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A Big Mike Mystery #1
Desert Cat
Mystery bookstore owner Penelope Warren and her intrepid feline co-sleuth, Mycroft are on the case, after the discovery of a baby Seismosaurus Rex fossil in Empty Creek, Arizona, leads to the murder of a young scientist.
- GenresMysteryCozyCozy Mystery
304 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1994
75 people want to read
About the author
Garrison Allen
7 books12 followersaka 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 5, 2020
2020 bk 122: This was fun in the early 1990's. The flaws, a male author writing a female character - he almost gets it, but there were obvious signs that it was a guy writing the book. He does however, write a most excellent cat. The mystery was good with many quirky characters and enough plot devices that it continues to hold my attention - almost 30 years after reading it the first time.
December 26, 2014
re-read 11/25/2012
Looking desperately for a hard-back (smaller than usual) version (probably ex-library)...
Well, apparently the first of the excellent "Big Mike" books, Desert Cat, is out of print. Imagine my surprise!
I 'discovered' Garrison Allen while visiting my grandmother in Australia. His style is hilarious. I know it sounds strange for me to laugh myself silly while reading a murder mystery, but I do.
Desert Cat was actually the fourth one I read and by the time I got it from the Clark County (Nevada) Library I was already hooked, but it's always fun to read the whole series and the first one tells the reader more about the recurring characters than the latter ones do.
Desert Cat involves the lady who believes she runs the town, but is actually quite disliked in the community, being found dead. Penelope and 'Big Mike' get involved when a posthumous message gets delivered to her bookstore, "Mycroft & Company."
Looking desperately for a hard-back (smaller than usual) version (probably ex-library)...
Well, apparently the first of the excellent "Big Mike" books, Desert Cat, is out of print. Imagine my surprise!
I 'discovered' Garrison Allen while visiting my grandmother in Australia. His style is hilarious. I know it sounds strange for me to laugh myself silly while reading a murder mystery, but I do.
Desert Cat was actually the fourth one I read and by the time I got it from the Clark County (Nevada) Library I was already hooked, but it's always fun to read the whole series and the first one tells the reader more about the recurring characters than the latter ones do.
Desert Cat involves the lady who believes she runs the town, but is actually quite disliked in the community, being found dead. Penelope and 'Big Mike' get involved when a posthumous message gets delivered to her bookstore, "Mycroft & Company."
February 17, 2019
The goodreads summary for this book has nothing to do with the title or cover.
Though the ride was a little bumpy after reading a whole series of books by the talented Dana Stabenow, I very much enjoyed this little romp.
Though the ride was a little bumpy after reading a whole series of books by the talented Dana Stabenow, I very much enjoyed this little romp.
October 22, 2018
I liked this book not for the cozy murder mystery but for the quirky characters that inhabit this story and the small town of Empty Creek, Arizona. The mystery was kind of ho-hum; but the people, including several animals, made me laugh out loud at times.
Penelope Warren lives in a small community located in the desert town of Empty Creek. She owns a bookstore named Mycroft and Company after her Abyssinian alley cat named Mycroft, A.K.A. Big Mike, Mike, or Mikey, from Abyssinia. As a kitten he, literally, fell into Penelope's lap while she was living in the African bush. He loves lima beans, Jimmy Buffett songs, riding on horseback, uses the collected works of William Shakespeare as a scratching post, has a Yorkshire Terrier for a best friend, has a girlfriend named Murphy Brown, has his own bar stool at the Double B Saloon and Steakhouse, has been banned from the Duck Pond restaurant for a memorable encounter with a duck there, and is loved and known by almost everyone in town.
The plot begins when Penelope and Mycroft return home from work on Valentine's Day and find Louise Fletcher, A.K.A. "The First Lady of Empty Creek", on the front porch with a huge chopping knife protruding from her back and a penny glued to the handle of the knife. Later, more pennies are found glued to Penelope's front door. Louise was not well liked around town as she was a meddlesome gadfly with a scathing tongue and imperious manner. Thus, plenty of suspects! The main suspect was the former mistress of Herbert Fletcher, Louise's lecherous husband, named Freda Alsberg. Then she is also found murdered with a knife plunged in her back and a penny attached to the handle. Will Penelope be next? The chief of Police, John "Dutch" Fowler, is more than happy to show Penelope what evidence he has collected and lets her assist in the investigation. There's nothing like a small town and familiarity.
Some of the quirky characters include:
- Harris Anderson III, A.K.A. Andy is the editor of the Empty Creek News Journal and Penelope's boyfriend. He is tall, gangly, and awkward, and blushes a lot.
