As Dark as My Fur

Blackie and Care #2

by Clea Simon

A seemingly routine case becomes something far darker and deeper for novice private investigator, Care, and her feline companion, Blackie.

Blackie does not trust Care s new client, factory owner Mr Gravitz, who has hired the young PI to shadow one of his workers, a man he suspects is stealing from him. With his feline sixth sense, Blackie knows the client is not telling the truth but how can he protect and warn his companion, Care, when he is only a cat?

Combining elements of feline fantasy and traditional whodunit, As Dark As My Fur continues the adventures of this original and unusual detective duo: two small creatures in a nightmarish urban landscape, fighting for their lives and for the memories of those they love."

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Animals

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2017

About the author

Boston Globe-bestselling author Clea Simon is the author most recently of The Butterfly Trap, a sinister slow-build "he said/she said" that will definitely surprise you.

This follows Bad Boy Beat a fast-paced amateur sleuth mystery featuring a novice crime reporter with a nose for news who is convinced a series of street-level killings are connected.

In a different mood, Clea's most recent cozy is To Conjure a Killer, the fourth in her "Witch Cats of Cambridge" series.

She is also the author of the psychological suspense novels, Hold Me Down and World Enough, both named "Must Reads" by the Massachusetts Book Awards, as well as the dystopian Blackie and Care black cat series (The Ninth Life), the Dulcie Schwartz feline/academic mysteries (Shades of Grey), the Pru Marlowe pet noir mysteries (Dogs Don't Lie), and the Theda Krakow cats & crime & rock & roll mysteries (Mew is for Murder), as well as three nonfiction books: Mad House: Growing Up in the Shadow of Mentally Ill Siblings; Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads; and The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection Between Women and Cats.

The recipient of multiple honors, including the Cat Writers Associations Presidents Award, she lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with her husband, Jon Garelick, and their cat, Thisbe. Find her at Clea Simon.com

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is completely different from anything I have read before. I was held enthralled from the beginning. Set in a known city down by the waterfront in a decaying area. It is narrated by a cat, Blackie. All the moves and actions are correct. Jackie has faint memories of three men who tossed him into the raging water to die. He was rescued by a young girl, Care who nursed him back to health. He decides to help her. Care is on the from the foster system. Care earns her living as a PI and Blackie knows her latest client is up to something. He follows Clare to protect her. This is the second book in the series but I was able to understand it. I recommend this book.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from Severn House for an honest review. I would like to thank them for this opportunity to read and review the book.The opinions expressed are my own.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

An orphaned girl and a reincarnated cat team up to solve mysteries. As a cat lover, I rather enjoyed this story told from the watchful, perspective of the cat.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very noir series, set in some unnamed city that has obviously gone entirely to the dogs. The middle class seems to have disappeared entirely, leaving society, such as it is, in the hands of vastly wealthy corporate bosses, and everyone else destitute and scrabbling. It is not my usual fare; however, I find the story compelling. The protagonists are young Care, a barely pubescent girl with a will to succeed against all odds, and Blackie, a cat she rescued from being drowned by vicious men, and who is...something more that he appears.

I really didn't want to like this series. I really did not. I wanted to get through the first book, and set it all aside, but instead I find myself eagerly awaiting the third book! That kinda says it all, doesn't it?

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a lot of books per year. Every so often I crave something different. For me, this was that book. Yes, it's a crime fiction book but it's narrated by a cat! Well, sort of a cat, but shall we just say, physically a cat. It's not the first in the series and, although I usually don't like to jump in mid-series, there is enough explanation of the story so far included so that I managed to follow quite nicely.
I do have to admit that it did take me quite a while to get into the style of this book. As the narrator is for all intents and purposes a cat, everything is written from his perspective and that did take me a tad to get my head round right. That said, once I cracked that, I whizzed through the rest of the book.
Care is a young PI, inheriting her business and offices from her mentor. Well, she's about to get kicked out of her office, so she is desperately trying to find some paid work to get her through. Blackie however, with his catty-senses, is more discerning so, when Care meets her new client, he can smell that something isn't quite right and, being a cat without the power of speech, has to find other ways to communicate with her in order to protect her from the danger he senses.
One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was the cat bits. The grooming, the sleeping, the hunting. I have my own cat, and yes he is black and yes that's what drew me to the book in the first place, and I see that behaviour all the time and, in the context of the story, it was very well described.
As a story, I think it can be read on different levels. On face value for the mystery element of the story but, also if you choose to delve deeper, there are certain moral issues involved in the narrative.
Characterisation was also good. I found all the characters to be well described and therefore credible. I really felt for Care and her circumstances and her interactions with Blackie came across a real. You can really see the bond between the two of them.
The world in which the book is set was reminiscent of Dickensian times for me. The factories, the prisons, the poor people trying to eke out a living rather than go destitute. But in all this poverty and strife there's that glimmer of hope. There are still good people in the world and good things. It's not all dark and gloomy.
All in all, an interesting, different but satisfying read. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morality. This novel, narrated by a reincarnated man, a mentor, a former Private Investigator, currently a cat, named Blackie is about morality. Blackie's protégé is a young, almost or just turning, teenager named, in Blackie's mind, Care. Care saved Blackie as he was dying from where he had been thrown, half-drowned. Thus...Care. This tale is about morality, at least to me.

