The Collected Cases of Duchess, PI

by Laura Anne Gilman

The Alley is no place for the innocent, the unwary, or the just plain foolish. But if they didn’t exist, Duchess would be out of work. For a fee, she can solve your problem - or make it go away. When trouble’s on your tail, and you can’t go to the cops, Duchess is the cat you want in your corner.

However, not even the best PI can solve every case, and her connections - from an up-and-coming police dog to a would-be thief-in-training - get her into trouble as often as they get her out…

Including:

The Case of the Tom in Trouble
Spark to Tinder
The Case of the Feckless Ferrets
Scales of Justice
The Case of the Seaside Swindle

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2019

About the author

Laura Anne Gilman’s work has been hailed as “a true American myth” by NPR, and praised for her “deft plotting and first-class characters” by Publishers Weekly. She has won the Endeavor Award for THE COLD EYE, and been shortlisted for a Nebula, (another) Endeavor, and a Washington State Book Award. Her work includes the Devil’s West trilogy, the Cosa Nostradamus urban fantasy series, the Vineart trilogy, and the story collection WEST WINDS’ FOOL. Her upcoming move, UNCANNY TIMES, will be out from Saga Books in 2022.

She lives in Seattle with a cat, a dog, and many deadlines.

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five shorts about a feline private eye originally available to the author's Patreon supporters. I enjoyed them, though if you have a low tolerance for egregious typos, this is not the book for you. It appears to have been independently published (I can't find a publisher's name on my copy) and the lack of competent copy editing shows (e.g., "liter" for "litter", "droll" for "drool", and odd sentences that make no sense).

PS - I looked it up on Amazon. The publisher is Faery Cat Press.

[Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories from Gilman's Patreon account. Light hearted fun, Duchess, a cat, is an old school PI, told in a noirish tone. Other characters are more cats, dogs, ferrets .and horses and the occasional human. A handful of typos. Read her Devil's West series if you haven't already.

[LESLIE · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT FOR ANIMAL LOVERS!

[Sue Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Detective Noir. Really Fun

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful tales of a cat acting as a private investigator in a different reality. Great lead character, interesting cases.

[Normandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cat noir

Great fun, a series of gritty adventures featuring a hard-bitten cat gumshoe, her uneasy relationships with canine & equine cops, and life in the Alley.

[L.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and funny

This book was a collection of stories and all of them were entertaining. The premise seemed like it was for a younger generation, but Duchess has a sharp tongue and a street smarts that's adult for sure. If you enjoy sassy felines then this is a book for you!

[Elizabeth Nalagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Fun!

I haven’t enjoyed an animal protagonist this well since “The Book of Night with Moon.” I got lost a couple of times figuring out who the narrator was, but it was worth it.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute and lovely book. Could have used another round of edits, but the writing style was engaging and fun, so I didn't mind enough to drop a star.
Duchess is a delightful character and I hope to see more stories featuring her in the future.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful chat noir

This was a great read. The stories are engaging, fun, sly, and a great homage to noir detective fiction. The last one got a little tangled, but that’s what cats will do to a good yarn.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun in a good cause, but a whole lot of the sort of typos that spellcheck just doesn't catch, like as many instances of "They Alley" as "The Alley" and 's where 'd would make more sense.

[Larisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky anthromorphic romp. Just read it.