The Cat Who Went Bananas

November 22, 2004
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.

August 1, 2004
When the Theatre Club production is threatened by a cast member's suspicious death, the cats (Koko and Yum Yum, that is) are out of the bag, ready to investigate. Braun lives in North Carolina.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2004
After 25 Cat Who adventures, do the plots matter anymore? Not really. In fact, compelling plots have never been the hallmark of this series. What keeps readers flocking back to Braun's books is her stellar cast of characters, led by the magnanimous Jim Qwilleran, former big-city journalist relocated to Moose County, and his feline partners, Koko and Yum Yum. This time Qwill's lady friend, Polly, has left her library job to open a bookstore, and her busy schedule is putting a severe crimp in the couple's social life. A handsome newcomer, Alden Wade, has come to town and is working for Polly, causing Qwill to do some jealous huffing into his glorious moustache. When Alden marries a well-off older lady, the locals suspect fortune hunting. Some of the mystery is never resolved, but it hardly matters. Faithful Braun readers feel right at home in Moose County, and its citizens--furry and otherwise--are just like family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)