The Cat Who Wasn't There

by Lilian Jackson Braun

Book Overview

Qwill's on his way to Scotland--and on his way to solving another purr-plexing mystery. But this time Koko's nowhere the scene of the crime. He and Yum Yum are back in Pickax being coddled by a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0515111279
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Scottish Vacation Ends in Tragedy

Polly is being stalked. Qwill is worried that someone is trying to kidnap her. He is very protective of her for a time. They decide to join a tour of Scotland. The tour turns tragic. One resident of Moose County does not return home from the tour alive. Qwill and Koko try to figure out what is going on in Pickax. Strange things are going on about town and a mysterious stranger is spotted all over the county. I liked this installment of, "The Cat Who.." series. It was a little dark and sad, but nevertheless excellently written.

Haggis and Neeps All Around

Some regular readers of this series find the Moose County setting to be somewhat dull while others love the eccentric people and odd places that make up Moose County. I tend to fall into the second category but this book contains both home and away settings so everybody should be pleased. Jim Qwilleran has just rushed home from his summer retreat in the Potato Mountains because a prowler has accosted his lady friend Polly Duncan. He has hardly settled back into life in Pickax City when Polly informs him that a group of Moose County residents are planning a trip to Scotland. Since Polly is going and since, as he informs everyone he sees, his mother was a Mackintosh, Qwilleran decides to sign up for the trip himself. Once the group arrives in Scotland everything is a blur as Irma Hasselrich takes them through the Highlands and Western Isles at a breakneck speed. That is until one of their number has an apparent heart attack and dies. To make things even worse, their bus driver mysteriously disappears with some of their luggage. This odd coincidence and the fact that the deceased had been closely associated with the bus driver sets Qwilleran's mustache to tingling. Even more odd, when the ace reporter calls home to check on the cats he finds out that Koko had let out a blood curdling yowl at the exact moment that the member of the touring party had died. When they arrive back in Moose County Qwilleran starts to sniff around and begins to formulate a theory. Unfortunately, the cats do not agree with his theory and both of them start to leave all of the clues that they can think of. Koko even makes a series of mad dashes that end with him plowing into Qwilleran like a mad bull in an apparent attempt to push the amateur sleuth in another direction. In the end of course, Qwilleran and his feline friends solve the mystery but not before Yum Yum ends up in a very dangerous situation. This is one of the more engaging books in this series and the mystery plays a larger part in this plot that it does in some of the other books. The descriptions of Scotland are marvelous and the sometimes rather odd Scottish diet is well described. The reader is also introduced to some more residents of Moose County like the Chisholm sisters who have a huge collection of teddy bears and also the new director of the Community Theater, Dwight Somers. I suppose that Mrs. Braun had to introduce some new residents of Moose County since she keeps killing off the old ones. The Community Theater by the way is producing "Macbeth", which is in part responsible for the group's trip to Scotland. I just love Moose County and I also love Scotland so there isn't much about this book that I didn't like, although I was mighty worried about Yum Yum for a little while. Along with the new characters, several old friends make appearances and this book is just really an enjoyable read.

The curse of the Scottish Play

Jim Qwilleran, millionaire bachelor and resident of Moose county (400 miles north of everywhere) has dashed back home to protect his lady friend, Polly the liberian, from a stalker. Qwill is convinced that she is being targeted to be used as a way to blackmail him. When he finds that a tour of the Scottish Highlands (insipired by the local production of MacBeth) is being organized and that Polly is planning to go he decides to go along. Tragedy strikes the tour, a member dies of natural causes or were they so natural? Qwill and Polly return home where he, aided as always by his Siamese cats, Koko and YumYum uncover the true motives and culprits to, of course, save the day.The mystery is, as always is the case in this series, secondary to the 'cozy' element of Moose County background but in this book is a bit more complex. We are treated to visits by many of the Moose County crowd including a return by Dr. Melinda Goodwinter, Qwill's first lady friend in Moose County (The Cat Who Played Brahms).

One of my favorites

This is one of my favorite "Cat Who" mysteries. The descriptions of Scotland and its landscape make this one worth it. Koko and Yum Yum work well together. This is one of Braun's best for showing feelings. When Yum Yum was catnapped, I felt a lot of the same feelings that Qwill probably felt. It might be better, however, if Yum Yum were allowed to help Qwill and Koko solve the mystery, instead of being a cute little female.

A REAL PAGE-TURNER

In this, the 14th Qwilleran/Koko/Yum Yum mystery, Koko helps solve a case that began in Scotland while he was at home! I really enjoyed this. In some of these books you can figure out what happened earlier, but in this one I was almost at the end when I realized who was doing what. The characters seemed deeper in this one too, and having a Scottish locale for part of the book added interest. A good read.