The Cat Who Brought Down the House

Rating:
Summary: Time to wrap it all up...
Review: When the editor misses two entire pages where the writing lapses completely into first person and then reverts back (and it was not within Qwill's journal entry) and with so many meaninless forays that seem to be gratuitous for sentimentality's sake, I hate to think of where this series is heading. IMHO, this series reached its peak with "The Cat Who Moved A Mountain" and "The Cat Who Wasn't There" and has seriously declined in plot and writing quality over the last four books or so. I was a major fan of Qwill and his world, but I have to say, sad as it is, that I just don't care much anymore. The fire has gone out and this book has helped douse those flames. I am not even finished with it yet...I have about 1/4 of it yet to go, but I already see where this is going. It's not quite as meaningless as the last book, but it is quite close. The substance in this story seems superficial, and I am going to have to fight to finish this off.

Rating:
Summary: An era has ended
Review: While I deeply respect Ms. Braun and have so greatly enjoyed the wonderful characters she brought to life in the Cat Who series, it now seems painfully obvious that she now has little if anything to do with the actual story developments in the newest entries in this series. And what is worse is that apparently no editors are available to clean up the writing, punctuation, and grammar in what is being published. Even when past plot lines were easily deciphered, the dialog among the many characters and the antics of Koko and Yum Yum were more than sufficient to make the read very enjoyable. Alas that is not true in this entry and the rapid attempt to close out the last chapter is the most disappointing of all. Perhaps it is time to allow the era of entertaining mysteries in Moose County to end and not drag the memory down with inferior editions.

Rating:
Summary: bland at best
Review: While I love the early "Cat Who" books, I'm not sure why I continue to read the series. In the past few books, the mysteries have been transparent and character development slow. This is no exception. Nothing really happens. The new characters aren't interesting or personable enough to make an impact on Pickax or the reader. There's no real mystery--a couple of yowls from Koko and a dead body thrown in at the end. The liberal use of exclamation points in the prose doesn't make up for the lack of action in the story. If you need a Qwill fix, borrow this one from the library. Better yet, go back and read one of the first ten books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Passable
Review: Yes, a passable entry in the long-running "Cat Who..." series,
although old fans will remember much earlier entries with considerably more affection.
In this story, the far northern village is "invaded" by a former
resident who has been in Hollywood for the past 50 years and is
returning to, even by her own admission, die. She is a very
colorful, interesting character, at least to the residents who
never see anyone much except each other, so there is a lot of
local activity to meet her and entertain her. She brings a
couple of employees with her who add a little to the story, and
she also meets up with her nephew, who immediately starts trying
to take over her life.
The cat-detective, Koko, smells (or senses) something wrong
from the start, and it isn't long before Qwill begins to wonder
just who is phony among the new additions to town.
The story moves along fairly well, with good, likeable characters, but the solution to the "mystery" is anti-climatic
and rather disappointing. So don't read this one for any
sense of mystery, but read only to go along with the next easy
chapter in this long-running series.