The Cat Sitter’s Cradle: A Dixie Hemingway Mystery

Near the start of Clement’s delightful eighth mystery featuring pet-sitter and former police officer Dixie Hemingway (after 2012’s The Cat Sitter’s Pajamas), Dixie and friend Joyce Metzger find a teenage Hispanic girl who has just given birth to a baby in a wooded area of a park in Siesta Key, Fla. Dixie and Joyce take the teenager, who speaks little English, and her baby to Joyce’s house, where Joyce settles mother and child in the spare room. After shopping for baby supplies, Dixie attends to the pets in her care, including Charlotte, a Siamese cat belonging to the wealthy Mr. and Mrs. Harwick. When Dixie later discovers that Charlotte is missing, her search leads to a dead body at the bottom of a swimming pool. John Clement, son of Blaize Clement (1932–2011), shows that he can create credible characters and cozy intrigue as well as his late mother. Agent: Al Zuckerman, Writers House. (July)