And that's all Temple as in mind for the week - other than attending a Romance Writer's convention at the Crystal Pheonix with landlady Electra Lark. Things are a wee bit tense back at the Circle Ritz - and so the convention is a form of escape.
And all Louie has in mind is a bit of dalliance with his lady love - the Divine Yvette, a tiny silver shaded Persian with blue green eyes who has captivated is heart. Yvette will be there for the whole convention, because her mistress - airhead actress Savannah Ashleigh - is in town to give out the last night awards.
And the most popular awards category? Not the romance novels themselves, but something more action-packed - the Incredible Hunk contest, with competitors including the popular favorite, Fabrizio, and an old friend from Pussyfoot, Cheyenne.
But all too soon, death rears its head. Cheyenne makes an entrance even more dramatic than he planned to, when he enters the stage on a beautiful horse, sporting a small loincloth, a pouch of glittery crystals in a pouch around his neck and not much else - except an arrow protruding from his back.
The thing to keep in mind in this book is that all that glitters is not necessarily Austrian crystals. There is a lot of glitter in this gathering of the romance industry - and some dross as well. And so most thoughts of leisure depart, and Midnight Louie and Temple are at it again. (Not that Temple gives up her shoe quest, nor will Louie forego his reunions with Yvette - but they are still hot on the trail of Cheyenne's murderer.)
To complicate life a bit more, Temple's mystery man, Max Kinsella is back in town - and he and Temple's other romantic interest, Matt Devine, face each other warily. Temple has even seen the two of them haunting the Crystal Pheonix - together but not looking especially friendly.
Temple manages to pick up the odd clue by interviewing cast and crew and even while shoe-hunting - but gets the major key to things while taking part in a "pose down" - an onstage tableau like those seen on the typical bodice-ripper style of romance. And Louie - well, Louie will always be where Yvette may be - and that's usually backstage. Unnoticed - the advantage of being short and black - he's in a position to hear and see what escapes most two legged detectives, and excellent at communicating his finds to both Temple and the authorities.
Will Matt and Max reach some sort of truce? Will Louie ever get a chance to woo his Divine Yvette? Will Temple find her shoes? And did Louie, taking a cue from his old friend Archie the typing cockroach - paw out the romantic satire that is singled out at the awards banquet? Electra did see some strange files on Temple's computer that Temple claims no knowledge of. Or did it take so long for someone to claim it - anyone - because the airheaded Ashleigh so badly bungled the announcement.?
We needn't ask if she and Louie will find the murderer - only read avidly to discover how they arrive at their answers.
It is great fun reading this series beginning with the first Midnight Louie mystery, "Catnap" right through the alphabet. Otherwise fans may not realize that the action in this book begins only a day or so after Temple and Louie wrapped up the exciting "Cat in a Crimson Haze" mystery. The Midnight Louie series is actually a mega-novel, with each book constituting a very large, multi-part chapter. While each book stands on its own merit, one gets a greater appreciation for things - the developing relationships between Louie and Temple, Temple and Matt, and now Temple and Max and Max and Matt, for one; the chance to remember and enjoy the many minor characters who appear and reappear from book to book - as well as a better sense of just how fast things happen when Midnight Louie showed up and led Temple Barr into a life of crime-solving.