Koko is once again cat of the hour in this barely puzzling 20th entry in the series featuring former newsman Jim Qwilleran and his sleuthing Siamese cat companions (The Cat Who Tailed a Thief, 1997, was the 19th). Although most residents of Pickax City are enthralled by its new art museum, some movers and shakers are less than happy with the unsightly homestead across the road from it. Qwill interviews the garrulous woman who lives there and is enchanted with her plainspoken manner. But very soon she dies in a fire that destroys her home; at just about the same time, someone breaks into the museum and steals some paintings. Qwill quietly orchestrates a large funeral for the woman. Community happenings and his personal life occupy much of Qwill's time as he coordinates the town spelling bee, which is being promoted as an athletic event, observes the strange behavior of a young woman who paints pictures of butterflies and battles bouts of jealousy as his lady love, librarian Polly, gets her portrait painted by an affable artist. It's up to the prescient Koko and his confrere Yum Yum to nudge Qwill into uncovering the town's more mysterious goings-on. Cat and Qwilleran fans will welcome this benign series addition, which chronicles the ongoing relationships of the series characters with only a whisker's twitch of crime solving. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Welcome back to Moose County, 400 miles north of everywhere, home of journalist/philanthropist James Mackintosh Qwilleran and his two pampered, precocious Siamese sleuths Koko and Yum Yum. In this nineteenth installment of The Cat Who . . . mystery series (which follows The Cat Who Tailed a Thief), the crime--involving fraud, bribery, and arson--centers on the murders of a 93-year-old woman and a young butterfly painter. Equally important to the story and to reader enjoyment are an adult spelling bee (developed and promoted as a baseball game complete with competing teams and pinch spellers), the painting of librarian Polly Duncan's portrait, and Qwill's brief experience with lepidopterology. Most of the author's earlier characters are present; new ones include a foulmouthed parrot named Jasper and two stray cats that help ease the trauma of automation in the library. Fun for Braun fans and other literate ailurophiles. --Barbara Duree

More dire doings in Pickax (""400 miles north of everywhere""), where bachelor zillionaire Jim Qwilleran keeps a paternalistic eye on the town from his opulent barn house and his columnist job on Moose County Something, the local paper. Pickax has been saddened by the death of 93-year-old recluse Maude Coggin in a supposedly accidental fire in her decrepit house soon after she'd sold her hundred-acre farm, at a giveaway price, to buyers called Northern Land Improvement. Qwill's suspicions of this deal, reinforced by prescient cats Koko and Yum Yum, lead to his finding the company nonexistent. Some big-time chicanery is afoot, not to mention other odd happenings: a break-in and theft at the recently opened att center; an old scandal new to Qwill; the misgivings of boutique owner Elizabeth Hart about her boyfriend Derek's being offered a job as manager of Chet's Barbecue--a downscale bar owned by town councilman Chet Ramsbottom. And then there's young butterfly-breeder Phoebe Sloan, whose unsavory boyfriend Jake is bartender at Chet's. When the town's major annual event takes place--it's a spelling bee--Phoebe is missing from her team. With help from Qwill and, of course, Koko and Yum Yum, the discovery of her body in Bloody Creek brings about the downfall of Pickax's corrupting elements. Braun's terminally arch mixture (The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, 1997, etc.) is even more extreme than before as confusion reigns, characters proliferate, and Qwill, with his second-sighted assistants, once more solves Pickax's problems. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

YA-Braun continues the adventures of the odd, but successful, sleuthing team of Jim Quilleran and his cats. When Koko begins knocking books off the library shelf, Jim knows that his feline is once again using his unusual talents to prophesy future events of the murderous kind. Taking hints from the cat, and clues from the murder of his elderly neighbor and the disappearance of a young artist, the man sorts out the motive for and perpetrator behind the mayhem. By providing background on the various characters and their relationships and mentioning previous events, the author makes sure that even first timers to the series can enjoy this title. The strongly defined personalities of the main characters lend interest and the plot has realistic complexities that assure a steady turning of pages. Braun's use of details and discussions about everyday events enhances the feeling of community interconnections and concerns. Koko's quirky predictions and other cat-ly antics add spice to an already enticing mystery. A light, entertaining whodunit that offers the added appeal of cats and their often mysterious ways.-Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.