- Elaine Henders, A.K.A. Laney is Penelope's best friend. She is the author of a popular and highly erotic series of romance novels set in old Arizona. When she enters a room she kind of overpowers everyone else in it. She and her live-in boyfriend, Wally, like to do research for her books like playing cowboy and beautiful Indian maiden. She throws him out of the house frequently, and also owns Alexander, Mycroft's best friend. He also loves horseback riding too.
- Kathy Allen is a perky college student and Penelope's assistant at the bookstore. She practices archaic English so she can move up from serving wench to a more genteel role at the annual Elizabethan Faire. She calls Penelope "My Lady".
-Cassandra Warren, A.K.A. Storm Williams is Penelope's sister. She is an actress in B movies and plays characters like a motorcycle moll leading an intrepid band of Harley-riding women on a crusade to clean up a town. She arrives in a limousine for a visit and enchants the Chief of Police with her "assets".
- Alyce Smith A.K.A. Madame Astoria is the resident astrologer and psychic. She is attractive, vivacious, and personable, and her predictions actually come true. She is finally accused of the murders, but Penelope knows they have the wrong woman/man.
-Lawrence Burke and Willie Stoner A.K.A. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are homicide detectives who irk Penelope to no end except at the end of the book.
There are many more memorable characters too numerous to mention here. I like that Mycroft isn't a human in a cat's body. He's just an ordinary cat (almost) who expresses his likes and dislikes through scratches and meows. The only reason he finds the main clue the killer is looking for is that he likes to chase mockingbirds up a saguaro cactus. A humorous read.
Penelope Warren lives in a small community located in the desert town of Empty Creek. She owns a bookstore named Mycroft and Company after her Abyssinian alley cat named Mycroft, A.K.A. Big Mike, Mike, or Mikey, from Abyssinia. As a kitten he, literally, fell into Penelope's lap while she was living in the African bush. He loves lima beans, Jimmy Buffett songs, riding on horseback, uses the collected works of William Shakespeare as a scratching post, has a Yorkshire Terrier for a best friend, has a girlfriend named Murphy Brown, has his own bar stool at the Double B Saloon and Steakhouse, has been banned from the Duck Pond restaurant for a memorable encounter with a duck there, and is loved and known by almost everyone in town.
The plot begins when Penelope and Mycroft return home from work on Valentine's Day and find Louise Fletcher, A.K.A. "The First Lady of Empty Creek", on the front porch with a huge chopping knife protruding from her back and a penny glued to the handle of the knife. Later, more pennies are found glued to Penelope's front door. Louise was not well liked around town as she was a meddlesome gadfly with a scathing tongue and imperious manner. Thus, plenty of suspects! The main suspect was the former mistress of Herbert Fletcher, Louise's lecherous husband, named Freda Alsberg. Then she is also found murdered with a knife plunged in her back and a penny attached to the handle. Will Penelope be next? The chief of Police, John "Dutch" Fowler, is more than happy to show Penelope what evidence he has collected and lets her assist in the investigation. There's nothing like a small town and familiarity.
Some of the quirky characters include:
- Harris Anderson III, A.K.A. Andy is the editor of the Empty Creek News Journal and Penelope's boyfriend. He is tall, gangly, and awkward, and blushes a lot.
- Elaine Henders, A.K.A. Laney is Penelope's best friend. She is the author of a popular and highly erotic series of romance novels set in old Arizona. When she enters a room she kind of overpowers everyone else in it. She and her live-in boyfriend, Wally, like to do research for her books like playing cowboy and beautiful Indian maiden. She throws him out of the house frequently, and also owns Alexander, Mycroft's best friend. He also loves horseback riding too.
- Kathy Allen is a perky college student and Penelope's assistant at the bookstore. She practices archaic English so she can move up from serving wench to a more genteel role at the annual Elizabethan Faire. She calls Penelope "My Lady".
-Cassandra Warren, A.K.A. Storm Williams is Penelope's sister. She is an actress in B movies and plays characters like a motorcycle moll leading an intrepid band of Harley-riding women on a crusade to clean up a town. She arrives in a limousine for a visit and enchants the Chief of Police with her "assets".
- Alyce Smith A.K.A. Madame Astoria is the resident astrologer and psychic. She is attractive, vivacious, and personable, and her predictions actually come true. She is finally accused of the murders, but Penelope knows they have the wrong woman/man.
-Lawrence Burke and Willie Stoner A.K.A. Tweedledee and Tweedledum are homicide detectives who irk Penelope to no end except at the end of the book.
There are many more memorable characters too numerous to mention here. I like that Mycroft isn't a human in a cat's body. He's just an ordinary cat (almost) who expresses his likes and dislikes through scratches and meows. The only reason he finds the main clue the killer is looking for is that he likes to chase mockingbirds up a saguaro cactus. A humorous read.
