Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Braun's formulaic 27th Cat Who... mystery (after 2004's The Cat Who Talked Turkey) lacks the charm of earlier adventures starring Siamese sleuths Koko and Yum Yum. In Pickax City, "400 miles north of everywhere," Jim Qwilleran, the semiretired gentleman columnist for the Moosehead County Something, is content to court longtime gal pal Polly Duncan while overseeing his philanthropic Klingenschoen Fund, which is bankrolling the Pirate's Chest, a new bookstore built to replace an old landmark. The arrival of talented thespian Alden Wade, a handsome widower who's to play Jack Worthing in a local production of The Importance of Being Earnest, threatens to enliven the proceedings and add tension to Qwill and Polly's peculiar, passionless relationship, until Alden's sudden marriage to the local Hibbard House heiress. Preparations for the Wilde play's opening and references to the Hibbard House history that Qwill is writing don't have much to do with the unsolved murder of Alden's first wife via a sniper's bullet. Once noted for its fine style, great characterizations and clever cat crime-solving, this cozy series has become a shadow of its former self. Agent, Lynda Gregory and Merry Pantano at Blanche C. Gregory. (Jan. 3) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
This 27th Cat Who book finally knocks the series off track. Residents of Pickaxe are excited about a local production of The Importance of Being Earnest, but the play shuts down suddenly after one of its actors dies in a car accident. The circumstances of the accident are suspicious, there are allusions to an unsolved shooting years before--and the lead actor is a new resident with a shady past. All the familiar ingredients for a nice mystery are in place, and, as usual, Qwilleran's mustache twitches ominously and Koko howls at key moments. However, nothing more happens. No one investigates the deaths, no evidence of foul play surfaces, the actor with the shady past dies during an act of heroism, and the book suddenly ends. What's left is a cozy with no mystery. George Guidall's warm, familiar voice lends strength to the weak plot. Only Braun's most devoted fans will enjoy this, but libraries should acquire it as many listeners will want to borrow the book to avoid buying it.--R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
