The Lunatic Cafe is the fourth in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series of horror/mystery novels by Laurell K. Hamilton.

Plot summary

The Lunatic Cafe occurs shortly after the events of Circus of the Damned. (That novel ended on Halloween, and the events of The Lunatic Cafe take place before Christmas of that same year.)

Similar to the previous novels, The Lunatic Cafe opens with Anita interviewing a potential client. George Smitz tells Anita that his wife, Peggy, has disappeared. Anita explains that she is not trained as an investigator, and suggests that George contact the police, but he will not. Peggy is a werewolf, and George is afraid to contact the police because she owns and operates a butcher shop, and if her condition were made public, she would lose her customers. Anita ultimately refers George to Ronnie, who agrees to look into it.

That night, Anita meets Richard Zeeman for a date at a performance of Guys and Dolls. Anita is charmed that Richard likes musicals, but offput when she notices him watching theater patrons as if they were prey. Anita's discomfort with Richard's werewolf status increases when Jean-Claude arrives and reveals, during the course of a confrontation with Richard, that Richard is an alpha werewolf involved in a lengthy and possibly deadly battle for control of the local werewolf pack. Anita is upset that Richard has been concealing information from her, but ultimately leaves to answer a page from Dolph. As usual, Dolph wants Anita to inspect a crime scene, and Anita leaves.