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The colorful Casablance apartment building is in danger of demolition--but not if Jim Qwilleran can help it. He's determined to restore the building to its original grandeur. So he moves in with Koko and Yum Yum--and discovers that the Casablanca is steeped in history...and mystery. In Qwill's very apartment, a glamorous art dealer met an untimely fate, and the veteran journalist and his crime-solving cats are about to reach new heights in detection as the evidence builds up...and the Casablanca threatens to crumble down around them!
Customer Review: My Favorite Cozy Mystery Series!
In the 11th book in the Cat Who mystery series, James Qwilleran aka "Qwill", is feeling the familiar wanderlust grab him as the threat of the first large snowfall descends on Moose County (400 miles north of everywhere). When he is summoned by an old friend from "down below" to help restore the old Casablanca building in Junktown, he agrees to visit the old apartment building that has lost most of its previous shining glory. Once he arrives, he realizes very quickly that the old building is not in great shape, and that the tenants are an eclectic mix. He meets elderly folks, young artists, and one eccentric building owner who is called the countess and never leaves her suite. Qwill is assigned the penthouse apartment on the 14th Floor, and when KoKo starts sniffing a stain on the rug, Qwill's natural curiosity is raised. He learns that there had been a murder in his temporary residence, and as he decides whether to finance the restoration of the Casablanca, he also probes into the mysterious death. With the help of his two irrepressible felines, KoKo and Yum Yum, the unlikely detective threesome saves countless lives from the clutches of an evil, greedy killer. This is my favorite cozy mystery series! I had read all of the books in the past, and wanted to read them again for a second time. This time around, I have chosen to listen to them on CD, as I love the voice of George Guidall. I must say that I missed the setting of Moose County and its residents a bit in this installment, but found it refreshing to have Qwill meet some new people and explore the city. The characters in each book are what keep drawing many readers back...so if you are looking for a hardcore thriller, this would not be the series for you. However, if you are a fan of small town cozies, give this series a try. You might just find that you have become an avid "Cat Who" fan before the book is even finished. This is a great series by my favorite author! The first book in the series is called "The Cat who Could Read Backwards". Enjoy!
Customer Review: Koko Plays Scrabble
The eleventh book of this series finds Jim Qwilleran packing for a trip Down Below, much to the dismay and worry of his fellow residents of Moose County. One of the Three Weird Sisters, whom we met in a previous book, has called him up and urged him to look into saving an old building in Junktown that is about to be demolished. The cats are none too happy about the trip but Qwilleran is eager to check out his old stomping ground and also to avoid the Moose County winter. He arrives back in Junktown to find an old rundown building that looks like a big refrigerator and as he carries the cats up to his apartment on the fourteenth floor the elevator stops. This time he is just as unhappy as the cats. He finds himself lodged in an elegant apartment that was recently the scene of a murder, a fact that Koko discovers. As usual in this series, Koko makes most of the discoveries and then spends a great deal of time trying to communicate his discoveries to Qwilleran. In this book Koko even takes up Scrabble to try and get his message across. One very nice thing about this book is that you don't get attached to the deceased because by the time the story starts, she is already dead. I'm still not over Iris Cobb's death. For fans of the series this book will bring back some memorable characters from previous books including Mary Duckworth of Junktown and Robert Maus and Charlotte Roop of the Maus House. It is great fun to go back and see what has happened in these people's lives since we last encountered them and to find out what they are up to now. Prim and proper Charlotte for example, has a man and is a changed woman. There are also some neat new characters like Mrs. Tuttle, Mr. Rupert, the Countess and Isabelle Wilburton who gives Qwilleran a flashing he will never forget. The characters and the atmosphere are indeed the major part of the story because the mystery is even more submerged than normal, but the clues are there if you just pay attention to Koko. This is not the best book in the series so far but it is very enjoyable. Unlike some other reviewers, I miss the folks in Moose County but it was a real pleasure to visit some old friends. It was a nice change of pace but I'm ready to get back to Pickax City.


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