I truly do not know if this is a period of time of post-apocalypse in a city that manufactures and distributes garments, or if we are to just imagine the dark side has won and the world is not for the better, either way, you quickly realize that it is every soul for themselves. Even families have been spilt to provide a cheap workforce of the children and convicts.

Blackie, being Care's previous mentor, still has the 'mission' to watch over his young charge. Now, being restricted to a feline's abilities, he can offer no words of wisdom, but, he can try to guide Care through this hard life.

Care, needing companionship, adopts the cat she saved. Thus we have a teen trying to take care of herself and her pet, while searching for the young boy, Tick, who escaped from the intolerable
foster home with Care previously in the first novel "The Ninth Life." How do they survive...well, by running a private investigation firm as she had been mentored.

The customers are not of the best persons, but, some pay in food, or in small amounts. Care finds lost personal items, and then is sent to find a 'missing' person who works for a shady character that Blackie wants so badly to warn her about.

This is a novel of morality and how even when the world is as dark as you can imagine, or the author can, there is still a redeeming spirit alive. In a conclusion that has me panting still, I stopped and did some deep thinking.

This is a thoughtful study of the human condition. I do recommend reading the first novel as it gives you, the reader, the background and establishes the 'friendship' of Blackie and Care. This is a mystery novel...the mystery of humankind. I can't imagine how the Duo will continue in the future. Hopefully, the light will shine once more.

[Lghiggins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I looked forward to the novelty of a mystery narrated by a cat in As Dark as My Fur. I had read positive reviews and thought the cat’s perspective might add interest as well as a touch of humor. It didn’t contribute any amusement, but that was the author’s choice and is acceptable. The cat is, in fact, a man who has been murdered and reincarnated as a cat with only partial memories of his prior life.

The author, Clea Simon, has a remarkable command of the English language, excellent powers of description, and insightful views into the frustrations of being a cat. Unfortunately, she calls upon the latter strength over and over again at the expense of the plot. The average reader can easily grasp the difficulties of trying to communicate with a human from a cat’s body. The author belabors the point in every chapter. I easily put the book aside multiple times with no sense of loss. Finally, at the end of chapter thirty-one (88% through the book), the author inserted a hook that made me want to finish reading the book. Simultaneously, the plot pace picked up and I completed it. I was disappointed that the active mystery has resolution, but the main villain is not revealed.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Mollie Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An orphaned girl makes an unlikely detective in a harsh, dystopian city. Aided by a cat with a past, she seeks answers to a cruel case. Traps are set; gauntlets are run, There is danger everywhere. Narrated by Blackie, an ancient cat who had once been human, the story loops and spirals to the final conclusion and leaves us ready for the next book.

Simon is extremely cat-savvy to pull off this unconventional narration with such accuracy and feeling. Though Blackie, remembering the advantages of being human, sometimes resists his felinity, he is a cat through and through.

As both a writer and reader of cat mysteries, and I hesitate to call “As Dark as my Fur” a mystery in the conventional sense. Because the story is told by Blackie and all perceptions are his, there is a fluid quality of introversion that might disappoint a reader who expects the usual formula plot. “Dark” seems more a noir study of an extreme human condition, one that I hope we never see.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I appreciate the opportunity to get to know Blackie and Care in this inspired sequel to “The Ninth Life”.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great adventure. Again the story is told from the point of view of Blackie, the cat. It makes for a unique tale. I can't help but think a third adventure is on the way. Can't wait.

[Justme · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
While I still found it an interesting read, having the voice of only the cat was not an improvement, imo. If I had to guess how many times I read "I'm just a cat," or some version thereof, I would say every 2-3 pgs. Whole paragraphs of it, and the woes of not being able to communicate. But that's ridiculous. Animals are capable of nodding & shaking their heads, of pawing numbers, and many other things that Blackie could have done since it had much knowledge of his former human life (except, for some reason, the alphabet). I had a cat that had such a descriptive & varied meow, that I could tell just from that what the cat wanted!

