From Publishers Weekly
Guidall, the veteran audio reader who's read countless Cat Who books, returns for another foray into the goings-on in the tiny town of Pickax, "400 miles from anywhere." Guidall's versatile voice creates a whole town of characters: a glamorous, pretentious interior designer; a fluttery librarian; gravelly columnist James Quilleran (the protagonist); and a new character, elderly Thelma Thackeray, a former Moose County resident returning after six decades in Hollywood. As usual, the mild mystery (who kidnapped Thelma's prize parrots; and was the death of Thelma's brother, an elderly veterinarian, from natural causes or by murder?) takes a backseat to the pleasure of simply spending time in the company of dry, witty Quilleran, his clever cats Yum-Yum and Koko and his eccentric friends and neighbors. Fans of the series will happily settle down with headphones for this 25th entry.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
This is the twenty-fifth volume of these intensely mild-mannered mysteries: it is hard to conceive of a more dulcet whodunit. Local columnist Qwilleran--Qwill, our hero--is immensely wealthy but funnels it through a foundation; lives in Pickax, Moose County, 400 miles north of anywhere; and dates the town librarian (although she's about to throw that over because libraries aren't about books anymore; Qwill's foundation is going to set her up in a bookstore). Thelma Thackeray, in her 80s, comes back to Pickax after a long Hollywood career in food. She's turning the old opera house into a revival movie theater, sparks a few other local delights, but can't seem to get her ne'er-do-well nephew to do well at all. Qwill plugs away at old lies and a death in Thelma' s family. We learn stuff through his newspaper column and his journal entries, and through the responses of his Siamese cat, Koko. All the murders are offstage: the fun part is in food, clothing, and the quotidian joys of small-town life; there's no sex and barely a whiff of technology. How can one fail to be amused by naming conventions that include local weatherman Wetherby Goode? GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

People
A master of mystery.

Book Description
Retiring in Pickax, actress Thelma Thackeray has decided to start a film club and organize a fundraiser revue, starring Koko the cat. But Thelma's celebrated arrival takes an unpleasant turn when the strange circumstances of her twin brother's recent death seem suspicious to Jim Qwilleran. Qwill needs a helping paw in this case. But will Koko deign to take time from his stage debut?

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Retiring in Pickax, actress Thelma Thackeray has decided to start a film club and organize a fundraiser revue, starring Koko the cat. But Thelma's celebrated arrival takes an unpleasant turn when the strange circumstances of her twin brother's recent death seem suspicious to Jim Qwilleran. Qwill needs a helping paw in this case. But will Koko deign to take time from his stage debut?

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Guidall, the veteran audio reader who's read countless Cat Who books, returns for another foray into the goings-on in the tiny town of Pickax, "400 miles from anywhere." Guidall's versatile voice creates a whole town of characters: a glamorous, pretentious interior designer; a fluttery librarian; gravelly columnist James Quilleran (the protagonist); and a new character, elderly Thelma Thackeray, a former Moose County resident returning after six decades in Hollywood. As usual, the mild mystery (who kidnapped Thelma's prize parrots; and was the death of Thelma's brother, an elderly veterinarian, from natural causes or by murder?) takes a backseat to the pleasure of simply spending time in the company of dry, witty Quilleran, his clever cats Yum-Yum and Koko and his eccentric friends and neighbors. Fans of the series will happily settle down with headphones for this 25th entry. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Forecasts, Dec. 16, 2002). (Feb.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

This 25th entry in Braun's popular "Cat Who" series introduces a new character to Moose County. Thelma Thackeray is an intriguing octogenarian who is returning to her roots after a successful business career in Hollywood. Unfortunately, peaceful little Moose County also has a knack for attracting homicide, and the changes wrought by Thelma's return spell trouble that only Qwilleran's Siamese cat, Koko, seems to detect. It's a familiar formula to Braun's legions of listeners, but no one will complain. The true joy in listening to these books, which are so beautifully read by George Guidall, is learning more about Qwilleran and his neighbors and uncovering new layers of Moose County history. Recommended to libraries whose patrons include "Kokoholics."-Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Is the world of Prokofiev's opera The Gambler full of "scandal, intrigue, falsity, and greed," really, as millionaire columnist Jim Qwilleran observes, "just like Pickax"? Well, yes and no. Ancient Moose County native Thelma Thackeray's return from Hollywood to her hometown to have some unspecified fun before she dies has tongues wagging, though the issues are whether she was really a movie star and whether she's going to turn the old opera house into a film club. Intrigue? Maybe the death of Thelma's twin brother, beloved veterinarian Thurston Thackeray, in a hiking accident last year wasn't so accidental. As for falsity and greed, somebody clearly kidnapped Thelma's five prize Amazon parrots the very night she arrived in town, and since her nephew Richard got them back only by making a ransom payment, somebody's obviously sitting on a heavy purse. But these readily solved crimes against humanity and the animal kingdom are matters of less urgent concern than the rambling reminiscences Qwill is collecting for his volume Short and Tall Tales, the lovingly detailed meals he shares with librarian Polly Duncan and other series regulars, the sleuthing shenanigans of his Siamese Koko and Yum Yum, and the columns that prove repeatedly that he can write a thousand words about nothing-a gift his veteran author displays on a larger scale herself.

The smidgen of mystery will be just enough for the faithful already queued up for this mild silver anniversary for Braun.