Musings and Ramblings

Double Mint

Davis Way Crime Caper, #4

Gretchen Archer

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Henery Press
Date of Publication: July 21, 2015
Number of pages: 268
Cover Artist: Fayette Terlouw

It’s convention season at the Bellissimo Resort and Casino and Davis Way Cole barely notices. It’s hard to pay attention when you live in a Jambalaya Junkyard. But when Special Events Coordinator Holder Darby walks off the job just as five hundred Alabama bankers pour in the front door, Davis steps up.

Or would that be in? Definitely in. Davis steps in.

It.

Not only has the convention director vanished, but a certain Bellissimo guest is missing. One who forgot to pack the million dollars he left in the bathtub. It looks like our redhead newlywed Super Secret Spy’s lazy summer is over when the Bellissimo vault is robbed. Can Davis connect the dots before it’s too late? Can she get her Taser gun back from Bianca Sanders? Will she be stuck with Eddie Crawford’s 1962 Cadillac forever? What Davis needs is a little faith. And a lot of luck.

DOUBLE MINT.

New money. Old sins. Back to jail. And a cat.

(A cat?)

Break the Bank.

Excerpt: 

Cats don’t like cars.

And I never knew cats were so vocal. Or that they moved at the speed of light. I drive a black Volkswagen Bug, and the cat, when it wasn’t hanging upside down from the headliner by its claws, hurled itself face first at the passenger window, which could be why it’s face is so flat.

“The window is closed, cat. You can’t get out.”

I didn’t grow up with pets, cats or dogs, but I thought they loved riding in cars, sticking their heads out the window. The longest eight-mile drive of my life from Holder Darby’s to the Bellissimo, and never again.

Fantasy answered on the first ring. “Are you murdering someone?”

“I’m trying to get a cat in my spy bag.”

Dead silence.

“Fantasy, can you come in to work?”

“It’s my day off, Davis,” she said. “I’m catching up on my stories.”

“Just an hour. I promise.” Where’d that cat go? This isn’t a big car. “And would you stop by Cats R Us on the way in?”

“For what?”

“A cat care package. A cat starter kit. I don’t know. Ask the cat people what cats need and bring one of each. But no mice.”

Kneeling on the hot pavement, I lured the cat out from under the passenger seat with a red Gummy Bear I found in the floorboard. It finally slinked out, then launched itself through the air, landing on and latching into my head. I tried to peel it off—dancing, gushing blood, shrieking—which only encouraged the cat to sink its claws in deeper. After five minutes of going round and round with the cat on my head in the vendor parking lot, behind the Bellissimo, on a blazing hot Sunday, love bugs everywhere, I got a grip. I stopped fighting the cat and stood there, catching my breath. As soon as I calmed down, so did the cat. I reached up and patted it; I spoke in very soothing tones. “Good kitty. Get off my head, you psycho kitty.”

To reward it for letting go of my scalp I gave it the Gummy Bear, which immediately glued its front teeth together, quieting it down and keeping it busy.

Shopping list: Gummy Bears.

Hiding behind sunglasses the size of Frisbees, I entered the building. I had the hair of someone who’d been electrocuted, a few scratches, and a cat tucked under my arm. The cat whipped its absurdly large tail back and forth and slung its head around trying to lose the Gummy. We caught an elevator.

A lady asked, “Is your cat having a seizure?”

The cat, offended, convulsed—its rounded spine digging into my side, and spit at the woman, the red Gummy Bear dangling from one of its dagger teeth.

Good kitty.

I walked in my front door and dropped my Super Spy bag and the cat on the floor. The cat shot off for who knows where.

Bradley Cole said, “Oh, my God. Davis.”

Review: 

I have been waiting for this book to come out, so as soon as it hit Netgalley, I grabbed it. There was an announcement at the end of book 3, Double Strike that I need to follow up on. Bradley Cole, Davis' brand new husband had just become her boss at the casino. I just knew there was going to be some repercussions from this. Not so much for them as a couple, but now they are living in the casino, in the former manager's suite, while Bradley works 60+ hour weeks. A suite has some serious decorating and appliance issues.

The book actually starts several months down the road from the end of Double Strike. It's summer, which means weddings/convention season at the casino. Bianca is doing some extensive traveling/shopping internationally and No Hair is busy with the new casino being built in northern Mississippi. Mostly Davis and her posse have been lounging pool side, just doing the occasional job. That is, until the Hello Kitty Wedding from Hell Fiasco that causes the Events Coordinator to walk off the job. Davis has to step into the position and keep things running for the Alabama bankers convention and check up of the casino's vault. And so begins the chaos, conspiracy theories, plots, counterplots and hey look, more jail time.

I have to say, I laughed so hard during this book, I almost had an asthma attack. My nephew came in to tell me something, and I was laughing so much, he couldn't help but laugh with me. I tried to explain why I was laughing, but every time I would try and tell him why it was funny, I would break down into more giggles. Most of the gang was present, or at least mentioned. There is even the possibility of a new member for their crew. Once again the story ended on an unexpected announcement, that had me laughing and sighing and wondering just how soon the next book will be out.  This was totally another 5 star read. I just love this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Henery Press for the opportunity to read and review the book.

Giveaway: