Rating: 
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: This is the first book I have ever read by this author and well ... I am very disappointed. This was supposed to be a mystery novel? What was the mystery? I will read another one of her books just in case this particular one was a fluke. The others can't possibly be worse than this one, can they?
Rating: 
Summary: Sloppy, very sloppy---
Review: I just finished this one (having read all of the others over the years) and I had to go back and skim it to see if I had missed something. The plot is weak, the many characters fleshed out but superfluous, and the satisfying quality of LJB's other "Cat Who" books is mostly missing and just about as thin as watery gravy. Do not read this one if you have never read her earlier books. LJB is getting very old, and I fear she did not actually write this on her own. Whoever helped her out would be well advised to hang it up before it gets more horrible than we, her faithful readers of the past, can bear (very rough paraphrase): 12 pairs of hands from 24 older ladies at Safe Harbor began clapping??????????
Rating:
Summary: The mystery was missing
Review: I agree with the other readers that this installment in the "Cat Who" series does not come up to usual standards. A lot of extraneous loose ends and people are introduced for no seeming purpose, like the woman on the beach and the UFOs. The backpacker mystery is never solved, other deaths (although accidental) are glossed over as everyday occurrences, and Owen's death is confessed. The local color is interesting, but that's about it. The editing is also sloppy. Niagara is misspelled through the first half of the book. Yum Yum sits with Gertrude the Kalico Kat 5 pages before Qwill gives it to her. The 12 pairs of hands at Safe Harbor belong to 24(?) widows. The cats and Polly have become one-dimentionsal backdrops. It may be my imagination, but in this book Qwill the reformed drinker seems to ply guests with liquor (and no food) at every opportunity. Sorry, I'll go re-read an old favorite.
Rating:
Summary: Even the hard core won't find much to purr about
Review: The good news: there's lots of update on small-town life in Moose County. The bad news: the rest of the book. There's no discernible plot. A mystery should mystify. This one airily dismisses its opening ploy (the disappearing hiker) and discloses a murder only through the testimony of a single witness - if Qwill (or Koko) does any detecting, it's not evident here. What was the author thinking? What was the editor thinking to allow this book to damage the reputation of an otherwise delightful series?
Rating: 
Summary: Very enjoyable, but maybe it wouldn't be for mystery fans
Review: I don't read any mysteries except this series, and maybe that is why I wasn't at all bothered that the mystery in this one is very slight, not really a mystery at all. I read this series for the great characters and most of all the feeling of place---of being able to feel really part of the community created by the author. I was not disappointed! I also love reading about the meals---I love the way every meal out is described! I did wonder a bit about the backpacker, and the ending was a big weird and out of character for Quill, but those things were not enough to make me have less than very warm feelings for this latest installment!
Rating: 
Summary: Cozy But Slight
Review: Okay, so isn't the greatest mystery in the series. In fact, it's barely a mystery at all. I listened to this book on tape, which may be the best way to enjoy this slight tale. The Recorded Books version has an excellant reader, and the residents of Mooseville really come alive.Don't expect much except the small-town goings on in Mooseville, a new column in the SOMETHING, a burgeoning knitting club and some UFO activity. Cute and familiar, but not much to it.
Rating:
Summary: The worst yet.
Review: I am a big fan of LJB and Qwill and Koko. Although I did not enjoy this one. The plot was not there nor the humor. I have read all of The Cat Who books at least 6 times and listened to the tapes more. My favorite is The Cat who Played Post Office. PS Please do not give Qwill a dog!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Braun does it again!
Review: Up to Ms. Brauns standards, this is another of her light reading mysteries. Good plot line, and enjoyable to read as well as try to figure out who did it. Koko figures prominantly in the solving of the mystery as usual. Qwilleran is his usual self. Another of Ms. Brauns delightful books that will make you want to read again and again. Don't listen to anything but your heart and enjoy the book! You will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not up to her(Braun's) usual standards.
Review: This book was good, if you have read all the others, and if you want a good, light tale to keep you wanting at the end, kind of like those old movie serials. I was slightly disappointed in that this was not up to her usual calibre of work. But, it was enjoyable. Unfortunately, I read through it a little too fast and was able to read it in about 4 hours. The writing is pure Braun, but the story line was pure X-Files. Koko and Yum Yum had very little to do with the story, however, this might explain how Koko knows what he knows. Overall, not bad, not her best, but not bad.
Rating:
Summary: Plot line was not developed to a satisfactory conclusion.
Review: I have all of Ms. Jackson's "The Cat Who..." books and I found this one to be the most unsatisfactory of all I have read. The main point of the missing hicker was not developed completely. UFO's were alluded to but nothing definite was established as to whether they were the cause or not of his disappearance. If Ms. Jackson is going to write science fiction, she should have completed this investigation in that genra; it just fizzled out to nothing - no solution was stated - incident left hanging. The second mystery turned out to not be a mystery at all for the perpertrator admmitted their involvement, however conveniently after their own death. There just wasn't any mystery that our newspaper friend or his cats had any real part in solving. Ms. Jackson is very good at describing local events, but there just wasn't any real "meat" to the mystery happenings she usually includes in her "The Cat Who..." books. And Mr. Qwillirin's UFO experience at the end was a tad bit "off the wall" and really didn't seem an appropriate ending to this book, slightly forced and out of character.
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