Mystery Women Authors

Karen Kijewski

Biography

Karen Kijewski lives and works in Sacramento. Before becoming a bartender and an award-winning crime writer, she taught English at Brookline High School in Massachusetts.

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Photo Charr Crail

Books

Kat Colorado Mysteries

Stray Kat Waltz

Private eye Kat Colorado has always taken pride in being hard-boiled as they come. Suddenly, after the unsolved murder of a cop hits close to home, she's pretty vulnerable. Struggling to survive a mind-numbing personal loss, Kat resists taking on a new client: the battered wife of another cop, who's sure he's out to kill her. But Sara Bernard won't let her off the hook, and reluctantly Kat goes back to work. It's not long before things get ugly. Kat is nearly killed by a stranger trying to scare her off the Bernard case. Then Sara herself survives a murder attempt that ends a friend's life. Next, she commences a series of mystifying disappearing acts,
apparently on the run from her husband. Everybody who knows Sacramento cop Jed Bernard claims he's the greatest guy in town, a real straight-shooter. It's clear that somebody's not on the level--but who? Before she solves the puzzle, Kat goes undercover at a stylish rehab clinic--where getting better is the furthest thing from anyone's mind. Wry and affecting, pulsating with suspense and tantalizing mystery, Karen Kijewski's Stray Kat Waltz is superb work from one of detective fiction's stellar
talents. (From Amazon.com)

Published Putnam June 1998

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Katwalk

She's a hard-boiled Sacramento P.I. with a soft spot for the unlucky, the unloved, and one special cop named Hank. Her name is Kat Colorado and in her line of business curiosity can be more than an occupational hazard -- it can be murder. This book introduces Kat Colorado.

Won the Shamus and Anthony Awards and the American Best First Private Eye Novel for the Year Award.

Published as Reissue 1997 Avon Publications

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Katapult

When Kat's cousin Johnny is stabbed to death, Kat takes it personally. She stalks the murderer through a dangerous world of shady real estate shenanigans and teenage runaways, uncovering sordid family secrets almost certain to get an overly inquisitive Kat skinned. "Good characters, strong family ties, good fun." (From Amazon.com)

Avon Publication date: August 1997

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Kat's Cradle

She said her name was Paige Morrell and she came to Kat Colorado hoping to untangle the twisted mystery of her past. She was a twenty-one-year-old "orphan," a poor little rich girl on the verge of inheriting a wealthy old river estate -- and some very nasty surprises. But when Kat set out to solve the case, she found herself following a thread of lies, greed and deceit that led straight to the corpse of a key source to Paige's past. Now the Sacramento private eye was about to learn that in the California Delta some family secrets were better left buried . . .because uncovering them could be murder. (From the Publisher)

Published Dec 1992 Crime Line

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Copy Kat

It's hard to tell where the truth ends and the lies begin when Kat is hired to look into the death of a young woman in a historic California gold-country resort town. The police have closed the books on Deirdre Durkin's murder; it was a tragic robbery-homicide. But could a clever murderer have created the illusion of a parking-lot theft gone bad? Was Deirdre's loving husband as perfect as he seemed?

The more Kat finds out about the victim, the less she's convinced that Deirdre was the woman she appeared to be. But then Kat, in her undercover role as a bartender, isn't the person she pretends to be, either. And as Kat discovers, in this little town, even life and death are an illusion. (From the Publisher)

Published Bantam Books Dec 1993

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Wild Kat

When Kat Colorado agrees to search for the source of threats aimed at a whistle-blowing employee for a medical parts manufacturer, the private eye discovers that her new client is more than just an accountant on a righteous crusade. And someone is ready to commit murder to protect the company's dirty secrets. (From Amazon.com)

Published Bantam Books 1995

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Alley Kat Blues

Kat Colorado knows the dangers of letting a case get too big a piece of your soul. But some cases don't give you a choice, like the death of twenty-two-year-old Courtney Dillard. Kat found her battered body on a dark Sacramento freeway, an apparent hit-and-run victim. Courtney's mother is convinced her death was no accident, and hires Kat to find the truth. As sweet and good-hearted as she was, Courtney had no shortage of enemies, Kat learns.And they make no secret of their belief in blood vengeance.

Kat's also looking for the truth about her relationship with Hank, who's wrestling with his own soul-eating case. A serial killer is stalking the Vegas Strip, and Hank's investigation is taking him over the line. His obsession could cost him both Kat and his career--while Kat's could cost her her life. (From the Publisher)

Published May 1996, Bantam Books

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Honky Tonk Kat

Kijewski's formidable female P.I. Kat Colorado comes to the aid of a childhood friend in her latest and best thriller to date--set against the backdrop of Nashville's country music scene. When country music superstar Dakota Jones begins receiving threatening letters and dead roses on her bed, she fears it's not the work of a run-of-the-mill kook. As the pranks escalate into full-fledged violence, she calls on Kat for help. (From Amazon.com)

Published in Berkley Publishing Group 1997

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Kat Scratch Fever

When prominent Sacramento attorney James Randolph suddenly commits suicide while under surveillance by P.I. Kat Colorado, she is stunned by the shocking images that confront her. Moved by the man in death in a way she could never have been while he was alive, Kat dedicates herself to unraveling Randolph's past to find the key to his suicide. (From Amazon.com)

Published June 1997 Putnam Publishing Group

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Web Site Address

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Other Sites for Karen Kijewski

http://www.mca.com/putnam/authors/karen_kijewski/author.html

http://www.universalstudios.com/putnam/authors/karen_kijewski/txt_author.html

Page created by Leone Moffat

Last updated 03-Mar-2002