Product Description

While sifting through closets of junk in the mansion they have rented, Qwilleran and his feline companions, Koko and Yum Yum, uncover a mystery involving the suicide of the former owner and the murder of a potato farmer. Reprint. K. PW.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78175 in Books
• Published on: 1994-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Newspaperman, philanthropist and sleuth Jim Qwilleran leads a busy life in tiny Pickax City (pop. 3,000), but it is his prescient cats who beguile the reader in this lively mystery, the 16th in the Cat Who. . . series. Qwilleran is renting a huge but empty mansion from Junior Goodwinter, his managing editor, who inherited the white elephant from his feisty 88-year-old grandmother Euphonia Gage when she went to live in a Florida retirement community. When Euphonia is found dead, apparently a suicide, Junior is perplexed. He is still more confounded when her new will suggests that Grandma has gambled away her millions at the racetrack. The death of a local man whose wife was Euphonia's housekeeper raises the suspicions of the already skeptical Qwilleran. He sets up a sting operation with a lively Florida retiree, but his two best operatives are his Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Qwilleran, who can be gloomy, peevish, vain and demanding, is never dull. Other industrious inhabitants of Pickax City (an editor, a waitress, a dog trainer) are comparably unique and have enough sharp edges to avoid being cute. Of course, the cats get all the best lines. Mystery Guild selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
After reporter Jim Qwilleran rents a Florida mansion, Siamese cat Koko drags items from several closets that provide clues to the suspicious death of the mansion's elderly and eccentric owner. Meanwhile, a local missing potato farmer with remote ties to the old woman turns up dead. Moose County's quaint characters and events provide yet again delightful diversion for Qwilleran and reader alike.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Another of the author's rambling tales starring Koko and Yum- Yum. The all-knowing Siamese cats are presently sharing the rented Gage mansion in Pickax with oddball millionaire journalist Jim Qwilleran. Here, 80-ish Euphonia Gage, still feisty and energetic, is living in a plush Florida mobile-home park. News of her suicide startles the town--so does the fact that she left zilch to her grandson Junior Goodwinter, managing editor of the Moose County Something, for which Qwilleran writes a column. Euphonia's beneficiaries turn out to be the trailer park's owners, leading a suspicious Qwilleran to start asking questions--mostly by phone to Euphonia's talkative neighbor Celia Robinson. Meanwhile, there's a killing right in Pickax--of potato farmer Inchpot; there's also a weeklong snowstorm to surmount, plus chronicles of the 1869 Great Fire to endure, by way of Qwilleran's dramatic one-man audio-visual performances for clubs and schools. It's the cats, of course, who help Qwilleran solve his long- distance mystery--in a disheveled, determinedly folksy story sure to be enjoyed by the author's devoted following. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with the Siamese
I think this was my favorite "The Cat Who.." so far. It is late autumn in Pickax. Qwill and the cats rent a downtown mansion from Mrs. Gage to be closer to civilization in case of blizzards. Qwill has just written a play about a fire long ago in Pickax and begins giving performances.

The town receives word that Mrs. Gage who had sold out and moved to Florida, had committed suicide. Qwill and Koko do not feel all is right with that scenario.

Along the way, Qwill meets a young, beautiful, dog sled racer who had a big part in this mystery. The story takes place over my three favorite holidays; Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. You will love this edition of "The Cat Who..." series.

Braun's Great, But Van Patten's Got To Go
I am an avid audio book listener. Granted, I'm spoiled by George Guidall's excellent reading of the vast majority of Braun's "Cat Who" series. But Van Patten is a sad failure. Apparently Dove's editorial staff feared correcting him. He pronounces everything wrong: "Klingen-shone" instead of "Klingen-shane," for instance. He pronounces Nick and Laurie's last name "BAMba." The first syllable rhymes with "Tom," not "Pam." Twice he calls Euphonia Gage "Euphoria." He says Qwill will do his one-man Pickax history show for the Senior Care Faculty! He misread "Facility," and no one stopped the tape for another take. He inflects all wrong! He said Qwill "carried the cat coop-out" (meaningless) instead of "carried the cat coop out." What a disappointment for a Braun audio fan!

On the road
I'm a great fan of Koko and YumYum, so I enjoy having them along with me while I'm on the road. Somehow the narrator's voice sounds like Jim Qwilleran's would if he was a real person. The only problem is that it's not always easy to tell when we've reached the end of a disc, but then that's true of virtually all audio discs.