Jim Qwilleran and his cats Koko and Yum Yum are three of my all time favorite book characters. This book is the 8th in "The Cat Who" series.First some background: Jim Qwilleran is a newspaper reporter with a hobby of unraveling mysteries. Koko and Yum Yum are his two Siamese cats, both of whom came to him during the course of solving a mystery. The cats have a tendency to uncover clues. Qwilleran in a previous book inherited a fortune on the condition that he live in the town of Pickax, an upper Midwest mining town, for five years.In this book Qwilleran has joined the local community theatre group which is preparing a production to be performed in the new theatre space at the Klingenschoen mansion. Koko meanwhile has developed an interest in glue, specifically licking the glue off of envelopes and stamps. He has also developed a bad habit of tilting a painting of a ship which hangs over the sofa.One night a couple of the actors fail to show up for rehearsal and then the community finds out that Harley Fitch and his wife were shot in their home. The Fitch family has deep roots in Pickax and the father runs the local bank. Harley and his twin brother David are being groomed to take over when their dad retires. The police suspect a group of teenagers from nearby Chipmunk. Harley and David's mother is so upset she has a stroke and dies in the hospital. Their father then goes out and commits suicide rather than live without his wife. Finally, the group of teenagers from Chipmunk are killed in a car-train accident. The community assumes this is the end of the story but Qwilleran thinks there is more to it and Koko is still tilting that painting. And so, the snooping begins!If you are looking for an action-packed thriller than this is not the book for you. But if you like a mystery with well developed characters and a little quirkiness, and especially if you like cats than I think you will really enjoy this book and the others in this series. Happy reading!
I found this book to be more a mystery to me. I kept changing my mind on who could be the murderer. I had two suspects in mind, mostly because I was tipped off by the title. And like Qwilleran, I was trying to interpret what glue had to do with it. One of the cats kept sniffing glue and is fond of adhesives. Nonetheless, I was still surprised in the end. I also liked how Qwilleran would talk with his cats, trying to interpret their actions. Being a cat lover myself, you could see Qwilleran really does care about them. The hardest moment to read was when he gets run off the road by a car. The car tumbles over and his two cats are missing from the car! I was just as worried as he, hoping they weren’t lost or injured. He stays out all night looking for them, hoping they’ll show up. And I do love the formatting of the book. It is written like a script for a play. I’d recommend this if you love reading about adorable cats (plenty of moments that make you realize Koko and Yum Yum are truly smart) and to solve the mystery (which I had no such luck)!
Do You like book The Cat Who Sniffed Glue (1989)?
Cet ouvrage est le 8ème de la série, Qwill a déjà hérité mais il n’habite pas encore dans la grange, il commence le théâtre mais tout s’arrête lorsque deux membres de la troupe sont assassinés.Koko sniffe la colle des livres et Yom Yom est très perturbée. Qwill a du mal à interpréter les signes que lui envoient ses chats mais il finira forcément par découvrir la vérité.Encore un épisode très sympathique de cette sage des « Le chat qui… ». C’est toujours un plaisir de retrouver les différents protagonistes et de les voir évoluer au cours du temps, notamment les relations de Qwill avec les femmes et Pollie en particulier.En bref : à lire si vous aimez cette série !
—Knit Spirit
As always, I'm reading these out of order. Not my favorite in the series. Qwilleran is the same--definitely an interesting character. I did not care for how Jackson Braun set up the book as if it was a play. Weird and unnecessary IMHO. Got used to it by the end, though. Several murders, impacting Q's theatre club. Q's female companions come into focus for him. Q continues the renovations of the K mansion. As always, Koko sleuths out the whodunit, but it takes Q the whole book to understand Koko's clues. Still, a quick read if you're looking for an hour's escape.
—Lisa
Qwill is living in the apartment over the garage since the mansion is being renovated into a theater. He has gotten involved with the theater group and has a part in the upcoming production. After rehearsal one night, the town learns of the murders of Harley Fitch and his wife Belle. Harley had a role in the play and it was noticed that he'd missed practice. The cops suspect a gang of troublemakers from a neighboring town but Qwill doesn't accept that explanation. Koko has developed a recent interest in glue, but how does that fit? Written in prose but also like a play: the chapters are called Scenes and start with mention of setting and characters. I've read enough of these now several times I caught myself thinking that what I just read is signifiant but don't yet know how. Fluff reading, but fun fluff.
—Sue
