Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter

Dixie Hemingway Mysteries, Book 1

By: Blaize Clement

Narrated by: Julia Gibson

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Dixie Hemingway is a pet sitter for some of Florida's most pampered pets. But when she happens upon a man drowned in a cat's water bowl, Dixie's sleuthing powers from her time as a deputy sheriff return full-force. And as more bodies keep turning up, she'd better find out whodunit.

©2006 Blaize Clement (P)2007 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Dixie is a complex, well-conceived character and the plot fast-moving and believable." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Great story

The story is great however sound quality is terrible! It really ruined the book for me. I really do not think anyone listen to this before releasing it.

Did Not Finish

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

My wife and I got to the 7th Track of Disk 1 and stopped. We even restated at Track 7 the next night but realized we had enough. The writer makes it quite clear that she does not write for an audience that have any type of conservative pro-American view points.

What could Blaize Clement have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I think she should not have showed her animosity to American Workers at such a time when there are so few "good" paying jobs. Apparently, she never had to really work in the Real World!

Disappointing

I had high hopes for a mystery featuring a feline. But there are so many things to object to in Clement’s story and Gibson’s narration it’s hard to know where to start.

1) What could have been a playful, suspense became an agendized rant, where the vehemence and hate this author seems to harbor revealed the whodunnit way before the end.

2) The protagonist’s self-absorption became so smug and self-serving, she was used as a mere device for the story’s agenda and anger. Maybe Clement had some deeply hurtful experience which needed airing. But I hope she gets help instead of venting through fiction. Even though I agree with some of her outrage, it was just way too preachy and sanctimonious in this story. And that is the irony, since being sanctimonious was her main problem with the people she was writing about.

3) Not sure if the author or the narrator don’t understand how to use the verbs sit and sat, but consistently these words were both substituted with set. “The cat set on the counter,” or “I set down.” I found this extremely annoying, and it appeared multiple times.

In any case, I plowed through to the end just to be fair. But my conclusion: save your money and don’t waste your time.

Horrible book

Only finished this because I've returned a couple other books this month and was completely determined to get through this one. I should definitely have given up. Narrator was the only good part, but even she couldn't do much to redeem this.

Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter

The author kept weaving in a political agenda that was neither seemless nor essential to the narrative. It was awkward and distracting. I finally gave up on this one.

Why the snide remarks about people

Would you try another book from Blaize Clement and/or Julia Gibson?

No way.

Has Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes since I suppose it's the in thing to sneer at people with differing political opinions.

Would you be willing to try another one of Julia Gibson’s performances?

I think she is probably fine, but if this is the sort of stuff she reads, I don't think I want to listen.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I'm too turned off to hunt for any.

Any additional comments?

Maybe I should stick to older mysteries.

Only ok if you have no opinions yourself!

This book was ok, for a first in a series. I must admit, I agree with the previous poster who remarked that he felt “preached at”. I did too! The author comments, remarks, rants, and rather berates anyone that doesn’t agree with her opinions on many topics (from hand-washing to conservative talk-show hosts, to the American treatment of gays). This was a bit over-the-top!

However, the lecturing aside, the plot and mystery was rather a good one. I suspected the culprit, but didn’t know for sure. I didn’t find myself liking the main character. She held too much rage and was way too opinionated for me to be able to identify with her. Jumping and physically beating someone just for saying something she didn’t agree with.. just isn’t someone I’d care to know.

The narrator was good. I never had a problem distinguishing the speaker of the moment.

No, I wouldn’t recommend this book to any of my friends. Nor will I be buying another in the series. I just don’t care to pay to be bullied.