Readers keen on fashion (or France) will enjoy the detailed imagery and insider’s look at the glamorous models, gowns, and players of the industry at the center of Lorraine Evanoff’s murder mystery, WALKING THE CAT: An International Fashion Spy Thriller. Taking place in Paris during a week-long event in the fashion world, this novel’s narrative structure and plot might disappoint those who are mystery fans first and foremost.

Early in the story, the story notes the historically symbiotic connections between fashion and espionage, hinting that spies will be at its heart. And indeed, they are—including past close connections with its protagonist, Louise Moscow. She is now the author of bestselling mysteries written under a pen name, living a life as famed and powerful as that of her friend in the fashion industry—who invites her to be a celebrity model in Fashion Week.

This event, described in sumptuous detail, features a series of shows that each highlight a designer, venue, and famous work. It opens, for example, with a “Phantom of the Opera”-themed evening at the Paris Opera House highlighting Chanel. This clever juxtaposition allows for plentiful details about French design, architecture, plays, operas, writers, modeling, Paris settings, and fashion trends. Describing Louise’s first appearance, for example, Evanoff writes, “Other fashionable guests eyed her as she approached the famous Grand Staircase, coined the Catwalk during the Edwardian era, where gossip flowed like Veuve Clicquot. The wide marble steps flanked by opulent gilt arches and statues led up to a landing then split in two directions, creating nooks.”

Unfortunately, details extend into long sidebars about Paris’s rich histories and mysteries, shoehorned into the action like tourist brochures and slowing the pace—including in the middle of an exciting climactic scene. Furthermore, the messy story and plotline get confusing—introducing characters very late into the story (almost to the final page) and bringing in too many elements and settings (as, for example, when not one but two sets of underground waters play into the plot). Stitched into the investigation are Louise’s struggles with past demons, requiring exposition from earlier books—which also muddies and drags down the pace.

Evanoff’s sure and deep knowledge of Paris and fashion, nonetheless, will entertain readers whose interests align more on imagery and history than on tightly crafted mystery. This novel is one in a series of Louise Moscow mysteries, and because loose ends in earlier titles come into play here, readers should read the books in order.

Strong descriptive imagery of the fashion world and the rich history of Paris make for a readable murder-mystery in Lorraine Evanoff’s WALKING THE CAT.

~Anne Welsbacher for IndieReader