The first book was better, a juxtaposition of the girl & the cat working through a mystery; it was their different perspectives that made it so special. I probably will only read the next if it presents both voices. Blackie's voice is interesting, but a cat's mentality of smells & critters for hundreds of pages is not that interesting.

The writing is good, the story is okay...I find everything a bit circular, stand outside this building, stand outside that building, talk, oh, go inside this building, go inside that building, talk...coupled with the naivete of Care, esp with people's motives. Most of it was obvious to me with a couple of chapters or less. Could probably even guess who the major villain is, with a list of the city's notables...something she should be able to deduct, to within a very short list.

This is a wonderful series idea & kudos to the author! I will continue to check up on what she is writing; she has the potential to become a 'must buy.'

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants:

It is a dark, cruel world that Clea Simon has created in this series. It is very noir so it is only appropriate that the hero of the series is a black cat named Blackie by the young heroine. He was her mentor when he was still in his human form but was transferred into the body of the old cat just as he was about to die. Care, the girl, saved him from drowning and the two have been partners since.
Care is trying her best to survive in this nasty world as best she can. She is smart and savvy and manages to have a big heart despite all the betrayal and cruelty around. It is her big heart that puts her time and again in danger's path. Blackie attempts to share the wisdom he earned.as a human and the heightened senses that he has acquired as a feline.
His greatest frustration is trying to communicate with his limited resources as a cat. He does an exemplary job, but then he is a cat now. If it was not for him, Care would be in worse trouble than she is.
This book continues the storyline as Care tries to save her young friend and find out what happened to her parents. It turns out that her father was a hero in his own right. He tried to reveal the dirty dealings beneath the dirty dealings. Care not only gets as far as her father but is able to use the information she has gleaned. However, as the book winds down, her newly found knowledge may put her even more in the cross hairs of the really BIG baddy.
It is a dark world so do not go there if that sort of stories depresses you. It is very compelling and as each book takes us farther, it is almost like being caught in a web but it is one from which I do not want to be released.
I give it five purrs and two paws up.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very unique story. It is told entirely from the perspective of a cat, Blackie. His patterns of speech are very formal and antiquated. He uses phrasing such as "I would that it were not so". Because the story is told entirely from the cat's perspective, and he is unable to communicate with his human companion, Care, I think the story is much more one-dimensional. The reader sees Care's actions through the eyes of Blackie, but any information about her motives and thoughts are derived solely from Blackie's assumptions and conjectures.

I liked this story, but I liked it more for its unique perspective than I liked it as a mystery. I feel like this book is missing a lot of what I typically expect from a mystery. Most of my favorite mysteries are told from varying perspectives, and what makes them so exciting is seeing the story coming together from all sides. I also found Blackie to be somewhat repetitive in his constant frustrations about not being able to communicate with Care - almost the same phrasing was used each time Blackie pondered this dilemma.

That being said, I did enjoy the story for its unique point of view. It is a credit to Ms. Simon that she is able to convey the entire story just from the perspective of Blackie. I think I would have enjoyed it more if the story had been told in alternating points of view, by Care and Blackie. However, I certainly recommend this story to any cat lovers - I have two cats, and was able to see a lot of their personalities in Blackie, and it was fun to read his thoughts and think of my own cats following the same trains of thought.

[Merry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably a good book, but not for me. Clever premise of a sentient cat companion for a detective in a grim post-apocalyptic world. I couldn't handle the darkness.

[Crittermom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding the lost, uncovering the hidden - Care has taken to her mentor’s profession with alacrity. But her youth and her gender make her vulnerable in the tumultuous urban landscape where predators reign. Blackie may remember little from his previous life, but he still has his instincts and his desire to guide and protect Care. As a cat, his ability to communicate is limited, as his is his ability to help. It is through his wise eyes and feline perspective that we see events. Care has been hired to find a missing worker for the owner of a sweatshop. The case is promising in appearance, but is in reality a sinister trap. Gravitch is seeking papers - papers with information that threatens him and the system that runs the city. Care is in great danger and Blackie is her only hope for survival.

As Dark as My Fur is part fantasy, part noir - an entirely unique blend much different from the pet cozies animal lovers are accustomed to. This series is amazing. I wanted to savor every page. I was almost disappointed at the end, because now I will have to wait another year until the next novel comes out. Clea Simon is an incredible author. Her animals mysteries stand head and shoulders above the rest.

5 / 5

I received a copy of As Dark as My Fur from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom