CATS CLAW by Alex Matthews The suspenseful and heart-wrenching fifth Cassidy McCabe mystery finds the likable Chicago therapist and her reporter husband, Zach, going their separate ways with their own cases--and nearly breaking up as a result. Twice one night a worried Cassidy checks up on her reclusive, cat-loving neighbor, Olivia Mallory. The first time a nervous Olivia gives her the brush-off. Cassidy later returns to discover a drunken ex-convict in the living room and Olivia in the basement, shot to death. The police arrest the ex-con, who was Olivia's prison pen pal. Convinced the man is innocent, Cassidy decides she must find the real murderer. When she locates Olivia's private papers, she realizes just how many people her spiteful neighbor had threatened and injured. Undaunted, she jumps in to question the woman's attorney, an illegal alien gardener, a cat-hating neighbor, Olivia's estranged daughter and loony aunt and a larcenous employer. Meanwhile, Zach, adopting the persona of JC, a hard-nosed, unlovable addict, has gone undercover to flush out two cops who are major players in the Chicago drug trade. Zach's inability to shake his persona at home and off duty threatens their marriage. Husband and wife must come to terms with their own frailties before Cassidy can bring her investigation to a triumphant close.

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