September 5, 2021
Ordinarily mysteries don't appeal to me, but fascinated as I am by deserts, the title Desert Cat sufficed to induce me to pull it out of a Little Free Library down the street.
The plot revolves around Penelope and her fat cat Mycroft--the "Big Mike" of the series--who own the bookstore in Empty Creek, Arizona; Penelope's sister Cassandra, movie star, whose cinema name is Storm (the irony was, naturally unintended in 1994); her boyfriend Andy, also owner and chief correspondent of the local newspaper; and a bevy of other characters of greater or lesser importance.
The mystery's sparked when Penelope comes home from work one day and finds Louise Fletcher, richest person in town, dead on her doorstep, a carving knife stuck in her back with a Lincoln penny glued to it.
I won't reveal any more of the plot. But silence is hardly necessary because the culprit is obvious within a few pages of the murder. Improbabilities mount. If Louise thought she was in danger, which in fact was the case, as we learn toward the end, why didn't she go to the cops? If she thought only Penelope could be trusted, why didn't she just tell her what was going on rather than leave a bunch of incomprehensible clues? Why would the local cops approve of Penelope's private sleuthing into a murder and tell her everything they'd uncovered? Why didn't it occur to anyone to check the killer's alibi, which in fact turns out easily refuted? Especially given that he is the only character--aside from another who also turns up murdered--with a genuine motive?
Every female character in Desert Cat is a sexpot. Coy narratives of bedroom fun punctuate every chapter. I have no objection to sex per se, and it's nice to see assertive women characters, but the sex has nothing at all to do with the plot and the presentation bears the distinct aroma of a male author's fantasies. It gets rather tedious after a while.
The series title carries a typical threat: "A Big Mike Mystery #1." The Little Free Library bears it out; there's a Hollywood Cat volume lying in wait.
As for the desert, it's barely there. A few mentions of silence and solitude, a saguaro cactus, the empty creek itself, but the setting plays no role in the tale, except for one incident that takes place on a nearby mountain. The cat, however, is everywhere.
The plot revolves around Penelope and her fat cat Mycroft--the "Big Mike" of the series--who own the bookstore in Empty Creek, Arizona; Penelope's sister Cassandra, movie star, whose cinema name is Storm (the irony was, naturally unintended in 1994); her boyfriend Andy, also owner and chief correspondent of the local newspaper; and a bevy of other characters of greater or lesser importance.
The mystery's sparked when Penelope comes home from work one day and finds Louise Fletcher, richest person in town, dead on her doorstep, a carving knife stuck in her back with a Lincoln penny glued to it.
I won't reveal any more of the plot. But silence is hardly necessary because the culprit is obvious within a few pages of the murder. Improbabilities mount. If Louise thought she was in danger, which in fact was the case, as we learn toward the end, why didn't she go to the cops? If she thought only Penelope could be trusted, why didn't she just tell her what was going on rather than leave a bunch of incomprehensible clues? Why would the local cops approve of Penelope's private sleuthing into a murder and tell her everything they'd uncovered? Why didn't it occur to anyone to check the killer's alibi, which in fact turns out easily refuted? Especially given that he is the only character--aside from another who also turns up murdered--with a genuine motive?
Every female character in Desert Cat is a sexpot. Coy narratives of bedroom fun punctuate every chapter. I have no objection to sex per se, and it's nice to see assertive women characters, but the sex has nothing at all to do with the plot and the presentation bears the distinct aroma of a male author's fantasies. It gets rather tedious after a while.
The series title carries a typical threat: "A Big Mike Mystery #1." The Little Free Library bears it out; there's a Hollywood Cat volume lying in wait.
As for the desert, it's barely there. A few mentions of silence and solitude, a saguaro cactus, the empty creek itself, but the setting plays no role in the tale, except for one incident that takes place on a nearby mountain. The cat, however, is everywhere.
September 16, 2019
I was given several of the Big Mike Mysteries years ago. Somehow, I missed one when I read the others. A good cozy mystery, nothing fantastic but I love the little town of Empty Creek and its inhabitants.
April 25, 2020
The first "Big Mike" mystery - I've probably read this a half-dozen times, and the quirky characters still make me smile. The location is very nostalgic for me, as I grew up near where Empty Creek would be and sometimes really miss the desert.
March 31, 2011
finally the first Big Mike
September 10, 2018
On to the next one, maybe the stories will "fill out" as the series progresses.
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November 28, 2016a sassy female lead character with a wonderful sarcastic humor
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews