The Cat Who Knew Shakepeare
Lilian Jackson Braun
Headline Book Publishing, 1989, £16.99

Review by Marian Hussenbux

This is a Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit, one of a series of some twenty books which will probably put off cat-haters and possibly some cat-lovers too. Arguably, they would be mistaken, because Lillian Jackson Braun has a witty, idiosyncratic style which is most enjoyable.

Her investigator, the fiftyish ex-newspaperman, Qwill, has inherited the Klingenschoen mansion in Pickax City, Moose County. "Four hundred miles north of everywhere", he lives in some style with his Siamese cats Koko and Yum Yum. In some way or another, throughout the series, Koko provides the clue to the mysteries Qwill has to solve.

This book is set in November, just before, as the locals say, "snow flies". The owners of the Pickax Picayune newspaper have been affected in the past by tragic events and are once again hit by accident - or is it murder? Koko has taken to removing from the shelf possibly significant volumes of Shakespearean plays, Qwill is courting the demure head-librarian and his efficient housekeeper, Mrs. Cobb, an expert on antiques, is due to marry a psychotic car mechanic who likes to see his deer bleed slowly to death.

The chilly northern setting is evocatively conveyed whilst local radio constantly threatens snow and Qwill tests out some cordon bleu catfood on his aristocratic moggies.

Qwills's affection for his cats never lapses into the sentimental. He shares his thoughts with them in sardonic tones, though Koko's vocabulary is limited to two sounds.

Qwill himself, a man who lives alone but appreciates and is well-regarded by good friends and neighbours, is an amusing protagonist.

The next book in the series to read should be The Cat Who Came To Breakfast. You will, by now, want to visit Moose County in mid summer.