The Cat Who Brought Down the House
Book #25
by Lilian Jackson Braun

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Cozy mystery

When a glamorous Hollywood resident, though former resident of Moose County, moves back to Pickaxe City in her retirement, it gets all the small-town residents in a tizzy. But things don’t seem quite right to former crime reporter Jim Qwilleran and his uncanny Siamese, Koko, who cries foul at a murder in the county over.

I could easily just copy half of my review for the book before this for this review too. In fact, I’ll save myself some time and do just that: “I kinda feel like the author is putting more page time into Qwilleran getting content for his collection of short stories or his twice-weekly newspaper column than into the episodic mysteries. The mystery in this book takes leaps forward that don’t allow for much intrigue or suspense. Still, I do generally enjoy the happenings in Moose County, as well as the characters.” The mystery in this book was even more of an off-to-the-side kind of deal than normal, and then it’s tied up almost too nicely.

It’s funny to me that one particular scene in this book was one I’ve remembered for years, so though I didn’t remember this particular book from when I was younger and read several of these, I definitely did. Yet, apparently this mystery-lite story didn’t leave me feeling like this series isn’t worth caring about. And it still doesn’t now. Because the truth is, 25 books into the series, the everyday happenings and special events of Moose County do interest me. So I still gave the book 3 stars, even though it probably doesn’t deserve it, because the primary reason I read these books is for the mystery, not the slice-of-life views of the locals. But as for whether or not I’d recommend this book to others, I would definitely not suggest that you pick up this book as your introduction to the series. Definitely start closer to the beginning.

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