Look what the cat dragged in ...
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There are some big changes looming in the life of Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Qwilleran is tired of being the restaurant critic for the regional newspaper and yearns to become an investigative reporter - a not unreasonable wish for a man who has solved an number of murders, though his superiors at the Daily Fluxion seem less convinced. On top of that "Maus Haus", his cherished home, is being sold, and so Qwilleran decides to take Koko and Yum Yum up north to Pickaxe in "Moose Country" where long-time family friend "Aunt" Fanny has offered him the use of her summer cabin. The peace and quiet of this idyllic rural retreat are exactly what Qwilleran needs to write his long dreamed-of book.
But peace and quiet are the last things Qwilleran finds when he arrives. Strange noises keep him awake at night, people seem to walk in and out of the cabin when he's not at home and he has the sneaking feeling that he is being followed by blue pick-up trucks. When he finds a dead body and everyone assures him that it was an old tyre Qwilleran resorts to the help of Koko, feline sleuth extraordinaire, to find out what lies behind these strange goings-on.
Lilian Jackson Braun's books about the exploits of Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese fellow detectives are murder mysteries in the classic "Christie" tradition: Gory details are kept to a minimum, although the crimes can be gruesome in their nature; but the emphasis is on atmosphere and finding hidden clues. They may lack the grim sense of reality that characterizes the books of many other modern crime writers, but they do offer very believable characters, very believable plots - and even very believable cats, despite all their feline sleuthing. "The Cat Who Played Brahms", like all of Lilian Jackson Braun's books, is a highly enjoyable read, the perfect book to curl up with on a sunny or rainy afternoon, suspenseful, thrilling and guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
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