This is the author's 22nd novel featuring Chief Superindendent Jury of Scotland Yard. A long history to be sure, and surely if you're reading this you've read the previous 21 installments. Here, crime-reading Grimes fans will come across talking animals - mainly the book's feline lead character - expensive shoes (the relative merits of Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo, not to mention the comfort factor of sandals, fuzzy slippers and elevated heels), and the usual sampling of plot twists: kidnapping, murders, revenge and ultimately justice.
Agatha Christie has laid her stamp on this, though
Grimes aims for a more whimsical tone. The four-legged creatures here all possess insight and wit. Mungo, a dog, questions, "Are all humans so self-entranced they just don't see what's going on around them?"
The animals figure out who is killing young women working for the London escort services
- or rather, Jury works it out with the help of his four-legged friends.
Grimes is a master of the craft, and while her book may not give you as many goose bumps and cause as much awe as Poe's short story of the same name, if you've followed Grimes's career these past 21 novels, you'll need to add this one to the list.