Mallory Heart's Cozies: THE NINTH LIFE by Clea Simon

Review: THE NINTH LIFE by Clea Simon

First in a new series by prolific author Clea Simon, THE NINTH LIFE is a departure from cozies and a venture into the territory of urban noir, an unusual kind: noir with compassion and hope. First in the Blackie and Care Cat Mysteries, THE NINTH LIFE is first-person narrative, from the viewpoint and through the voice of Blackie, an older, near-drowned cat. He is named by his rescuer, a street child named Care, herself both unique and an enigma. Together they form an odd partnership, constantly in danger but constantly caring.

The Ninth Life: A new cat mystery series
(A Blackie and Care Cat Mystery)
Mystery
Severn House Publishers (March 1, 2016)
Hardcover: 224 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0727885715

Synopsis
Introducing Blackie, an unusual feline hero, and his companion Care in the first of this dark new mystery series.
Three figures, shadowy against the light. That’s all I remember from my past life, as I am dragged, dripping and half-drowned, from the flood. My saviour, a strange, pink-haired girl, is little help. She can barely care for herself, let alone the boy she loves. And although she has sworn to avenge the murder of her mentor, she must first escape the clutches of drug dealers, murderers and thieves. I would repay her kindness if I could. But we are alone in this blighted city – and I am a cat.
The past is an enigma to Blackie, the voice of Clea Simon’s dark new mystery. Combining elements of feline fantasy and cozy whodunit, The Ninth Life introduces this unusual hero and his companion, Care: two small creatures in a nightmarish urban landscape, fighting for their lives, and for the lives and memories of those they love.

Advance praise for The Ninth Life:

Forget everything you think you know about ‘cat mysteries.’ The Ninth Life is a dark and gritty story of life on the streets, told from the unique point of view of a narrator who sees things humans can’t. Clea Simon has given us a window into a world of constant and surprising dangers, frustrations and almost unbearable tension, and it’s one I won’t soon forget.
–Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of The Fixer and Suspicion

A tour de force of point of view – the talented Clea Simon flawlessly portrays a main character the likes of which we’ve never encountered! With skill and style and profound understanding, she entertains readers with an exciting, compelling, and utterly unique adventure.
–Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark Award winning author

The Ninth Life is a tour through a criminal wilderness of alleys and gutters, guided by a hunter as canny and fierce as they come. While Care is a smart, tough, and vulnerable young protagonist, narrator Blackie steals the limelight, showing us these dark places through his sharp feline eyes. A good noir tale will reveal a shadowy existence that parallels our own; Clea Simon goes many steps beyond, creating a terrific story that draws us in and makes us relate to a narrator whose life is a world away from our own.
–Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Award winner Dana Cameron

About The Author

Clea Simon is the author of 19 cozies in the Theda Krakow, Dulcie Schwartz, and Pru Marlowe pet noir series. The latter two are ongoing and include her most recent books, Code Grey (Severn House) and When Bunnies Go Bad (Poisoned Pen Press). The Ninth Life, the first book in her Blackie & Care mysteries, a darker series, will be published by Severn House on March 1. A former journalist and nonfiction author, she lives in Somerville, Mass., with her husband, the writer Jon Garelick, and their cat Musetta. She can be reached at http://www.cleasimon.com