Review by Booklist Review
Having completed the five-year residency in Moose County required to validate officially his inheritance of the vast Klingenschoen fortune, retired newspaperman Jim Qwilleran decides to spend a quiet summer vacation in the mountains--with his two Siamese cats--rethinking his purpose in life. Unfortunately, Qwill chooses the Potato Mountains, where he soon finds himself not only drawn into a controversy between environmentalists (mountaineers locally called "Taters") and developers (lowlanders termed "Spuds"), but also involved in freeing a man unjustly jailed for murder. Needless to say, Koko's supranormal powers and Yum Yum's paw play a major role in identifying the true murderer. Readers familiar with the rapidly growing The Cat Who . . . series, especially those who enjoy Braun's verbal humor, will find this adroitly plotted new cat caper as good, even a whisker better, than earlier ones. ~--Barbara Duree
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This droll and engaging mystery, 13th in The Cat Who . . . series, firmly grips the reader even though the murder in question is a year old and the killer is apparently behind bars. Jim Qwilleran, an affable former big-city crime reporter who has just inherited a considerable fortune, heads for a vacation in the rustic Potato Mountains to ponder the future course of his life. Accompanied by his two omniscient felines, Koko and Yum Yum, he takes up residence in the former home of the town's leading citizen, J.J. Hawkinfield, murdered one year ago. The sheriff tells Qwilleran that the deceased, a believer in unfettered development of the area, was killed by one of the more militant mountain people, who oppose land sales and want to protect their rural environment. Under the pretext of researching Hawkinfield's biography, Qwilleran pries into everyone's business, aided by the garrulous residents, who raise gossip to a new art form. With the help of his unique cats, he uncovers new evidence and brings to a satisfying conclusion a lively, witty tale bolstered by sharply etched characters. Mystery Guild main selection, Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Jim Qwilleran and cats take their turn with greedy land developers in the fictitious Potato Mountains. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Newsman Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese sidekicks, Koko and Yum Yum, now find themselves summering on the top of Big Potatoe Mountain in the ramshackle digs of the late J.J. Hawkinfield, while Qwill mulls over life now that he's officially the beneficiary of the Klingenschoen fortune. Koko, of course, is fascinated by the porch railing old J.J. was pitched over by mountain man Forest Beechum, as well as by a certain wall hanging and something under a massive chest of drawers. And the more Koko meows, the more Qwill is convinced that J.J.'s death has been attributed to the wrong person, which puts him right in the middle of a mountain- development feud between the ``Taters'' and the ``Spuds,'' the have-nots and the haves of the Potatoe range. Meanwhile, there's J.J.'s scurrilous editorials to pore over, including the last he wrote concerning the nefarious Hot Potatoe Fund. Who's behind it? Koko knows and, as usual, lets Qwill in on it while a stressed-out Yum Yum bites her flanks until the three pack up and head back for Pickax City. A shade cuter than most Braun outings, with a very incidental murder, but devoted fans will lap it up anyway.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
