Louise Moscow slashed through the packing tape, opened the box, and took out a copy of her latest novel, Vernal Sun, the third book of the Bridgette Bridge Spy Thriller Series, by Burton Font. It was already projected to be another bestseller based on pre-orders.”

She’s back! The return of Louise Moscow, the hero of an international banking thriller (Foliage), a mystery in the vineyards of France (Pinot Noir), and a thrilling chase through the streets of Siena, Italy (The Devil’s Ledger). And now a bestselling author under the name of Burton Font.

in Walking the Cat. Lorraine Evanoff has brought Louise away from her writing and out of semi-retirement and into the pursuit of a murderer, right at the height of Fashion Week in Paris.
As with her other novels, Lorraine combines a superior knowledge of her topic, the world of high fashion, with the excitement of the chase. And, in this case, the mystery comes closer to home than Louise could have ever expected.

As a Louise Moscow fan, I am excited that this book ties together some plot lines from her previous three adventures. But any fan of mystery will enjoy Walking the Cat. Highly recommended!

[Mike Waller · Rating 5 out of 5]

International spies and murder, high fashion, and just a touch of ‘Phantom Of The Opera’.
In this adventure, our heroine, Louise Moscow, is involved in a murder mystery set against the glamorous world of Paris’s International Fashion Week.
Moscow has left her career as an international spy in the world of high finance and has become a successful author writing under a pen name. But trouble seems to follow her regardless. The public release of her true identity and an all-access pass to Paris Fashion Week sets her again on a deep dive into the depths of crime and intrigue.
The thing I like most about Evanoff’s work is that she writes what she knows. I admit to knowing nothing about fashion, and, as has been the case with her previous novels, this one has given me an insight into a new world I have never before entered, one which the writer clearly knows well.
This is by far Evanoff’s best work to date.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Walking the Cat" has two meanings in this suspenseful novel. One is the phrase used by models to refer to the walk down the runway to show off the latest fashions. The other refers to a special black cat who could be walked on a leash. In this book, Louise Moscow is visiting Paris with a friend during Fashion Week. Her friend is an organizer for the week's events and thus Louise gets front row seats for the Bif five designer shows.
The book gives an insider view of the fashion world and when a photographer is murdered, Louise gets in on the spy action.

[Lorraine T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read, a kind of "dark Emily in Paris" because in addition to all the fashion and glamour and description of the beautiful Paris city sights, there's a murder mystery thrown in. Great fun and you'll love it if you like Paris (and champagne - the characters drink it on nearly every page 😁).

[Barbara Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad to have walked the cat!

This was the first Louise Moscow spy novel I’ve read. I wasn’t thrilled with Paris my last visit there years ago, but this book makes me want to go back. Really interesting; intriguing & informative. Looking forward to reading others in the series!

[Stanley Wotring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, crisp writing with incredibly fast moving readable prose. Kind of a surprise twist at the end.

[Susan Mahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Wow, this story has more twists and turns than a cat with nine lives. Lots of international intrigue, old friends and more.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and informative book.

[Cheryl Speir-phillips]

Walking the cat is a fun read

Join the main people with so many twists and turns. And fashion and plays and intrigue. Read it to have a fresh adventure.