From Library Journal When a Manhattan homeless shelter's generous annual anonymous donation fails to arrive， board member Jack contacts popular series sleuth/actress/cat-sitter Alice Nestleton for help. Two behind-the-scenes manipulators steer her in different directions?one away from the truth， the other toward it?so she jumps to several embarrassing conclusions before connecting the donor's murder with the suicide of another board member. Several cats and Alice's lover， Tony， inspire Alice and amuse readers. No padding here?just smooth prose and a clever plot.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Out-of-work， cat-loving， part-time sleuth， hardly-any-time actress Alice Nestleton is on the prowl again. Her excuse this time is a call from Jack Bigow， the driving force behind the Rep， a highly respected theatrical company. Jack is also on the board of Sustenance House， a shelter and soup kitchen for the homeless. The biggest support for the charity， for the last 12 years， has been a pre-Christmas donation of $81，000， in the form of postal and bank money orders， sent anonymously. This year， with Christmas only days away， it hasn't arrived， and Jack wants Alice， in her sleuthing mode， to track down the donor. She agrees to attend a Sustenance House board meeting that very night， and， along with the members， is witness to the suicide of travel writer and board member Will Holland. It's all catnip to Alice， who promptly enlists the aid of off-on lover Tony Basillio and old friend bistro-owner Nora. Alice figures out the donor's name and tracks him to his run-down apartment building， only to find that he had been killed four months ago--the culprit still unapprehended. There are connections to Will Holland; to Will's collaborator Austin Walters; to a couple of so-called grief therapists， and eventually， even connections with Sustenance House. Alice ferrets them out in her usual in-your- face style， using disguises， and unlawful entries where needed. Fun for a bit， until common sense intrudes， but cat lovers will no doubt exult in the 15th of this series (A Cat Under the Mistletoe， 1996， etc.)， adorned， as usual， with charming sketches of the species. -- Copyright ©1997， Kirkus Associates， LP. All rights reserved. See all Editorial Reviews