Pru Marlowe Books

Pru Marlowe isn't your ordinary animal psychic. A tough girl on the run from her own gift, Pru left the big city to return to her picturesque Berkshires hometown looking for a little peace. Too bad that her training as an animal behaviorist got her mixed up with Lily, a rescue dog, and Charles, her person. Now Charles is dead, and Lily looks good for it. After all, Lily is a pitbull, a fighting-ring dropout, and way too traumatized to give Pru a clear picture of what she has witnessed. But Pru knows something about bad girls trying to clean up, and, with a sense of justice strong enough to overcome her dislike of human society, she takes the case. Listening to the animals, Pru picks up clues―and learns there are secrets in the pretty little town that make murder look simple. Unable to tell anybody about her psychic abilities, uncertain at times about her own sanity, Pru comes to realize that if she clears Lily, she'll likely become the prime suspect―or the next victim. While the only creature she can totally trust is her crotchety tabby Wallis, Pru's got to uncover the real killer―and find a way to live with her gift―before the real beasts in the town savage her and those she has come to love. The first in the Pru Marlowe "pet noir" series.

When Pru Marlowe gets the call that there's been a cat shooting, she's furious. Animal brutality is the one thing that this tough animal psychic won't stand for, and she's determined to care for the traumatized pet. But when Pru finds out that the cat did the shooting―accidentally setting off a rare dueling pistol―she realizes something else is going on. Could the white Persian really have killed her owner? Or did the whole bloody mess have something to do with that pricey collectible? With the white cat turning a deaf ear to her questions, Pru must tune in to Beauville's other pampered residents―from the dead man's elite social set to their equally spoiled pets―and learn the truth before her ex, a former New York cop, gets too close. In a world where value is determined by a price tag, only Pru and her trusty tabby Wallis can figure out if this was a case of feline felony...or if some human has set the Persian up to be the ultimate cat's paw.

Parrots will repeat anything. They don't talk sense. Or do they? When Pru Marlowe is called in to retrain a foul-mouthed African gray after its owner's death, the bad-girl animal psychic can't help hearing the bird's words as a replay of a murder scene. But the doctor on call scoffs at the idea, and the heirs just want their late mother's pet to quit cursing. With the only other possible witnesses being an evasive aide, the blind neighbor, and a single-minded service dog, Pru is stuck with what may be a feather-brained theory. Even her crotchety tabby Wallis doesn't buy it, although she's more than willing to "interrogate" the big bird, as Pru deals with drugs, jealousy, and a potential rabies outbreak....

"[F]ans of animal mysteries will find plenty to keep them entertained here." ― Booklist When Pru Marlowe takes a dog for a walk, she doesn't expect to find a body. But Spot, a service dog in training, has too good a nose not to lead her to the mangled body of a young woman. Despite her own best instincts, Pru can't avoid getting involved. The young woman seems to have been mauled by a wild cat―and Pru knows there have been no pumas in the Berkshire woods for years. Wallis, Pru's curmudgeonly tabby, seems fixated on the idea of a killer cat, but Spot suggests that the violent death was something more than a tragic animal attack. As motives multiply, a cougar of a different sort sets her eyes on Pru's sometime lover, and another woman disappears. With panther panic growing, Pru may have to put aside her own issues―and her own ideas of domesticity―to solve a savage mystery.

The dead don't keep pets. So when animal behavior expert Pru Marlowe gets a call about a kitten, she doesn't expect to find the cuddly creature playing beside the cooling body of prominent local lawyer David Canaday. Heart attack? His three adult daughters angrily blame drug interactions, feline allergies―and each other. And they begin to feud over their father, his considerable estate, and that cute ball of fluff. While the cause of death is pending, each sister has an ax to grind―and the arguments escalate when Canaday's will is read.Pru's special sensitivity to animals, which caused her to flee the cacophony of Manhattan for the quiet Berkshires, adds further problems. The local vet is overwhelmed as the animal hospital's money runs out. There's a needy Sheltie and some invasive squirrels, too. But the dead man's kitten, his former partner, and his troublesome family keep drawing "wild-girl" animal psychic Pru back in.Despite the wry observations of her trusty tabby Wallis, now acting as guardian for the wrongfully accused kitten, and the grudging compliance of her cop boyfriend, this may be one time when Pru can't solve the mystery or save the kitten that she wants to believe is innocent. A single witness knows the truth about that bright spring morning, but how far can Pru investigate without risking her own hidden tale?

Winter is hard in Beauville, where the melting snow can reveal much more than last season's dead leaves. So when a wealthy, obnoxious tourist and his ski bunny girlfriend surface in Pru Marlowe's little Berkshire town, she knows she should stay out of their way. The bad-girl animal psychic has to focus on more immediate concerns, including a wild rabbit named Henry, supposedly tamed and illegally living with an eighty-four-year-old lady in her home. Henry, who seems to be acting out and hiding, avoids responding to Pru. Yet when Pru discovers the tourist murdered and his girlfriend's high-maintenance spaniel falls to her care, she gets dragged into a complicated case of crime and punishment that involves some new friends, an old nemesis, and her own shadowed past. A recent museum art heist draws the feds into the investigation along with a courtly gentleman radiating menace, who represents secretive business interests in New York and shows a surprising awareness of Pru. Her on-again, off-again romance with police Detective Creighton doesn't stop him from warning her to steer clear of the inquiry. The spaniel, however, lures her in. Pru lives in a world where only her crotchety tabby Wallis knows the whole truth about her past, her flight from Manhattan, and her unique gift that surfaced abruptly one day. Fearing the worst, Pru now comes dangerously close to being exposed. With everything in motion, Pru, Wallis, and everyone they hold dear will be lucky to escape...by a hare.

There's trouble brewing in the woods of Beauville, and the only witness isn't talking. When Pru Marlowe is called to a forest clearing to help with an illegally trapped bear, she finds a colleague passed out drunk, his pet ferret locked in his truck. When one of her old running buddies turns up dead as well and then the town's pampered pets begin to disappear, Pru can't tell if her heavy-drinking colleague is involved―or how much the ferret, a wise little creature called Frank, knows. Frank's not communicating―even to her―and for once the bad-girl animal psychic is at a loss. The offer of a job―and maybe something more―from a hunky warden only complicates Pru's life as she goes on her rounds between her small Berkshires hometown and the woods that lie beyond. And although her crotchety tabby, Wallis, would have her make some changes in what has become a familiar routine, Pru knows her special skills set her apart as the only one who can shed light on these crimes―and save the animals at risk. But as the mysteries pile up, Pru is forced to admit that even a city-hardened animal communicator can't understand everything that's going on, and that a small town may be as dangerous as the darkest woods when a predator is on the prowl. Pru Marlowe Pet Noir: Dogs Don't Lie (Book 1) Cats Can't Shoot (Book 2) Parrots Prove Deadly (Book 3) Panthers Play for Keeps (Book 4) Kittens Can Kill (Book 5) When Bunnies Go Bad (Book 6) Fear on Four Paws (Book 7) Praise for Pru Marlowe Pet Noir: "Watch this series closely. It could well sprint to the top of the animal-cozy genre." ― Booklist STARRED review for Dogs Don't Lie "Clever, original and completely captivating!" ―Hank Phillippi Ryan, award-winning author for Parrots Prove Deadly "Clea Simon does an excellent job of mixing humor, romance, and mystery into one coherent and exciting tale." ― San Francisco Review of Books for When Bunnies Go Bad