Cat in a Leopard Spot — Carole Nelson Douglas

Murder shows its teeth and claws for Midnight Louie readers when the jet-black feline sleuth who thinks he's Sam Spade returns to delight his legions of fans. This time, not only does Louie have to bail out his favorite investigative partner, public relations woman Temple Barr, but he has to save a fellow feline from a charge of Murder One. When a big-game hunter is found dead with only a leopard for company, all of Louie's and Temple's allies and enemies converge on the case. And the fun really begins when the unofficial investigators learn that the leopard is Osiris, a performing Big Cat who was kidnapped from his magician owner only days before the murder. Things get really wild when a cadre of ardent animal rights protesters secretly stakes out the premises, determined to stop the illegal killing at any price, even their own lives...Or someone else's.