Title:	Death Steals the Spotlight
	Author:	T. C. LoTempio
	Published:	June 27, 2023, Beyond the Page Publishing
	No. of Pages:	200
	Cover Price:	$14.99 Paperback, $4.99 Kindle

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Death Steals the Spotlight is the third installment of the popular Urban Tails Pet Shop Mysteries by bestselling author T. C. LoTempio, and finds protagonist Shell McMillan (former actress and pet shop owner) in the charming small town of Fox Hollow involved in the murder investigation of a famous director who has come to direct a play as a favor to Shell’s mother who is a famous stage actress. The director is not well liked, and is known for being difficult to work with as well as being a womanizer; several of the actresses have come from hollywood to be in the play have had affairs with him and have good reasons to want him dead. Josh, who is a detective and Shell’s boyfriend, is excited that his cousin has come to act in the play, but she becomes the main suspect, and Shell, who fancies herself an amateur sleuth, feels she must find the real murderer.

One of the charming things about LoTempio’s novels is that her characters always own cats, and the antics of her cats not only move the stories along, but also make them more fun to read. Shell and the supporting characters are well-developed and believable – most are also likeable. Of course there are new characters in each novel, and readers won’t be sure just which of them are good and bad. LoTempio is a good storyteller, and the story moves quickly with plenty of ups and downs and building suspense.

All told, this is a fun series and cat lovers will especially enjoy this short, light, easy-to-read novel.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.