Susan Conant - Scratch the Surface

Table of Contents

MYSTERY LOVERS KNOW A CHAMPION WHEN THEY SEE ONE.

Carolyn G. Hart

Praise for Susan Conants
Dog Lovers Mysteries

Hilarious. Los Angeles Times

A real tail-wagger. The Washington Post

A fascinating murder mystery and a very, very funny book... written with a fairness that even Dorothy Sayers or Agatha Christie would admire. Mobile Register

The dog lovers answer to Lilian Jackson Brauns The Cat Who series. Rocky Mountain News

Tastier than liver treats. [ Bride and Groom ] undoubtedly will teach readers something new about their canine companions.

Booklist

Extremely funny. Midwest Book Review

Sheer bliss awaits the dedicated dog lover. Kirkus Reviews

An absolutely first-rate mystery... and a fascinating look at the world of dogs... I loved it!Diane Mott Davidson

Dog lovers will lap this up. Publishers Weekly

For lovers of dogs, people, and all-around good storytelling.

Mystery News

Dog Lovers Mysteries by Susan Conant

A NEW LEASH ON DEATH
DEAD AND DOGGONE
A BITE OF DEATH
PAWS BEFORE DYING
GONE TO THE DOGS
BLOODLINES
RUFFLY SPEAKING
BLACK RIBBON
STUD RITES
ANIMAL APPETITE
THE BARKER STREET REGULARS
EVIL BREEDING
CREATURE DISCOMFORTS
THE WICKED FLEA
THE DOGFATHER
BRIDE AND GROOM

Cat Lovers Mysteries by Susan Conant

SCRATCH THE SURFACE

Gourmet Girl Mysteries
by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant

STEAMED

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

SCRATCH THE SURFACE

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

Copyright 2005 by Susan Conant.

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form
without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in
violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

eISBN : 978-1-436-28770-8

BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
The name BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the BERKLEY PRIME CRIME design
are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

To Carter, in loving memory of Clementine,
who gave us seventeen years of feline perfection.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My profuse thanks to Dru Milligan and Jolie Stratton, Ajolie Chartreux, who introduced me to the Chartreux cat; and to GRP Janvier Pandora Spocks of Ajolie (K.C.) and Ajolies Shadow Dancer (Shadow Celeste), known herein as Edith and Brigitte. For support and advice, I am grateful to Jessica Park, who is my beloved daughter, my dear friend, and, as Jessica Conant-Park, my sometime coauthor. Jean Berman, Annette Champion, Laury Huessler, Renee Knilans, Phyllis Stein, Pat Sullivan, Margherita Walker, and Corinne Zipps generously helped with the manuscript and the proofs.

For answering technical questions, my thanks to Tina Paar, Jamie Wiley, and Bonnie Walker. Special thanks to my agent, Deborah Schneider, and my editor, Natalee Rosenstein, for trusting a dog writer with cats.

ONE

According to the newsletter of Newbright Books, Felicity Pride would visit the store on Monday, November 3, from six to seven to read from her latest mystery, Felines in Felony . In promoting the event, the stores proprietor, Ronald Gershwin, had described his friend Felicity in her own words: The prizewinning author of the bestselling Prissy LaChatte series of cat lovers mysteries, Felicity Pride is a member of Mystery Writers of America, the National Writers Union, and Sisters in Crime. She serves on the board of the New England Chapter of Witness for the Publication. One of our favorite local authors, Felicity lives near Boston.

As Ronald knew, Felicity had last won an award at her high school graduation thirty-five years earlier. She still had the prize, a Latin medal embossed with the words Labor omnia vincit . From time to time, when Felicity came upon the medal in the top drawer of her bureau, she wondered about the truth of the motto. Was it really work that conquered all? And not love? On balance, the medal, however, brought consistent pleasure, proving as it did that she truly had won an award. As to Felicitys characterization of her Prissy LaChatte books as bestselling, it was true that each addition to the series made the top-ten list at Newbright Books. Whats more, all the books in the series ranked high on the sites of the major online booksellers in the sub-subcategory of mysteries about cats. Felicity often reminded herself that bestselling didnt necessarily mean the New York Times .

So, at ten minutes after seven on the evening of Monday, November 3, Felicity Pride had finished reading selected passages about Prissy LaChatte and her feline companions, Morris and Tabitha, to a smaller group than shed have liked. These local events never gave her the crowds she drew at out-of-state bookstores and at conferences for mystery fans, but she could hardly have refused to do a reading and signing for Ronald, who, for all his oddity, was as close as she came to having a best friend. She had sold some books, and it was pleasant enough to sit in the cozy armchair at the back of the store and autograph Felines in Felony for the buyers who had lingered after the reading. Felines was, after all, a hardcover, which is to say that for every copy sold, her publishers royalty department would credit her with a decent percentage of the books satisfyingly high retail price. With that happy prospect in mind, Felicity glanced down at the title page of the book shed just autographed. In bold marker, Felicity had drawn a line through the printed version of her name. Her horrified gaze, however, revealed that instead of merely replacing the cold, impersonal letters with her florid signature, she had written three mortifying words beneath it.