From Publishers Weekly Dieting can be murder， as Adamson (A Cat on Jingle Bell Rock， 1997) deftly demonstrates. When Mary Singer begs sometime actress， professional cat-sitter and amateur sleuth Alice Nestleton to board her cat， Alice agrees; the $2500 she's offered for four days of cat care is too good to pass up. But cat-sitting takes a backseat to murder when Mary's Bentley pulls up and her chauffeur calmly shoots her and drives away， leaving Alice with only a large， toy cat with button eyes and wheels for feet. Alice is skeptical when the dead woman's neighbor， Sam Tully， a retired crime fiction writer， suggests that Mary really wanted to hire Alice for her sleuthing skills， but when too many names from her own past seem connected with the dead woman she teams up with Tully. The two gumshoes follow the trail through a steamy New York summer to a shady diet doctor Mary once consulted， to long-forgotten actors and a director from Alice's days in drama school， to a butcher store where Mary transacted large amounts of business， and to a very hostile carpenter. The denouement may be a tad bizarre， but this feisty little mystery has pace and character enough to roll right over such small bumps. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information， Inc. From School Library Journal YA-Alice， part-time actress， amateur sleuth， and professional cat sitter， has a wealthy new client， Mary. However， Alice gets two significant surprises: Mary is murdered as she turns over Dante， who turns out to be a stuffed cat， to Alice for safekeeping. With the help of Sam， Mary's derelict friend， Alice pieces together each clue to figure out who killed the woman and why. An easy-to-follow plot is presented with humor and lots of dialogue. Alice's dry wit and spirited personality should please teens searching for a quick read.Claudia Moore， W. T. Woodson High School， Fairfax， VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews