A Day in the Life with Ernesto by Clea Simon

Mar 2, 2015 | A Day In My Life

Kittens Can KillThere it is! Would you mind? Just kick it over here – yes, thank you!

I know it’s simply a button, one of those round-topped ones with a big, braided dome. But that’s what makes it special. That’s what makes it roll in such an intriguing semi-circle, as if it were trying to sneak up on me, the great hunter. For I am, you know. They may call me a kitten, but I am more than that. I am Ernesto the Fierce. There! Got it! Look at it go!

What? Why am I playing with a button? Knocking it back and forth on the floor here in my new house? Well, kick it back to me, one more time, and I’ll try to explain.

Oh! Watch it! If it goes under the sofa, I won’t be able to . . . wait, what’s that? Is that a drop of blood? A spot someone missed on the floor? Why, yes, my new person – the lawyer who lives here – did hit his head when he fell. But they took him away hours ago. He was very still.

That lady Pru has come back to visit me since then. She seems to hear what I am thinking, which is more than I could say for that old lawyer, although he did give me that button, tearing it off as he fell. More than I can say for the various people who came to see him earlier today, too. I know at least one of them visited before he started coughing. Before he grabbed at his chest and fell. Before he was still. Since then, things have gotten weird. I can tell from the way they talk that they think I had something to do with what happened. That I made the old guy cough and choke, made him fall down.

Pru looks at them funny when they say that. I don’t think she believes that I made him fall, that I made him lie so still. She wants to know what happened, during those hours when he and I were alone. I’m not sure what to tell her. After all, I may be Ernesto the Fierce, but I’m also just a kitten. And I have a button to hunt. If you’ll just pass it back to me one more time . . . there!

Ernesto is the title feline of Clea Simon’s Kittens Can Kill, the fifth book in the Pru Marlowe pet noir, out this month from Poisoned Pen Press. The other books in the series are Dogs Don’t Lie, Cats Can’t Shoot, Parrots Prove Deadly and Panthers Play for Keeps.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 p.m. eastern on March 9 for the chance to win a signed copy of Kittens Can Kill. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected. Make sure to check your SPAM folder.

About the author
Clea Simon is the author of 17 mysteries in the Theda Krakow(4), Dulcie Schwartz (8), and Pru Marlowe pet noir (5) series, as well as three nonfiction books. A former journalist and nonfiction author, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband, the writer Jon Garelick, and their cat Musetta. You can read more about Kittens Can Kill and Simon’s other work at www.cleasimon.com and is on Twitter.

48 Comments

  1. sallycootie
    sallycootie on March 2, 2015 at 1:15 am

    A cat with attitude – I love it! Sounds like a good read.

  2. Barbara Hawk
    Barbara Hawk on March 2, 2015 at 2:33 am

    Very interesting! I would love to read this. Thanks for the chance!

  3. Jen
    Jen on March 2, 2015 at 2:46 am

    Kittens Can Kill sounds delightful. I will have to check out the other books in this series. Thank you for the giveaway.
    myrifraf(at)gmail(dot)com

  4. Linda
    Linda on March 2, 2015 at 5:23 am

    This sounds like a great book. Please enter me in the giveaway. Thanks!

  5. Gram
    Gram on March 2, 2015 at 5:56 am

    Time to play catch-up with this series.

  6. Beverly Guy
    Beverly Guy on March 2, 2015 at 7:05 am

    Oh how adorable is that pretty white kitten on the cover!!!! So precious. The title is intriguing. This sounds like a really super awesome book to read! Looking forward to reading it! Thanks so much!

  7. Sheila K.
    Sheila K. on March 2, 2015 at 7:09 am

    I love Clea Simon’s work—thanks for the chance to win a copy of this book!

  8. Lisa Cobb Sabatini
    Lisa Cobb Sabatini on March 2, 2015 at 7:16 am

    Very unique concept. This series sounds delightful!

  9. Dawn Frazier
    Dawn Frazier on March 2, 2015 at 7:57 am

    Thus sounds great!

    • Dawn Frazier
      Dawn Frazier on March 2, 2015 at 7:58 am

      This sounds great!

  10. ladyjanel
    ladyjanel on March 2, 2015 at 8:02 am

    Awe poor little kitty getting the blame. Love the chance to read the series. Plus a chance to enjoy the cuteness of the cover. 😛 Thank you for a chance.

  11. carolee888
    carolee888 on March 2, 2015 at 8:38 am

    A cozy through a kitty’s eyes! Thank you for this chance to win it!

  12. Lisa Brown
    Lisa Brown on March 2, 2015 at 8:49 am

    sounds so fun, thanks for the chance to win

  13. rochf
    rochf on March 2, 2015 at 10:20 am

    Always love a killer kitten!

  14. marylouh
    marylouh on March 2, 2015 at 10:24 am

    Bad kitty. Would love to read it.

  15. Robin Coxon
    Robin Coxon on March 2, 2015 at 10:46 am

    Little kitty would do no harm. How could anyone accuse the puss of it. I’ve put this on my to be read list down the road and would love to win a copy. Thanks for the opportunity.

  16. Libby Dodd
    Libby Dodd on March 2, 2015 at 11:56 am

    I hope someone knows to take proper care of such a clever kitten.

  17. Wendy Lee
    Wendy Lee on March 2, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    Would love to win this one! Another series I want to get back to!!!

  18. jagjhd
    jagjhd on March 2, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    I have a couple Simon books. I would recommend them. The settings are great and the writing style works in multiple series.

  19. anne
    anne on March 2, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    Delightful and special. Thanks.

  20. MaryAnn Forbes
    MaryAnn Forbes on March 2, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    Thanks for the opportunity to win Kittens Can Kill. Good luck readers.

  21. MaryAnn Forbes
    MaryAnn Forbes on March 2, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    Thanks for the opportunity to win Kittens Can Kill. Good luck to all readers.

  22. Becky Prazak
    Becky Prazak on March 2, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    Sounds like a great book

  24. kayekillgore
    kayekillgore on March 2, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    I love the cover.

  25. Anita Miles
    Anita Miles on March 2, 2015 at 7:12 pm

    Can’t wait to read

  26. Betty Escobar
    Betty Escobar on March 2, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    sounds like a fun read, gl2all

  27. nikkilagrange1
    nikkilagrange1 on March 2, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    This sounds like a great read, plus I love cats! 🙂

  28. Betty W
    Betty W on March 2, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    I love this title! Sounds like a great book! Thank you for the review and contest!

  29. Nancy Roessner
    Nancy Roessner on March 3, 2015 at 8:40 am

    Most everyone loves a kitten!

  30. Yifat C.
    Yifat C. on March 4, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    Sounds interesting!

  31. Jen Frederick
    Jen Frederick on March 5, 2015 at 8:27 am

    I am not familiar with this author, but this looks like a fun read. Thanks for the opportunity.

  32. Clea Simon
    Clea Simon on March 5, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Thanks, everyone, for your interest! You can read more about Ernesto (and Pru and Wallis) at my home site at http://www.cleasimon.com
    Good luck to you all!

  33. Cynthia E. Blain
    Cynthia E. Blain on March 5, 2015 at 7:40 pm

    Sorry to say, Clea is a new author to me, but since I love cozy mysteries and I also live in MA, I will be very happy to get this book and read and review it. Would be very interested to know where in MA (we are in Uxbridge now that we retired as our daughter and family are in Northbridge and we love being near them. This series sounds great and although I would be happy to win a copy, I definitely will get one if I am not lucky enough to become the recipient. 🙂 Thank you.

    Cynthia B.

  34. Marilyn Watson
    Marilyn Watson on March 6, 2015 at 2:32 am

    I have heard good things about this Book I’d love to win it.
    Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

  35. Dru
    Dru on March 6, 2015 at 8:42 am

    I’ve read this one and it’s enjoyable.

  36. Mari Krampach
    Mari Krampach on March 6, 2015 at 11:55 am

    Cats are so inquisitive, determined, and intelligent, so a great mystery involving a cat or kitten is irresistible!

  37. cyn209
    cyn209 on March 7, 2015 at 6:35 am

    How come this is the first time I’m learning of this series???
    I have some serious catch-up to do!!
    Thank you for the giveaway!!

  38. MaryAnn Forbes
    MaryAnn Forbes on March 7, 2015 at 1:23 pm

    Would love to win Kittens Can Kill. Thank you.

  40. nikkilagrange1
    nikkilagrange1 on March 7, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    I haven’t read any in this series but sure do want to. I love animal mysteries!

  41. Judy Weaver
    Judy Weaver on March 7, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    Love cats/kittens and stories about them!

  42. cjreynolds52
    cjreynolds52 on March 7, 2015 at 2:19 pm

    My cats are so funny they slay me every day….

  43. MaryBeth McKetchnie
    MaryBeth McKetchnie on March 7, 2015 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway. “Kittens Can Kill” looks like a book I’d really enjoy!!

  44. Valorie Fausz
    Valorie Fausz on March 7, 2015 at 11:22 pm

    This sounds like a fun read that I would truly enjoy.

  45. Melissa Basnight
    Melissa Basnight on March 8, 2015 at 2:22 pm

    Cute cover

  46. Sharon Baker
    Sharon Baker on March 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    I love a good book about cats. Hope to read this one. Thanks for the opportunity.

  47. Dru
    Dru on March 9, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    contest is closed.