Pru Marlow took a shepherd mix she was training as a service dog on a walk in the deep woods near where she lived. When Pru followed up on Spot’s unusual behavior, she came across the body of a woman who had apparently been mauled by a wild animal.

As soon as she could get somewhere her cell phone would work, she called her boyfriend, Detective James Creighton, but his touchy behavior at the crime scene caused her to leave shortly after he arrived.

He didn’t want her involved in the investigation, but Pru went home to spend time considering the clues she and Spot had already seen at the crime site. Except that, the more Pru looked at the clues the more it looked like the body had been moved.

Joining in the investigation were Spot and Pru’s tabby, Wallis, who had their own opinions as to what happened.

When another woman disappeared, a heightened nervousness that there could be a wild cat on the loose kept most people on high alert, and kept Pru busy searching for clues hoping to prevent further murders. In the meantime, her personal life with the handsome detective has hit the skids when another type of cougar decides to sharpen her claws and go after her prey.

Panthers Play for Keeps is the fourth novel in the Pru Marlowe Pet Noir series written by Clea Simon. She is also the author of the Theda Krakow Series and the Dulcie Schwartz Series, and has also published three non-fiction books including The Feline Mystique: On the Mysterious Connection between Women and Cats.

The author jumps right into the thick of things when her heroine finds a body deep in the woods and keeps the main story at the forefront as other issues and concerns of the heroine threaten to take her off track.

I wouldn’t say this novel is fast-paced, but it certainly moves steadily forward. There are a number of quirky characters who add to the suspense. The main character often finds her in a spot because of her desire to find out the truth and her willingness to go where others would not.

Readers should be willing to suspend belief regarding this unique style of writing and allow the author to take them on an interesting and chilling ride. While many of us would not believe animals can talk to people and to each other, who are we to say they don’t.

Readers who relax and let the story unfold as is will find a satisfying finish and a desire to read more stories in this unique series.

A special thank you goes to Poisoned Pen Press for providing us with a complimentary copy of Panthers Play for Keeps. You can find this book as well as other novels by the author at Amazon.com..