Search - The Cat Who Saw Red (Cat Who...Bk 4)

Qwill is given a new writing assignment. He is to write a column about gourmet foods. He relocates the gang to a new place called Maus Haus. There he meets an old girlfriend who is married to a potter and is a potter herself. She tells Qwill that she is unhappy in her marriage and wants a divorce. The next day she disappears. Her husband Dan says that she has run off to Florida, but Qwill suspects otherwise. Then the houseboy disappears and Qwill is busy trying to figure out where everyone is disappearing to. Let the famous Koko and Yum Yum solve the case with a typewriter and a ball of yarn. I really liked this story because I wasn't able to piece it altogether until the very end.

In this fourth book, Qwill's latest assignment for the newspaper is a gourmet food column. He runs into Joy Wheatley, his first love who disappeared from his life over 20 years ago. Her marriage is not happy and he thinks he might still be in love with her.

From the book back:

Meet prize winning reporter Jim Qwilleran and his extraordinary Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum-the most unlikely, most unusual, most delightful team in detective fiction!

Plot:
Something is amiss at Maus Haus. Not just the mystery of an unsolved "suicide" which hangs over the old mansion, but something ominous in the present-day residence. When Qwilleran moves in to work on his new gastronomical assignment, strange things begin to happen. First it's a scream in the night, then vanishing houseboy. But when his old girl friend disappears, something has to be done. Qwilleran, Koko,and Yum Yum set out to solve the mystery - and find a murderer!

Koko, Yum Yum are still trying to lead Qwill onto the trail of another murderer. He is getting better at reading their messages.

Another winning entry in Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." series. This poignant, sometimes shocking and overly amusing story about great food and sensibly priced murder at an eccentric boardinghouse includes a clever twist:with the exception of Qwill and dignified lawyer-cum-landlord-cum-frustrated chef Robert Maus, the surnames of this book's main characters all refer to some type of food, drink or seasonings:Mrs. Marron, Max Sorrel, William Vittelo [a type of veal:], Joy Graham (formerly Joy Graham), Hixie Rice, Rosemary Whiting; even the seaford restraunt next door is owned by Joe Pike. As Quill experiences an emotional surprize reunion with Joy, his first love who essentially jilted him at the altar two decades earlier, he relies on Koko's instincts to help him solve a number of mysterious disappearances - until a shocking incident, and an even more shocking discovery in the pages in an old book lead Qwill to a grisly conclusion - and a deadly showdown. NOTE:this book includes a VERY emotional chapter in which Qwill is led to believe that his cats have died;if you're the type of reader who cries over scenes like this(I know I am!), you've been warned!

The famous Koko has done it again! This time, Qwill not only needs to solve the mystery at the Maus Haus, but also why he keeps gaining weight despite being on a very strict diet. Another great Lilian Jackson Braun novel.