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5.0étoiles sur 5
Best of the early cat who books, Mai 4 2004
The early "Cat Who" books have Jim Qwilleran as a middle-aged, impoverished, recovering alcoholic journalist barely hanging on at a newspaper in an un-named Middle West city. Later he moves north 400 miles to a little town and inherits a fortune. "The Cat Who Saw Red" is the last mystery novel that ties him to the gritty city, and it is the best of the city books--by a considerable margin.Other readers have outlined and commented on the plot, so I will say only about it that the plot here is much better than in the previous city novels. It moves better and the outcome is more logical, more satisfying. But the author's forte is not plotting. It is in the remarkable characters, unusual without being grotesque (a fine line to walk), not the least of whom are Qwill's Siamese cats. To those who have read none of the series, it may sound just a little too cutesy, having prescient cats solve crimes, but the writer makes it work and work quite well. The writer also excels in creating atmosphere, the city, the newspaper office, fancy and not so fancy restaurants and Maus Haus, a rather weird boarding house for people interested in food--and in pottery. Like Dickens, Ms. Braun invents no astonishing plots. Her great strength is in making characters come to life in interesting settings. As in Dickens, characters and settings are sufficient.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Nominated for a Edgar, Mars 24 2004
This 4th book of the series, I understand, was nominated for an Edgar (as in Edgar Allen Poe), which is the mystery series equivalent of an Oscar. It deserves such recognition. First, it brought L.J.B. back after a long break from writing (for which fans are forever grateful). Second, it is a truly remarkable crime, probably one of the most unusual ones I've heard about apart from the C.S.I. television series. I still get chills thinking about that crime (I should stress it is not gory, unlike C.S.I., though it may be the "darkest" story in this mystery series)This book does a fine job of fleshing out its primary characters and their current assignment: a curious neighborhood of artists. I was particularly delighted with the descriptions of the cats, so vivid as to create a vicarious cat lover experience for me(I'm allergic to cats, so the printed word is all I can handle). Of course, Koko, the Siamese cat with unusual abilities, steals the show. If you are new to the "Cat Who..." series, this is an excellent starting point. The whole series is one big "can't put it down" pleasure read. Please keep in mind that the entire series is forever evolving, which in some ways is just like real life (and unlike some mystery series where everything resets between stories). So what you read in this book will have remarkable contrasts to books before and much later in the series, though the core elements remain in tact. The series of books divides into two time periods in the protagonist's life: Qwilleran as a reporter in the Big Cities, and later Qwilleran as a columnist in Moose County. The first group is urban, slightly gritty and darker in some ways, the second group is still edgy at times, but is more small-town cozy and much quirkier, in a hometown fashion, which really appeals to the fans. The dividing point for the series is the book "The Cat Who Played Brahms", which is therefore another good starting point. This one, "The Cat Who Saw Red" is in the first group.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
In which Qwill, Koko, and Yum Yum. . ., Fév 9 2004
. . .move to the home of gourmet cook (and high profile attorney) Robert Maus, who owns a residence for artists.Among the residents, Qwill is thrilled to discover his first love and former fiancee, alas, now trapped in an unhappy marriage. With a curious and delightful cast of characters (several of which make appearances in later books) this well-written mystery (with a particularly bizarre murder) was written on the heels of "Off and On" but not published until nearly 20 years later. This is possibly the best of the first four "The Cat Who" novels and is well worth the reader's time.
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