Mystery Scene Review

Probable Claws by Clea Simon
Poisoned Pen Press, April, 2009

When cats are poisoned at her friend's animal shelter, Theda Krakow volunteers to help find the poisoner. Theda quickly suspects a bag of poisoned food that came from the city animal shelter, run by Rachel, another of Theda's cat-loving friends. But poisoned pets take a backseat to murder when Theda finds Rachel dead at the shelter. Found holding the murder weapon, Theda is immediately arrested for the crime. Convinced the police are not looking for another suspect, she takes it upon herself to find the real killer.

Author Clea Simon does an excellent job creating believable characters in Probable Claws. Theda and the rest of the cast of characters could each be someone the reader already knows in everyday life, or might bump into tomorrow. But Simon spends too much time showing us Theda's world through her interior thoughts and perceptions. By the middle of the book I found myself skimming through the inner dialogues in order to get to the action. When the action finally does enter the story, about 100 pages in, Simon doesn't leave much room for thought. From the moment Theda find's Rachel's body, the pace of the story picks up significantly. Things get progressively worse as Theda attempts to get to the truth, pushing Theda and readers to a near-breaking point before the finale and a sweet sigh of relief.

- Dori Cocuz

This review appeared in the Spring 2009 issue (#109) of the magazine